Bronze for Aussie duo, Black to play for gold
It was a day of mixed results for Australian duo Jessie Cottell and Nathan Black at the IIBC World Under 25 Indoor Championships, collecting their first international silverware in the process.
It wasn’t to be for the Australians in the mixed pairs, falling short in their semi final to collect a bronze medal.
Cottell would suffer a tight quarter final loss in the women’s singles, while Black booked his spot in Friday’s men’s singles final.
Mixed Pairs
Cottell and Black leave Scotland with international medals, collecting bronze in the mixed pairs after a semi final loss.
Taking on Ireland’s Shauna O’Neill and Ryan McElroy for the second time this week, a place in the final was up for grabs.
The Aussies were competitive in the first set, winning three of the seven ends, but were unable to score in multiples, while two collects of three helped the Irish take the opener 8-3.
Cottell and Black responded in the all important second set, leading 4-1 after three ends before Ireland mounted their comeback.
With Australia leading 5-4 with one end to play, the Aussies were unable to score on the deciding end, dropping a one to tie the second set 5-5 and bow out of the event.
The Irish team continued their strong run, going on to take out the gold medal.
Men’s Singles
Just as he has done throughout the week, Nathan Black dug deep with his back against the wall to win his way into the men’s singles final.
Starting his day with a quarter final matchup against Namibia’s John-Pierre Fouche, Black had his work cutout.
The Aussie won just two ends in the first set, going down 9-7, but scoring heavily with a three and a four when he did impact the scoreboard.
With the score tied at 5-5 and just two ends left in the second set, Black dropped a two, leaving him needing a three on the final end to force tiebreak.
Similar to Australia’s mixed pairs quarter final win over Hong Kong China on Wednesday, Black got the score he needed with the last bowl of the set, winning 8-7 to go to a deciding end.
Victory in that end set up a semi final contest against Ryan Davies (Wales).
It was much smoother sailing for Black in the semi final, dominating in a 7-4, 10-0 victory to book his spot in the final.
He will meet Malaysia’s Muhammad Idham Amin Bin Ramlan in the final from 11.30am GMT on Friday.
Women’s Singles
After a dominant week, Jessie Cottell bowed out of the women’s singles in a heartbreaking tiebreak loss on Thursday.
Advancing out of her section unbeaten and in red-hot form, Cottell faced off against Scotland’s Aimee Harris in a quarter final in the first session of the day.
Cottell opened the contest well, collecting a pair of twos to lead 4-0 after two ends.
After that point the first set belonged to the Scot, scoring in singles for the remaining five ends to take the lead and the first set 5-4.
The Aussie bounced straight back in style, winning the first five ends of the second set, claiming a 7-2 set win with the final end not required to be played.
In a do-or-die tiebreak, it was Harris that edged out Cottell to keep her campaign alive, and put Cottell’s to an end.
Day 4 AUS results – view all results here
- Women’s singles QF: Cottell (AUS) def by Aimee Harris (Scotland) 4-5, 7-2, 0-1
- Men’s Singles QF: Black (AUS) def John-Pierre Fouche (Namibia) 7-9, 8-7, 1-0
- Mixed Pairs SF: Cottell/Black (AUS) def by Shauna O’Neill & Ryan McElroy (Ireland) 3-8, 5-5
- Men’s singles SF: Black def Ryan Davies (Wales) 7-4, 10-0
Day 5 AUS schedule – Fri, Dec 8 (local Scotland time)
- 11.30am GMT: Men’s Singles Final (AUS v MAS)
Streaming information
Nathan Black’s singles final will be live-streamed on the World Bowls Facebook Page and World Bowls YouTube channel.
Men’s Singles Final Time zones
| GMT (Scotland) | AEDT (ACT, NSW, TAS, VIC) | ACDT (SA) | AEST (QLD) | ACST (NT) | AWST (WA) |
| 11.30am session | 10.30pm | 10pm | 9.30pm | 9pm | 7.30pm |
The Junior World Bowls Indoor Championships runs from December 4-8, 2023 in East Kilbride, Scotland.
