Friendly fire leaves Bester as last hope
BROADBEACH’S Canadian star Ryan Bester remains the only local hope in the Australian Open men’s singles after eliminating locals Aron Sherriff, Matthew Lucas (Helensvale) and Eric Johannes (Paradise Point) to reach the semi-final.
Clubmate Bolivia Millerick is the only local left in the women’s singles, advancing to the semi-final after defeating dual Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold medallist and multiple world titleholder Natasha Scott (NSW).
Millerick has continued her great form after recently winning the Queensland Singles on the Sunshine Coast.
Both singles semi-finals will be at Club Helensvale tomorrow, with Bester meeting Seamus Curtin from Stokes Valley (NZ) and Peter Taylor from NSW taking on former Gold Coaster Sean Baker, who now plays out of Victoria Point in Brisbane.
Millerick will play fellow Australian squad member Kristina Krstic (WA) while defending champion Ellen Ryan (NSW) takes on Scott’s Commonwealth and World Title teammate Rebecca Van Asch from Tasmania.
Van Asch recently announced she is expecting her first child.
Men’s fours quarters and women’s fours semis will also be at Helensvale tomorrow.
Men’s and women’s open and over-60 pairs post sectional rounds continue today across the Coast – Disability Singles start today with Open Disability pairs and Under-18 singles starting tomorrow.
All finals will be played at Broadbeach this Thursday and Friday.
If you can’t make it, you can watch the finals live on SBS. Bowls Australia will continue their popular “Rinkside Live” on Facebook each day until the finals.
The race is on to finish the year on top of the Australian Rankings system which concludes after the Open.
David Ferguson from Sydney entered the AO ranked No.1 with a slight margin over Tasmania’s Lee Schraner.
Schraner lost in the pairs yesterday, handing the title to Ferguson, who is still alive in pairs and fours.
In the women’s rankings, Scott held a slender lead of 82 points over last year’s winner Carla Krizanic going into the AO and gained more points reaching the singles quarters.
Both are playing pairs and fours together, meaning Krizanic can’t catch Scott.
Just a couple of weeks after winning the richest singles tournament in Queensland, Kurt Brown has joined the Tweed Heads Bowls Club.
Brown is a Queensland rep who has spent the past four years at Club Kawana, a club he helped gain entry into the Premier League last year.He will represent Tweed Heads in the Gold Coast Tweed Pennant season starting on July 7. Join the conversation: Bulletin’s Facebook Sports Forum