#AusOpenGC silver medal for Qld fours men
Queenslanders relegated to second spot on last bowl of the night, despite leading for much of the game Queenslanders Paul Girdler, Dean McWhinney, Ian Law and their New Zealand ring-in Shannon McIlroy have been relegated to silver medals in the Australian Open fours championship, despite leading on three occasions after the eighth end.
The South Australian greens-keeper contingent of Steven Dennis, Nathan Pedersen, Wayne Ruediger and Scott Thulborn went one step further than last year by beating the local boys to finish the Australian Open on a fairytale ending, after a runner-up finish at Darebin last year.
The men’s final was won with the last shot of the night, when Thulborn found himself down two shots, 9-11, and down in the count, but delivered a bomb with his last delivery, collecting the jack and poaching three shots to prevail by one.
In the women’s fours final, Australian Jackaroos ace Natasha Scott guided a band of young-guns to one of the most coveted prizes in the sport of bowls.
The quartet went shot for shot against the experienced team of Jan Agar, Sue Auman, Sharyn Renshaw and Beth Quinlan, with scores tied five times during the encounter.
The champions broke the game open on the 13th end with four shots, only to surrender the same on the next end.
Down one going into the last, Scott bathed herself in glory, drawing second shot with her last bullet to collect two shots, the title, and the lucrative $20,000 cheque that accompanies it.
Bowls Australia’s full report on both matches can be found here.