Young champ is a rep in waiting
YOUNG NSW ace Aaron Teys has two impressive titles to his credit but he insists he is at long odds to make the Australian team for the Commonwealth Games.
Aged only 22, Teys last week added the world singles champion of champions crown to the Australian Open he won on the Gold Coast in 2015.
The prestigious tournament victories would surely have thrust him into contention for a place in Australia’s fivemember team for the Games on the Gold Coast in April.
Yet the young ace from Warilla, near Wollongong in NSW, feels his Games chances will come at a later date.
Teys is part of a national development squad that will play New Zealand in a TransTasman Test starting today at the Broadbeach Bowls Club, a venue for the Commonwealth Games.
The fact that he did not make the main squad for what is basically the last international Games trial leads Teys to suggest his time will come down the track.
“I wouldn’t think I’m a chance to make the Games team next year,” Teys said yesterday. “This (the Trans-Tasman) is the nearest thing to the Games and the fact that I’m not in the main squad means I’m at long odds.
“If I don’t (make the Games squad), then I hope it won’t be too long before I do but the five (men) in there are doing the job at the moment.”
Despite his lack of confidence in becoming a Games rep, Teys is in the mix with two others — Aron Sherriff and Aaron Wilson — for the singles berth.
Karen Murphy appears to have a stranglehold on the top spot in the women’s team.
Gold Coast is well represented in the series, with Helensvale’s Brett Wilkie, Nathan Rice and Lynsey Clarke in the Australian open teams.
Broadbeach’s Sean Ingham is in the development squad, while clubmates Paul Girdler and Katelyn Inch play for New Zealand.
Australia and the Kiwis will clash today, tomorrow and on Sunday in singles, pairs, triples and fours, with three sessions each day from 9am for open men and women, development men and women, and para bowls.
Each day’s play comprises a Test played at 9am, noon and 2.45pm.