| A triumvirate of teenagers are expected to blow through next week’s $40,000 BCiB Queensland Open at Bribie Island like a hurricane.
In a changing of the guard, the talented threesome, aged 15, 17 and 19 respectively, will start one of the nation’s biggest bowls events as the team to beat after securing a direct entry into the main event by accounting for three members of Australia’s world number one ranked women’s team.
Earlier this year, the Griffiths sisters, Carly and Shahn, joined forces with the Gold Coast’s Georgia White to capture the Queensland state championship in a massive boil over.
As a result, the teenagers were handed a free entry into the main draw of the $40,000 tournament, but are far from content to be simply making up the numbers.
“It would be awesome (to capture the double),” Shahn Griffiths said when questioned over what it would mean to add the BCiB Queensland Open title to the team’s growing list.
“I think we will just go out there and do our best (and) who knows what could happen.”
While White is a former Australian under-18 representative, Carly,15, and Shahn, 17, learnt their craft at Bribie Island and still train at the club before recently switching to Caloundra RSL, but are hoping they can make a successful return when the tournament fires into action on Sunday.
Standing in their way, however, is some of the biggest names in Australian bowls, including World Championship silver medallist Katrina Wright, Commonwealth Games representative Maria Rigby and former Australian Open champion Gail Waitai.
A multi-discipline tournament, the BCiB Queensland Open features singles, pairs and triples for both men and women, with the finals broadcast across the nation on ABC TV.
Qualifying commences at Bribie Island and surrounding clubs on Wednesday, July 22 with the main draw running from Sunday, July 26 to Friday, July 31. |
