Media Release: Saturday February 24, 2007

UNDERDOGS CLAIM PAIRS TITLE AT OPEN

Queensland bowler Noi Tucker and Western Australia’s Therese Hastings have combined brilliantly to claim the ABN AMRO Australian Open women’s pairs trophy this morning (24/2).

The underdog duo – thrown together on the eve of the tournament – combined to topple event top seeds Julie Keegan and 2006 Commonwealth Games pairs gold medal winner Karen Murphy.

Tucker and Hastings teamed after some match-making from Bowls Australia’s high performance team.

Tucker, a national squad member, was assigned Hastings as a partner for the $100,000 event’s pairs competition due to Australia’s squad including just nine women at present.

“I’m so glad Noi let me play with her, this is the biggest thrill I have had in bowls,” Hastings said after securing the title with an 8-4, 10-9 win.

“When Noi rang to tell me we were playing together I was jumping for joy, I was literally jumping around the room.”

The winners made a speedy start to their scoring with a three on the first end putting them in the driver’s seat in the opening set.

“In sets play the start is vital and we had a plan to get on top early if we could and force them to chase shots,” Tucker said.

“Our only other plan was to have fun out there for the week and today they both worked for us.”

Murphy and Keegan were behind the eight ball early in the second set but bounced back to lead 9-8 heading into the final end of regular play.

Desperate to avoid a tie-breaker Hastings and Tucker pulled two shots back and clung on to secure a straight sets win.

“We didn’t want to go into a tie-break, it’s always a game of luck there. I played every bowl like it was in a tie-break and we needed to win,” Tucker revealed.

Tucker and Hastings had never played together prior to this week’s Open. In the final they mixed like a duo with a decade of play with one another under their belts.

“Noi set the whole match up beautifully, she played a great game and made my job very easy,” Hastings said.

“This is definitely the highlight of my career and it’s more enjoyable to win an event you can share the success with. Noi’s been a great team-mate.”

Murphy said Tucker’s brilliant play had been difficult to overcome.

“She just dominated the match, it was an unbelievable performance in such a big final,” Murphy said.

“We were hanging in their in the second set and the crowd was starting to get behind us but Noi was good enough to win it for them on the last end.”

The next time the two come together will be at the National Round Robin event in the ACT next month (March).

“When we play against each other we will be out to win for our state but now we are best friends,” Tucker joked.