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Bowls Victoria, Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Day one rap from Australian Indoor Singles ChampionshipFrom an initial fighting force of 15 Victorian qualifiers who came to the palatial Tweed Heads Indoor Bowls Stadium yesterday seeking fame and fortune in this year’s Australian Indoor Singles Championship, only three will be visible in today’s second round matches.
These are internationals Barrie Lester from Moonee Ponds, Keilor’s Carla Odgers, and Joyce Lindores from Clayton, who all progressed into this morning’s Round of 16 with straight-sets victories.
Lester defeated Steve Grant from Somerton SA 9-6 8-4, Odgers overcame North Sydney’s Marie Moorhouse 8-4 10-4 and Lindores claimed victory over Tasmania’s Kaye Coomber, who plays out of the Kings Meadow club.
Saddest loss of the dozen Vics who exited the championship yesterday was Clayton’s Todd Simmons, a semi finalist in 2008 and last year’s runner-up. After watching their charge come from behind to win the first set, the large Victorian supporter group has visions of the Clayton ace going the extra step this time around. However, an indifferent second set saw Simmons forced into a three-end tiebreak against Brendon Baker, from Raymond Terrace in the NSW Hunter Valley, which he lost 1-3. A humorous aside to the match was that Baker’s previous claim to fame is that in his teens he dated international beauty queen Jennifer Hawkins for a short while.
After a promising first set win Deer Park’s Michael Parravicini lost to South Australian state player Gary Thompson from the Kensington Marryatville club, while Sebastopol’s Rob Baker suffered a similar fate at the hands of East Cessnock’s Simon Mitchell.
Chad Muir from Mornington fought hard to tie the second set against Russell Bates from WA’s Warnbro club, but his loss in the first saw him eliminated, while Vermont South’s gritty Oska Setyana performed much better that his losing scoreline to Brisbane beanpole Jamie Anderson from Capalaba might suggest.
And what about Monbulk’s evergreen Max Cobb, who took the first set against WA hot shot Ross Pringle from Kalamunda! The 74-year-old retired accountant became a crowd favourite with his brave shot making throughout the match, but bowed out in the tiebreaker against the well credentialed Sandgroper.
Spare a thought for Mt Eliza’s Mark Stanaway, Nigel Cowdery from Clayton and Moonee Valley’s Mathew Rennex, who came up against Australian international superstars Aron Sherriff, Brett Wilkie and Anthony Kiepe respectively. All went down in straight sets, though all agreed that the experience was ‘awesome’.
It was a similar scenario for Highton’s Eileen Gillett and Lanni Pham from Glenroy in the women’s opening round. They came up against international great and three-times champion Karen Murphy and Delhi Commonwealth Games skipper Julie Keegan respectively in their first foray into the big time, however, St Kilda’s Tara Ferrier did snare a set against NSW state player Lisa Prideaux prior to her departure.
Australian Indoor Singles Championships at Tweed Heads NSW
Victorian results – Day 1:
Women: E Gillett (Highton) lost to K Murphy (NSW) 0-15 3-11, C Odgers (Keilor) d M Moorhouse (NSW) 8-4 10-4, L Pham (Glenroy) lost to J Keegan (Qld) 4-13 3-8, J Lindores (Clayton) d K Coomber (Tas) 9-6 8-4, T Ferrier lost to L Prideaux (NSW) 8-6 3-12 0-7.
Men: M Parravicini (Deer Park) lost to G Thompson (SA) 12-7 7-11 0-6, T Simmons (Clayton) lost to B Baker (NSW) 7-5 3-7 1-3, R Baker (Sebastopol) lost to S Mitchell (NSW) 7-2 4-14 1-2, B Lester (Moonee Ponds) d S Grant (SA) 9-6 8-4, C Muir (Mornington) lost to R Bates (WA) 6-11 7-7, O Setyana (Vermont South) lost to J Anderson (Qld) 1-11 5-9, M Stanaway (Mt Eliza) lost to A Sherriff (NSW) 5-10 4-8, M Cobb (Monbulk) lost to R Pringle (WA) 9-7 2-12 0-6, M Rennex (Moonee Valley) lost to A Kiepe (Qld) 8-10 1-10, N Cowdery (Clayton) lost to B Wilkie (Qld) 4-11 0-9.
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