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Men’s Singles

Kiwi international Russell Meyer won the blue-ribbon men’s singles event on the last end of a tie-breaker.

Meyer overcame 33-year-old Leif Selby from St Johns Park Bowls Club in Sydney with the last bowl of the match to become the first overseas bowler to claim the Australian Open singles trophy.

The New Zealander said the win meant a great deal to him after finishing 10th in the singles at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

“This is great after the disappointment of a couple weeks ago at the Commonwealth Games,” said Meyer.

“It’s good to know you can come back quickly and match it with the best players from Australia and some from overseas.”

In the first set Meyer got off to a flying start when he picked-up seven shots over the first two ends. Selby got on a roll winning the next four ends, but it was too late as the Kiwi took the set 9-8.

Selby won six of eight ends in the second to take the set by five shots and force the match into a three-end shoot-out.

On the final end of the tie-breaker Selby killed the end with his third bowl and held game when Meyer went to the mat to deliver his last.

The Kiwi was equal to the challenge though as he drew the shot for a 9-8, 4-9, 2-1 victory.

“We played three good ends in the tie-breaker and either of us could have won each of them,” Meyer said.

“I would like to thank the Cabramatta Bowls Club for allowing me to miss the final round of Premier League so that I could have a crack at winning the Australian Open.”

Meyer, 33, is originally from Palmerston North in New Zealand and has lived in Sydney since 2000.

Selby said he was happy with the way he played in the final and that he enjoyed the whole experience of competing in Australia’s premier event.

“We are good mates and I am very happy for him, as he would have been for me if it had gone the other way,” said Selby.

“I never really felt I was out of the game. It wasn’t a good start but I still felt comfortable.

“We were both desperate to win and relieved that it had come down to a tie-breaker.

“The game came down to the last bowl and while the disappointment is there I am so happy that I advanced to this stage of the tournament.

“To get beaten on the last bowl by the better player on the day is something you can accept quite easily.”

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Women’s Singles

Noosa Heads bowler Julie Keegan claimed the biggest prize of her short bowls career by winning the women’s singles.

Keegan, a wildcard entry, beat Fijian international and reigning Asia Pacific champion Litia Tikoisuva in a tie-breaker.

After dropping a close first set by two shots, Keegan dominated the second, winning 9-2 on short ends to force the match into a best-of-three-ends shoot-out.

The Queenslander took the upper-hand on the opening end of the tie-breaker when she played with weight with her last bowl and trailed the jack three metres for shot.

On the second end she drew the shot within millimeters of the jack with her third bowl and Tikoisuva failed to remove it with two attempts.

The final scoreline was 6-8, 9-2, 2-0.

For Keegan, it was the fifth time in as many games that she had won in a tie-breaker and she did so despite suffering a corked thigh that was giving her trouble throughout the latter stages of the match.

“It was neck and neck in the first set until I dropped a three on the 8th end,” she said.

“After that I just got my composure back and concentrated on the second set. I just tried to dig really deep and push myself harder. The sore thigh made me more determined.

“It hasn’t really sunk in ¬yet – it’s just fantastic and a moment I will never forget,” she said.

On the way to the final Keegan, who has only been playing bowls for six years, defeated Australian squad members Brenda Thompson and Claire Duke as well as Commonwealth Games pairs gold medallist Lynsey Armitage.

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Men’s Pairs

Tasmania’s Mark Nitz and Mark Strochnetter won the Australian Open pairs title in a tie-breaker.

The duo beat Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Barrie Lester and Nathan Rice at the Darebin International Sports Centre to record their second consecutive victory in Bowls Australia’s grand prix events.

“Given the quality of the field in this event I would have to rate this as one of my best weeks of bowls,” said Strochnetter.

“It was nice to finish it off and get the result in the final.”

Nitz and Strochnetter made a positive start to the match, winning the first three ends, but then dropped the maximum four shots on the fifth to trail 3-5.

They hit back with two more shots on the 6th to draw level, but Rice responded with some great deliveries to take the set 8-6.

The Tasmanian pair set the pace in the second, winning six of the nine ends to take the set 7-5 and force the match into a best-of-three-ends shoot-out.

On the second end of the tie-breaker Strochnetter played a perfect running shot to pick-up the jack and wrap-up the match 6-8, 7-5, 2-0.

The win gives Strochnetter, 28, and a member of the Longford Bowling Club in Launceston, his second national title. He won the Australian SuperSingles in 2002.

