2024 Nationals: Day 15 wrap

by Aidan Davis on October 23, 2024

Western Australia claimed a maiden gold medal of the 2024 Australian Championships, while Queensland added their third, during a heated day of fours action from Broadbeach today.

Women’s

The sandgroper quartet of Helen Heal, Robyn O’Brien, Hailey Packer and Kristina Krstic, from Manning Memorial, enjoyed a flawless run through three sectional rubbers, with a comprehensive 35-shot differential after overcoming ACT 23-9, Victoria 19-8 and Tasmania 19-9 en route to a gold medal decider.

Their opponents for the ultimate decider were Queensland’s Kira Bourke, Kelsey Cottrell, Chloe Stewart and Lynsey Clarke, who somewhat limped into the final, quite literally.

The composite Maroon team drew their opening match-up against the Northern Territory 15-15, toppled South Australia 22-8 in the second, and faced a do-or-die third round encounter against the NSW to avoid any sort of count-back.

The Cottrell-skipped star-studded team booked passage to the final, upstaging a winless Blues 17-9, but weren’t without casualty, as Cottrell suffered a knee injury, relegating her to second position and elevating Clarke to skip for the gold medal decider.

The Western Australian dream team dropped just one of the opening eight ends, to burst out to a 13-2 lead, with a successful short-end strategy employed.

Clarke’s quartet enjoyed a purple patch, stringing together four consecutive ends to claw back the deficit to just 7, 6-13 after 11, before producing a further 4 to put them back within the hunt.

The best from the West clawed back 1 shot on the 13th, with a stellar Kristic draw despite enormous pressure, and another on the penultimate, to take a 5 shot delta into the last.

A clutch deft draw from Krstic proved the difference in the latter stages, after all were on-song early, securing victory 17-10.

Across the green, Tasmania were agonisingly close to three successive women’s bronze medals across the Australian Championships, with former Australian Jackaroo Rebecca Van Asch involved in all, but were pipped at the post by South Australia’s Margaret Chandler, Kellie Paull, Jennifer Redshaw and Sharon Cavanagh by a slender shot 15-14.

Men’s

Queensland’s Tyler Pettigrew, Brad Piper, Cody Gerick and Kane Nelson overcame a strong section, and an unblemished NSW contingent to claim the state’s third title, and Nelson’s second of the event after he prevailed in the pairs earlier in the week.

The Maroon team upstaging a Josh Walker-Davis Tasmanian outfit 17-9 in the opening rubber, but had their colours lowered by a Nathan Black South Australian contingent 10-11, before overcoming a Dylan Fisher Victorian combination 19-10 to book a gold medal berth on a count-back, seven shots clear of the Croweaters.

Their opponents in the title bout were NSW’s Tim Twining, Jamie Minter, Matthew Baus and Lee Schraner, who stormed into the gold medal match courtesy of a faultless sectional campaign, where they toppled Western Australia 14-11, Northern Territory 18-12 and ACT 19-8.

It was a nip-and-tuck, nail-biting encounter between two of the most in-form skips of the moment, with Nelson taking a 3 shot lead into the last, and consolidating to finish five shots clear, 13-8.

Black’s South Australian teaming of Will McPharlin, Andrew Hill and Craig Mills were victorious in the bronze medal decider, overcoming Western Australia 20-10.