South Australian bowls is undergoing a renaissance which could soon see it return to its halcyon days.
Less than 24 hours after Marion’s Ashley Klose rose from the dead against Alex Murtagh to capture the $40,000 BCiB Queensland Open at Bribie Island, Kensington-Marryatville’s Penny Landherr became the state’s first Australian representative since 2004 when she was given the nod to make her international debut at the Asia Pacific Merdeka Indoor Championships in Malaysia earlier today (1/8).
Selected as one of Australia’s six-strong side, Landherr, who was awarded cap number 75, made a winning start as she defeated Korea’s Dong Sun Kim 14-2, 9-4 in the women’s singles.
Former Western Australian star Kelli Wray, who now bowls for Club Merrylands in NSW, also made her international debut and started promisingly with a 10-6, 5-6, 4-3 victory over Hong Kong’s Queenie Lai.
A multi-discipline tournament, the 2009 Asia Pacific Merdeka Indoor Championships features singles for both men and women, as well as mixed pairs and triples, and will run from August 1 to 5.
While South Australia is clearly making its mark on the green, enjoying its finest 24 hours in recent memory following Klose’s win and Landherr’s debut, the state is undergoing a golden era off the rink as the sport goes from strength-to-strength.
Having recently appointed 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Bill Cornehls as its high performance manager, South Australia will also host three of the sport’s biggest tournaments over the next three years, which is sure to provide the game with a genuine kick along.
In a major coup, Holdfast Bay will host the time-honoured Australian Sides Championships next year, which features the top-12 men and women from each and every state and territory across the nation, before co-hosting the 2011 Asia Pacific Championships and the 2012 World Championships, the game’s pinnacle event, with Lockleys.
According to Landherr, the sport is heading in the right direction in South Australia.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Bill (Cornehls),” the 47-year-old said following her Australian debut.
“It’s an exciting time for bowls in South Australia at the moment.
“My goal has always been to make the World Bowls team in 2012 and anything that comes up before that is a bonus.
“I wasn’t overly happy with the way I played today…but it’s nice to have a first up win and it will give me a bit of confidence going into the mixed pairs (alongside newly crowned World Champion of Champions Brett Wilkie).”
