The $40,000 BCiB Queensland Open has thrown up a “shock” result before the tournament has even commenced with one of the pre-competition favourites failing to qualify.
With the main draw set to ignite at Bribie Island on Sunday (26/7), national under-25 representative Lisa Mitchell, who just three months ago was playing in the final of the Australian Indoor Championships, failed to navigate her way through the pool of death as she crashed out of the women’s singles.
Such is the reality of the BCiB Queensland Open, which pits the who’s who of the bowls world against each other, that Mitchell, ranked 14th in the nation, was unable to progress through to the opening round after losing two of her three qualifying matches.
Despite defeating Australian silver tier member Therese Hastings in the opening match of her pool games, Mitchell slumped to back-to-back losses to Caloundra RSL’s Janice Curran and Zoe Jones to make a hasty exit.
In the wash-up, Hastings, herself a finalist at the Australian Indoors in 2008, topped the group, with Curran also qualifying after the pair finished with 2-1 records.
In other results, former Australian star and Commonwealth Games representative Maria Rigby had no such problems progressing, finishing Pool 3 with an unblemished record, while former Australian Open champion Katrina Wright narrowly avoided an early exit, qualifying as a consolation winner.
A multi-discipline tournament, the BCiB Queensland Open features singles, pairs and triples for women, with the finals broadcast across the nation on ABC TV.
Qualifying continues at Bribie Island and surrounding clubs today with the main draw running from Sunday, July 26 to Friday, July 31.
Click here for more information on the 2009 BCiB Queensland Open.
*Meanwhile, South Tweed’s Kelsey Cottrell and Helensvale’s Brett Wilkie have endured contrasting fortunes on the opening day of the World Champion of Champions in Ayr, Scotland overnight.
Bidding to become the first Australian female to lift the coveted title, Cottrell, who entered the tournament as the player to beat, claimed back-to-back wins to commence her campaign in fine style, but the news was not as positive for Wilkie.
Lining up against little known Philippines player Emmanuel Portacio, the 35-year-old failed to find his rhythm on the Scottish greens, dropping his opening match in straight sets before rebounding in the afternoon session with a 12-7, 6-6 victory against Portugal’s Gerry Jones.
Earlier in the day, Cottrell, who claimed bronze for Australia in the World Championships in Christchurch last year, was given a scare when she dropped her opening set to Wales’ Denise Molan.
World Champion of Champions Results:
Round one:
Kelsey Cottrell (AUST) d Denise Molan (WAL) 7-12, 8-7, 3-1
Round two:
Kelsey Cottrell (AUST) d Christine Hore (N.I) 11-1, 12-4
