World Team Cup – Day 3

Australia charged into the semi-finals of the men’s event at the World Team Cup in Tweed Heads today (19/5).

Needing a victory over Malaysia to secure the finals berth, the Australians dominated winning all three rubbers in straight sets.

Nathan Rice and Wayne Turley gave the home team a great start with a commanding 8-5, 14-4 victory in the opening pairs rubber.

New Australian singles representative Aron Sherriff then secured the victory with a 10-3, 10-3 demolition of the highly fancied Safuan Said.

The Australians showed no signs of taking things easy in the ‘dead’ triples rubber as they smashed Malaysia by 10 shots in the opening set and then cruised through the second for a 14-4, 8-6 result.

“We knew how crucial this match was and we wanted to set it up early with a win in the pairs,” said Turley.

“It was important that we took the pressure off Aron and we did that.

“Aron played sensational bowls in the singles and with each game he is growing in confidence.”

In the women’s event Australia continues to lead the way with another strong performance against a powerful Malaysian line-up in the late session on Friday night (18-5).

Teenage sensation Kesley Cottrell and Aussie stalwart Karen Murphy set-up the 2-1 victory with a hard fought 7-6, 8-7 win in the opening pairs rubber.

The Malaysians levelled the match at 1-1 thanks to the efforts of dual Commonwealth Games singles gold medallist Siti Zalina Ahmad.

Regarded as the best singles player in the world, Ahmad overpowered Julie Keegan in a tie-breaker to take the clash 9-5, 3-9, 5-0.

The hopes of the Malaysians were quickly dashed in the deciding triples rubber however as the Aussie trio combined brilliantly to record a commanding 11-5, 10-4 victory.

With four wins from as many matches the Australian women sit comfortably at the top of the table as the only undefeated side and things would need to go terribly wrong from here if they were to be denied a place in the final.

In the other women’s games today (19/5) Malaysia defeated Ireland 2-1, New Zealand scored a clean sweep over Scotland and the English invitational team overpowered the south-east Asia invitational line-up.

The Irish men’s team also secured a semi-final spot with a 3-0 win over Wales .

Day Session - 19 May 2007

MEN: Sec 1: 

IRELAND 3 bt WALES 0 

Singles: M McHugh bt A Fleming 12-7 8-8

Pairs: I McClure J Henry bt K Peregrine C Williams 23-3 16-2

Triples: M McHugh I McClure J Henry bt C Williams K Peregrine A Fleming 5-8 7-6 7-0

Sec 2:

AUSTRALIA 3 bt MALAYSIA 0 

Singles: A Sherriff bt S Said 10-3 10-3

Pairs: N Rice W Turley bt M Yusof F Muin 8-5 14-4

Triples: A Sherriff N Rice W Turley bt S Said M Yusof F Muin 14-4 8-6

WOMEN: Rd 5:

MALAYSIA 2 bt IRELAND 1 

Singles: S Ahmad bt M Johnston 15-6 10-5

Pairs: N Ismail A Arshad bt D McNally M Cunningham 16-3 17-9

Triples: S Ahmad N Ismail A Arshad lost to M Johnston D McNally M Cunningham 9-7 11-8

NEW ZEALAND 3 bt SCOTLAND 0 

Singles: V Smith bt K Moran 13-3 11-7

Pairs: W Jensen J Edwards bt K Dawson M Letham 11-5 9-6

Triples: V Smith W Jensen J Edwards bt M Letham K Moran K Dawson 7-7 9-4

ENGLAND 2 bt SOUTH EAST ASIA INVITATIONAL 1 

Singles: C Ashby bt M Witheridge 12-2 16-2

Pairs: K Hawes C Popple bt R Shek R Greenless 8-6 15-7

Triples: C Ashby K Hawes C Popple lost to M Witheridge R Shek R Greenless 6-5 3-11 3-2).

Evening Session - 19 May 2007

MEN: Sec 1: 

CANADA INVITATIONAL 3 bt SCOTLAND 0 

Singles: H Bhartu bt G Archer 8-4 8-5

Pairs: K Roney R Bester bt A Lauder A Hainey 11-6 7-10 2-1

Triples: R Bester K Roney H Bhartu bt G Archer A Lauder A Hainey 11-4 8-8

Sec 2:

ENGLAND 2 bt NEW ZEALAND 0 

Singles: M Walton bt A Forsyth 13-4 9-10 3-1

Pairs: N Brett R Newman bt A Todd R Girvan 10-4 8-7; 

Triples: not played

Final Section Standings: 

Sec 1: 

Canada Invitational 4 points (7 game wins),

Ireland 4 (6)

Scotland 2 (3)

Wales 2 (2)

Sec 2:

England 6 (7),

Australia 4 (6)

Malaysia 2 (3)

New Zealand 0 (1).

Semi-finals: Canada Invitational v Australia , England v Ireland .

WOMEN: Rd 6: 

IRELAND 2 bt SCOTLAND 1 

Singles: M Johnston bt K Moran 4-8 7-6 6-0

Pairs: D McNally M Cunningham bt K Dawson M Letham 8-7 4-7 6-0

Triples: M Johnston D McNally M Cunningham lost to M Letham K Moran K Dawson 10-7 9-4

AUSTRALIA 2 bt SOUTH EAST ASIA INVITATIONAL 1 

Singles: J Keegan bt M Witheridge 8-10 7-5 4-0

Pairs: K Cottrell K Murphy bt R Shek R Greenless 13-11 12-3

Triples: K Cottrell J Keegan K Murphy lost to M Witheridge R Shek R Greenless 10-4 10-8).

ENGLAND INVITATIONAL 2 bt MALAYSIA 1 

Singles: C Ashby lost to S Ahmad 5-9, 12-6, 3-2

Pairs: K Hawes C Popple bt N Ismail A Arshad 8-5 8-10 4-1

Triples: C Ashby K Hawes C Popple bt S Ahmad N Ismail A Arshad 9-4 9-7).

Progressive standings after Round 6:

Australia 10 points (11 game wins)

New Zealand 8 (12)

Malaysia 6 (9)

England Invitational 6 (7)

Ireland 4 (6)

Scotland 4 (5)

South East Asia Invitational 0 (3)