A member of the Burnie Bowls Club, 27-year-old Nitz claimed his first national crown.

“Nathan Rice played two of the best bowls you will ever see towards the end of that first set,” said Nitz.

“It was those conversion shots that won them the set.”

“We both improved in the second set,” said Strochnetter.

“I was quite happy with my conversions shots and I usually had one or two bowls to work with.”

Rice said he was not too disappointed as he felt that both he and Lester had played as well as they could in what were difficult conditions.

“Their lead was very steady throughout the game and Mark Strochnetter was really burning,” he said.

“In those conditions he shouldn’t have been playing the shots he was playing.”

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Women’s Pairs

Queensland qualifiers Margaret Fairbairn and Helen Bosisto took out the pairs final.The duo beat the highly-fancied combination of NSW’s Sharyn Renshaw and South African international Lorna Trigwell in a tie-breaker.

“To have the international players in the field and to perform against players of that calibre is such a thrill,” said Coolangatta-based Bosisto.

Fairbairn, a member at Caloundra Bowls Club, started the match brilliantly, consistently smothering the jack with her bowls and allowing the combination to take the opening set by three shots.

Renshaw and Trigwell hit back strongly in the second and the tactic of playing long ends paid dividends as they took the set 12-2 to force the match into a best-of-three-ends shoot-out.

Trigwell, who has two Commonwealth Games gold medals to her credit, had all the momentum going into the tie-breaker, but it was the gritty determination of Fairbairn and Bosisto that won out.

A former Australian representative, Bosisto played a great conversion shot on the opening end of the shoot-out to grab the early advantage.

Renshaw and Trigwell scored on the second, before Bosisto played a stunning draw shot through a cluster of bowls on the last end for a 10-7, 2-12, 2-1 victory.

“It was an absolutely fantastic last bowl,” said Fairbairn.

“I knew if she got through the gap she would get the shot.

“I probably won’t sleep for the next few nights – I’ll be replaying each end in my mind.”

Bosisto said the start that Fairburn gave them in the opening set was crucial.

“Margaret set it up right from the start – if your lead is on you are laughing,” she said.

“We struggled with the weight in the second set. They certainly played the full length ends better than us.

“However I was confident going into the tie-breaker. Once the second set was over it was a new start.”

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Men’s Triples

Three Melbourne-based club bowlers defeated a team of Kiwi internationals to claim the Australian Open triples title.

In a classic case of the outsiders getting over the line, Alan Dove, Graham Edwards and Wayne Roberts from the Yarraville-Footscray Bowling Club defeated the New Zealand team in a tie-breaker.

The Melbourne trio won five of the first six ends of the opening set before taking the set by four shots.

The stunned combination of Justin Goodwin, Richard Girvan and Russell Meyer, all members of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team, found some form early in the second set with four shots on the opening end.

They then scored another seven shots to take the set 11-3 and force the match into a best-of-three-ends shoot-out.

In the tie-breaker it was the underdogs that prevailed, registering an against the odds 9-5, 3-11, 2-0 victory.

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Women’s Triples

A trio of English internationals were winners of the women’s triples final.

Katherine Hawes, Jean Baker and Catherine Popple, who all played for England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, combined brilliantly to take the match 8-6, 9-3.

Gold Coast-based qualifiers Barbara Gates, Ann Maree Hardey and Carmen Anderson made a great start when they won the opening two ends to jump out to a 4-0 lead.

But from that point the English trio won the next five ends to take the first set.

In the second, the class of the English trio was evident as they took the set by six shots.

“I was a little bit nervous in the final as I had never played in front of TV cameras before,” said Popple, who skipped the English side.

“We noticed in the semi-final that Carmen liked the short jacks so we decided to play three-quarter to longish ends and it worked. Everything just happened for us.

“Our all-round team performance has been brilliant throughout the week and we were very solid out there again today.”

Both Gates and Anderson are members of the Tweed Heads Bowls Club, while Hardey recently joined Club Helensvale.

Anderson, a former winner of the world singles title, said the English side’s tactics of playing long ends proved decisive.

“We had to start from scratch by coming through the qualifying tournament so we were all very happy to make the final,” she said.

“We got a good start, but we fell apart on the long ends. We just couldn’t find our rhythm.

“We had too many short bowls and couldn’t reach the head. That was our problem.

“And our opponents were very consistent.”

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