Long Shares the Lead after Day 1
Photo courtesy of Bowls Australia. Jarrod Long (Kingborough) has had a fantastic start to his
Australian Champion of Champions campaign. Long finished the day with 2 wins
and a loss, equal to that of the leader Ryan Bester, only shots up behind the
other 4 bowlers who are also on 2 wins. Tomorrow’s games against the Northern
Territories Brett Irvine and South Australia’s Ashley Halls will give Long a
great chance to show that he means business.
The first match of the day saw Long play ACT’s Mark
Dulihanty. Long got off to a great start leading 6-2 after 7 ends before
kicking it up another gear with consecutive 3’s increasing the lead to 10
shots. Long continued to play good bowls extending his lead and a score-line of
19-6. Dulihanty didn’t want to leave the green disgraced and a 4 got him into
double figures and ensured Long regained his focus. Long would take out the
match 21-11, the shots up could prove crucial after the 7 rounds are completed.
Long would then face off against the current Australian Open
singles champion Aaron Teys from NSW. Teys was keen to get his campaign back on
track after losing his first match to WA’s Pieter Harris. Long was able to show
the Victorian crowd that he wasn’t going to be pushed around by one of the
favourites and lead 6-5 after picking up a 3 on the 8th end. The
next three ends would prove crucial to the match with Long giving up 8 shots in
this period, a lead that was never challenged. Teys winning 21-12.
After two matches only Ryan Bester & Pieter Harris were
undefeated and it would be Harris that would be Long’s final opponent of the
day. Harris has this year been elevated to the Perth Suns team in the
Australian Premier League and was never going to be an easy beat in this field.
The match started very closely with Long taking an early 6-2 lead before Harris
took the lead and was feeling confident of taking out the match. Long stepped
up his game and picked up a 2 on four consecutive ends bringing the score to
16-10. At 20-12 Long only needed one more shot to take the win but a 3 to
Harris ensure the pressure was back on. But Long was able to secure the end,
the match and kept his hopes alive of a national title.
Long was in good spirits after the days play, “Finishing off
with a win feels great and gives me some momentum into tomorrow. I felt as
though I played well in my wins and found my opponent didn’t allow me to play
well in my second match.” When the ladder was brought up with 5 players on
equal wins, Long was quick to ensure he remains focused on the next game. “I’m
looking forward to tomorrow, I need to keep my head down and concentrate.” It’s
great to see Long enjoying his bowls and putting in some strong performances.
“It’s been a fun tournament so far, the camaraderie is good between the
players.”
The 3rd round of play saw another upset with Ryan Bester (Qld) losing to Ashley Halls (SA)
thus causing the log jam at the top of the standings. Bester leads (+18),
Harris is 2nd (+14), Teys is 3rd (+12), Twyerould from
Victoria is 4th (+11) with Long the 5th player on 2 wins
with +7. The 4th round sees Bester/Teys & Harris/Twyerould play
each other meaning a win will see Long into 3rd place.
In the Women’s event, only one game was played today with
pre-tournament favourites Carla Krizanic & Val Smith winning by 16 and 6
shots respectively. Lisa Featherby from WA leads the way thanks to her 21-3
victory over the NT’s Bronwyn Chandler. The women will also play 2 rounds
tomorrow, the highlight being the match between Krizanic & Smith in the
morning.
By David Genford
