2022 Commonwealth Games: Day 6 wrap
The Jackaroos collected their fourth medal on day six of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, on day of mixed results for the squad.
Cheryl Lindfield and Serena Bonnell were unable to match a strong Scottish side in the final of the para women’s pairs, claiming Australia’s third silver medal on the greens at Leamington Spa.
Results from other formats varied for the Jackaroos.
Aaron Wilson continued his winning ways in the men’s singles, as did Ellen Ryan and Kristina Krstic in the women’s pairs and Helen Boardman and Jake Fehlberg in the para mixed pairs.
The women’s triples sit precariously heading into their final sectional play match on Thursday, while the men’s fours side has bowed out of the competition.
Check out how each discipline fared below.
Para Women’s Pairs
It wasn’t to be for the Jackaroos as they went head-to-head with Scotland in the final of the para women’s pairs on Wednesday afternoon.
Cheryl Lindfield and Serena Bonnell went into the match with form behind them, having beaten Scotland in round robin play days earlier.
The Jackaroos won that contest by one-shot, and if the early ends were an indicator, the final looked set up to follow suit.
Scotland started the better, but dealt in ones with Bonnell able to cut down bigger scores in the opening ends to keep Australia in the hunt.
A three on the eighth end held Australia in good stead to level scores at 5-5, but it was one-way traffic from that point forward.
Scotland were clinical, building head after head to keep the Australians out of the action.
The Scots would finish the match with a 12-0 run to secure their gold medal victory 17-5 with an end to spare.
“They brought their A-game today. They’re a team you cant give any space and we just gave them too much space and too much opportunity,” Bonnell said.
“(We’re) obviously a bit disappointed. We’ve walked away with a medal and gave ourselves an opportunity to win gold. Overall, happy with our tournament.”
Lindfield said she hopes they can set an example to help bring more people into the sport.
“There will be a lot of people today watching and go ‘I reckon I can do that’,” she said.
“We’d like as many people as possible to consider it. There should be a lot of people sitting around saying I’d like to give that a go.”
The silver medal is Australia’s third on the greens, and fourth medal in total.
Final result: def by Scotland 5-17
Men’s Singles
Aaron Wilson continues to go about his business in his singles gold medal defence, recording a second win from as many matches.
Facing off against Kenya’s Cephas Kimwaki Kimani on Wednesday, Wilson flew out of the blocks to lead 9-1.
The Kenyan worked his way back, but the deficit was too much, going down by eight shots.
Wilson has two more sectional matches remaining, with Wilson sitting atop a very tight section.
R3 result: def Kenya 21-13
Women’s Pairs
The Jackaroos flexed their muscles in their final sectional rounds of the women’s pairs on Wednesday, booking their place in the quarter finals.
Ellen Ryan and Kristina Krstic started the day with a hard-fought six-shot victory over Wales, before annihilating Canada by 34 shots to finish atop their group.
The Jackaroos scored a remarkable 35 shots before Canada scored one of their own.
Pool play is still finishing, with Australia’s quarter final opponents to be confirmed on Thursday.
R2: def Wales 21-15
R3: def Canada 40-6
Women’s Triples
Australia’s women’s triples side is in an interesting situation heading into their final sectional match on Thursday, after a mixed day on Wednesday.
Things started perfectly with a 21-shot win over the Falkland Islands, before becoming complicated later in the day.
A five-shot loss to South Africa means the Jackaroos will need to come up big against Northern Ireland on Thursday.
Sitting in second with two wins, a win guarantees the Aussies a spot in the quarter finals, but their campaign isn’t necessarily over with a loss. That will depend on South Africa’s game against the Falkland Islands. All will be determined on Thursday.
R3: def Falkland Islands 28-9
R4: def by South Africa 12-17
Men’s Fours
The men’s fours side failed to qualify for the knockout stages, with two losses on Wednesday ending their campaign.
A heavy 13-shot loss to Canada in their second match meant the winner of Northern Ireland and Australia in the final group stage match would advance to the quarters.
In a hard-fought tussle, the Jackaroos fell four shots short to have their time at the Games come to and end.
R2: def by Canada 6-19
R3: def by Northern Ireland 8-12
Para Mixed Pairs
Jake Fehlberg and Helen Boardman have continued to show their fighting spirit in a come from behind win over South Africa.
The lead changed hands several times between the South Africans and Jackaroos, but it was the Aussies who secure a fourth win and second spot on the table.
Australia will face off against Wales in the para mixed pairs semi final on Thursday evening.
R5: def South Africa 16-12
