World Team Cup – Day 9

Young gun Aron Sherriff has completed a dream start to his international bowls career by winning the World Team Cup for Australia this morning (25/5).

The 21-year-old, making his national team debut in the event, defeated Ireland’s Martin McHugh in a tie-breaker to give Australia a 2-0 lead in the best-of-three-games final at the Tweed Heads Bowls Club.

Team-mates Wayne Turley and Nathan Rice set-up the win when they beat Ireland in the opening pairs rubber yesterday (24/5).

Sherriff showed composure beyond his years as the singles rubber went into a tense three-end shoot-out, playing two brilliant drives in the final stages to claim the match 10-4, 7-8, 3-0.

The victory completes a remarkable double for the Australian team, which has also won the inaugural women’s World Team Cup.

Action continues at Tweed Heads this afternoon with the ‘dead’ triples rubbers in both the men’s and women’s finals.

Double delight for aussies at World Team Cup

The Australian bowls team completed a remarkable double today (25/5) when it won both the men’s and women’s events at the inaugural World Team Cup.

Young gun Aron Sherriff was the star on the final day when he claimed the singles rubber in a tie-breaker to secure the men’s trophy.

The 21-year-old, making his national team debut in the event, defeated Ireland’s Martin McHugh to give Australia a 2-0 lead in the best-of-three-games final at the Tweed Heads Bowls Club.

Australia then completed a clean sweep with Wayne Turley and Nathan Rice joining Sherriff for a 6-6, 5-5, 8-0 victory in the ‘dead’ triples rubber.

Turley and Rice set-up the World Team Cup win when they beat Ireland in the opening pairs clash on Thursday (24/5).

A resident of Budgewoi on the NSW central coast, Sherriff showed composure beyond his years in the singles as he opened with a big count of three shots before racing out to a 9-1 lead after just five ends.

Sherriff took the opener 10-4 and then had to withstand some pressure as McHugh, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, started to find some form in the second.

The Irish ace grabbed the lead for the first time with a maximum count of four on the third end of the second set and held on to push the game into a three-end tie-breaker.

In the tense shoot-out Sherriff was three shots down on the second and third ends but on both occasions played brilliant drives to get out of trouble.

“I’m really confident with my drive,” Sherriff said.

“I haven’t used it too much this week because I have been drawing quite well, but at that stage and under pressure I felt it was going to be a lot easier to play the running shot.

“It is one of my strengths and when I’m in trouble I definitely go to it.”

The final score in the singles rubber was 10-4, 7-8, 3-0.

For Sherriff, who selectors called up from outside of the Australian Bowls Squad, it has been a sensational start to his international career.

“It’s a dream come true  just to play one game for your country let alone play in a big final like this in the inaugural World Team Cup and win,” he said.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to play a game that means so much towards an Australian victory and a world title.”

The Australian women also had a ‘dead’ rubber to complete on the final day. Julie Keegan, Kelsey Cottrell and Karen Murphy failed to add to their tally, taking the final against New Zealand 2-1 after dropping the triples 4-8, 10-2, 3-0.

Australian coach Cameron Curtis said winning both World Team Cup titles was a credit to the players and would give the national squad great confidence ahead of next year’s world championships in New Zealand.

“It’s a tremendous result,” Curtis said.

“We would have been satisfied to have won one event and do well in the other, but to win both is a magnificent achievement by the players.

“They set themselves for this for many months and because each country was sending their top three players it was a real test for them personally.

“This gives our high performance program another boost and the players are certainly seeing the fruits of their labour.

“There are a couple of things we still need to work on leading into next year’s world championships, but overall we are very pleased with where we are at.”

MEN: Final:

AUSTRALIA 3 bt IRELAND 0 

Singles: A Sherriff bt M McHugh 10-4 7-8 3-0; 

Pairs: W Turley N Rice bt I McClure J Henry 11-1 3-16 6-0

Triples: A Sherriff W Turley N Rice bt M McHugh I McClure J Henry 6-6 5-5 8-0.

WOMEN: Final:

AUSTRALIA 2 bt NEW ZEALAND 1 

Singles: J Keegan bt V Smith 7-4 11-7; 

Pairs: K Cottrell K Murphy bt W Jensen J Edwards 10-4 6-11 6-0. 

Triples: J Keegan K Cottrell K Murphy lost to W Jensen V Smith J Edwards 4-8 10-2 3-0.