2023 World Champion of Champions: Day 2 recap
Day two of the 2023 World Champion of Champions sees Karen Murphy right in the hunt for progression to the quarterfinals, while Jono Davis will miss the knockout stage after a tough day at Robina.
Following two tight contests on the inaugural afternoon, Murphy’s attention turned to Hong Kong’s Hilda Fong Sim Tam in the morning session.
The 48-year-old was in fine touch as she took the opening stanza in a close battle before clinching the second in similar fashion.
With the result a foregone conclusion, the third set concluded in a tie to give Murphy a 3-2 4-2 5-5 victory ahead of her second contest against Norfolk Island’s Shae Wilson.
The middle session began in difficult fashion for the Australian, as her opponent played a scintillating first set to give herself a strong foothold on the match.
Stanza two went back and fourth but ultimately the Cabramatta exponent would clinch it to force a live decider, which would also fall to Murphy as she saluted 2-8 4-2 7-4 in an epic contest.
2022 semifinalist Anne Nunes would await in the Bowls Australia (BA) Hall of Fame Legend’s concluding match of the day, and with both placed highly in section three, the result would have huge permutations for the pool.
Murphy claimed the opener in style before the American responded in sensational fashion to claim the second and a close third to clinch a 2-8 5-2 3-2 victory and move into the automatic qualification position.
The Australian sits in third place behind New Zealand’s Selina Goddard and Nunes, but her record of four wins and a loss holds her in good stead with two next best qualifiers to head to the quarterfinals.
In the men’s field, Davis began his day against Namibia’s Schalk Willem van Wyk and just fell short in the opening set before his opponent stepped it up in the second to seal the contest.
The New South Welshman would claim the third but it was too late as van Wyk took a 4-3 10-0 5-6 win.
It was agony for Davis in the second match against Singapore’s Anthony Loh Kee Sin as he stormed to the opening set before losing a tight second.
The Singapore native would ultimately claim the decider and run away with a 0-12 5-3 8-1 win and ensure that Davis would not progress out of the sectional rounds.
View the day 2 results and tournament schedule HERE
The tournament will run from September 12-16 at the Robina Bowls Club on the Gold Coast, with live streaming to be done by Gold Coast Tweed District on their Facebook and YouTube pages.
