First-day loss for Edwards
New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games champion Jo Edwards suffered a shock loss to Canada in the second round of the World Bowls championships in Christchurch but remains on course for a playoffs berth.
The 46-year-old Nelson bowler was upset 21-16 by Canada’s Kelly McKerihen in yesterday’s middle session.
All four New Zealand Blackjacks units in action ended the first day with two wins and one loss.
Edwards had breezed through the first round with a 21-8 win over Kenya’s sole World Bowls competitor Susan Waruguru Kariuki.
But she came unstuck against McKerihen, a 30-year-old Canadian now based in Victoria and a 2012 world singles bronze medallist.
All is not lost for Edwards, however, who rebounded with a third round win over Wales’ Laura Daniels, 21-12. The top three bowlers from each of the two sections qualify for post-section play on Friday.
Edwards will be favoured to beat her United States, Cyprus and Guernsey opponents today, but her Thursday clash with Australia’s defending world champion Karen Murphy shapes as a potential classic.
The winner of each section will advance directly to the semfinals so finishing top after round-robin play is a definite advantage.
Edwards was the second singles star to taste defeat after Malaysia’s Commonwealth Games champion Siti Zalina Ahmad, Malaysia’s 2008 world champion, lost 21-16 to Scotland’s Lesley Doig in the first round.
Doig, 25, and Australia’s defending champion Murphy remained unbeaten after the first two rounds.
Murphy, who rates Edwards as her toughest opponent, opened with a 21-7 win over Cyprus’ Frances Davis and backed up by beating the United States’ Kim Heiser, 19-13.
Doig edged Ireland’s Catherine Beattie 21-18 in an all-Celtic challenge.
The New Zealand women’s four bounced back to beat South Africa 20-10 after a surprise defeat to Singapore in the opening round of the World Bowls championships in Christchurch.
New Zealand, who were skipped by 2008 world singles and pairs champion Val Smith, lost 17-14 to Singapore.
Nelson’s Smith and her young team – first-time world champion-
Australia 21 Cyprus 7, Netherlands 21 Fiji 9, New Zealand 21 Kenya 8, United States 21-5, Canada 21 Wales 16. Round 2: Fiji 21 Kenya 12, Australia 19 United States 13, Wales 21 Netherlands 17, Canada 21 New Zealand 16, Cyprus 21 Guernsey 20.
Ireland 21 Cook Islands 13, Norfolk Island 21 Zimbabwe 5, Philippines 21 England 20, Scotland 21 Malaysia 16, Brunei 21 South Africa 13. Round 2: Philippines 21 Zimbabwe 10, Scotland 21 Ireland 18, Norfolk Island 21 Brunei 17, South Africa 21 England 16, Malaysia 21 Cook Islands 17.
Wales 16 Australia 15, South Africa 18 Canada
ships representatives Kirsten Edwards (Nelson), Katelyn Inch (Canterbury) and Angela Boyd (Canterbury) came up against an experienced Singapore quartet of Lim Kwee Choon (skip), Jane Low, May Lee and Josephine Lim, who 14, Singapore 17 New Zealand 14, Namibia 19 Fiji 14, Ireland 15 Hong Kong China 14. Round 2: New Zealand 20 South Africa 10, Australia 29 Namibia 13, Ireland 16 Canada 14, Singapore 20 Hong Kong China 15, Wales 20 Fiji 18.
England 29 United States 13, Israel 31 Turkey 7, Japan 18 Spain 12, Scotland 14 Malaysia 11, Philippines 19 Norfolk Island 9. Round 2: Spain 21 Turkey 12, England 22 Scotland 16, Philippines 18 Israel 8, Japan 27 Norfolk Island 11, United States 21 Malaysia 11. Men’s
Wales 20 Australia 20, Canada 22 United States 14, Ireland 19 Samoa 8, New Zealand 16 Jersey 13, Namibia 14 Malaysia 14.
have played at world level before and won an Asian Championship bronze medal.
After beating the South Africans, New Zealand scored a morale-boosting 21-13 win over an Australian four skipped by
Brunei 22 Zimbabwe 11, England 14 Spain 11, South Africa 25 Fiji 10, Scotland 23 Japan 19, Norfolk Island 17 Niue 12.
Wales 23 Guernsey 9, United States 28 India 15, Ireland 27 Spain 8, Israel 18 Norfolk Island 16, New Zealand 12 Malaysia 11. Round 2: United States 26 Spain 10, Guernsey 20 Norfolk Island 10, India 17 New Zealand 13, Malaysia 21 Ireland 10.
Hong Kong China 19 Fiji 14, Australia 17 South Africa 11, England 28 Jersey 11, Scotland 30 Cyprus 10, Canada 22 Singapore 14. Round 2: Scotland 20 Singapore 17, Jersey 14 Australia 14, Hong Kong China 19 Canada 14, Fiji 18 Cyprus 15, SA 16 England 15.
expatriate New Zealander Kelsey Cottrell.
Mike Nagy (Auckland) and Blake Signal (Hutt Valley) marked their World Bowls debuts with a win in the triples alongside skip Ali Forsyth, who is a chasing a medal for the third consecutive world championships. The Kiwi men’s triples beat Jersey’s Gregory Davis, Michael Rive and skip John Lowery, 16-13.
But they were convincingly beaten 19-9 by Australia’s Aron Sherriff, Mark Casey and Barrie Lester in the second round before recovering with a resounding 23-8 victory against Canada.
The New Zealand’s men’s pair of skip Shannon McIlroy (Nelson) and lead Mike Kernaghan (Otago) edged out Malaysia’s Muhammad Hizlee Abd Rais and skip Fairul Izwan Abd Muin 12-11 in round one, but stumbled 17-13 against India’s Navneet Rathi and Sunhil Bahadur after lunch.
They regrouped by beating Ireland’s Ian McClure and Gary Kelly, 23-13.
Commonwealth Games gold medallists and 2012 world champions Alex Marshall and Paul Foster, from Scotland, beat Cyprus 30-10 and followed up with a 20-17 win over Singapore, but lost their third-round clash to Australia’s Aaron Wilson and Brett Wilkie, who had beaten South Africa 17-11 and drawn 14-14 with Jersey.