Val Ferro for Commonwealth Games Australia
The Australian Jackaroos have created history at Birmingham 2022 as Ellen Ryan has claimed gold in the women’s singles at Victoria Park.
In her 21-17 victory over Guernsey representative Lucy Beere, Ryan became the first Australian to win the women’s singles event at the Commonwealth Games, after becoming the second player from the country to reach the final, following in the footsteps of National Assistant Coach and mentor Karen Murphy.
Furthermore, the Goulburn native has become the first Australian bowler to claim a gold medal on UK soil in a momentous day for the sport.
The match itself was a tight tussle, with Beere racing to a 9-2 advantage early in the piece, before Ryan clawed her way back into the ascendancy, sending the Australian contingent into raptures following the final end.
Ryan becomes the eleventh female to even win gold for Australia at bowls.
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Earlier in the day, the men’s triples team of Barrie Lester, Carl Healey and Ben Twist fell agonisingly short of claiming a title of their own, providing an outstanding fightback against their English opponents of Louis Ridout, Nick Brett and Jamie Chestney.
At the halfway point of the contest, the Australian trio found themselves down 12-1 but by the end of the 16th end proceedings were level at 12-12.
With control of the penultimate end, Chestney managed to find a piece of brilliance and put the jack into the ditch to gain the upper hand with one to play.
The English would hold on for a three-shot victory and the gold.
However, with his silver, Barrie Lester equalled history with his fourth Commonwealth Games medal, equalling that of Murphy and Nathan Rice.
In the women’s para pairs, Serena Bonnell and Cheryl Lindfield booked their place in Wednesday’s gold medal match with a 19-12 victory over South Africa.
The duo will face Scotland in the final after they defeated England 16-10.
Damien Delgado and Chris Flavel continued the delightful day for the nation, also advancing through to the decider of the para men’s pairs with a comprehensive 17-4 win over England.
The pair will meet the Scots in the final tomorrow after they accounted for New Zealand.
In the vision impaired para mixed pairs, Helen Boardman and Jake Fehlberg finished the day second in their pool, behind Scotland who defeated them by two shots in the final session of the day.
Play will resume for Fehlberg and Boardman tomorrow as they look to sure up their spot in the knockout rounds.
