Rising sun costs SA bowlers Games gold

13 April 2018 - 07:17 By David Isaacson
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Lawn Bowls at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. File photo.
Lawn Bowls at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. File photo.
Image: REUTERS/Jeremy Lee

South Africa’s chances of a lawn bowls gold evaporated in the rising sun on Friday as the women’s pair lost by a single shot after being eight up in the final third of the match against Malaysia.

Colleen Piketh‚ winner of the pairs gold at Glasgow 2014‚ and Nicolene Neal were edged 14-15 by Emma Firyana Saroji and Siti Zalina Ahmad in a tense battle.

Leading 12-3 after 10 ends and 13-5 ahead after 13‚ few people would have bet against the SA duo.

The green had been relatively slow when they started soon after 9am‚ and that was to the liking of SA‚ but the hotter it got‚ the quicker the surface became‚ and that suited their opponents more.

“We got off to a good start‚” said Piketh‚ who also won the singles bronze here. “Maybe the green changed slightly pace-wise‚ and that’s when maybe they started putting them a bit closer …

“They won and congratulations to them‚” added the skip.

The SA bowlers had always been concerned over the quick pace of the Aussie greens‚ which are different to the slower surfaces back home.

There were no bowls gold medals to be had at Gold Coast 2018‚ just as there was none at Melbourne 2006.

The team’s medal haul here featured three silvers and two bronze — well short of the five golds and two bronze of Glasgow 2014 — but a major improvement on the two bronze medals from 12 years ago.

In fact‚ the last time SA won a Games gold in bowls on Australian soil was before World War II‚ at Sydney 1938‚ when Horace Harvey won the singles.

There was no women’s section back then‚ but 31 years later the SA ladies cleaned up the pairs‚ triples and fours golds at the 1969 world championships in Sydney.

Martin Erasmus secured a second wrestling medal for SA by qualifying for the 97kg final later on Friday afternoon‚ when he will go up against India’s Mausam Khatri‚ a former Asian Games bronze medallist.

And diver Julia Vincent qualified third in the women’s 1m springboard for the evening final‚ with teammates Nicole Gillis and Micaela Bouter going through in 10th and 11th spots.

Disabled table tennis player Theo Cogill narrowly lost his semifinal 2-3 to England’s Kim Daybell and will now compete for the bronze medal against Joshua Stacey of Wales on Saturday.

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