Bowls International — November 2017

SCOTTISH NEWS by Anne Dunwoodie

8 BOWLS INTERNATIONAL November 2017

L

awn Bowls was the first

team to announce their

line up ahead of next year’s

Commonwealth Games on the

Australian Gold Coast with the

five player team for men and

women made known at Stirling

University.

Stalwart Alex Marshall will be

making a sixth Commonwealth

appearance as he heads nearer

to the record seven appearances

made by Willie Wood between

1974 and 2002, missing just the

1986 Games.

Marshall, 50, will spearhead

the Scottish challenge alongside

Paul Foster, Darren Burnett and

newcomers Ronnie Duncan and

Derek Oliver.

It will be a third Games for

Caroline Brown and Claire

Johnston with Lesley Doig and

Stacey McDougall making

their debut alongside the

controversial selection of Sydney

based Kay Moran, who set up

home in Australia after winning

a pairs silver medal with the late

Joyce Lindores against Karen

Murphy and Lynsey Armitage

at the Melbourne Games in

2006.

Prior to the Glasgow Games,

Moran, who carries dual

nationality, and understandably

was not at the team

announcement, was in the

Australian elite squad but failed

to make the grade for 2014, so

it is something of a surprise that

she has turned her back on her

adopted country to grab another

chance at glory for Scotland,

leaving ‘Joe public’ wondering

why she could pass the stringent

selection process when she

hasn’t bowled in Scotland for the

last ten years?

Marshall has no such divided

loyalties and has already

pocketed four gold medals, three

from the pairs and one from the

fours, gleaned from Manchester

with George Sneddon and then

Melbourne with best buddy

2018 Scottish

Commonwealth

Games Team

Foster and once again with Foster

at the majestic Games in Glasgow

and fours alongside Neil Speirs

and David Peacock.

Burnett will feature in his fourth

successive Games.

The women though have failed

to deliver in two Games, with

Brown making the most impact

in Glasgow when she was pipped

21-20 in the singles quarter final

by Natalie Chestney, the then

holder who went on to win silver

after losing in the final to Kiwi Jo

Edwards.

The playing line up has still to

be formulated with suggestions

that either Alex Marshall or

defending champion Darren

Burnett could be in line for that

singles berth with Caroline Brown

or Lesley Doig, who was narrowly

beaten into silver at the world

championships in NZ last year, in

the frame for the ladies singles

position.

Head Coach David Gourlay will

once again be joined by his tried

and tested support team from

their hugely successful Glasgow

Games with Ricky Taylor the

Team Manager and Coaches

George Sneddon and Sandra

McLeish.

SCOTLAND’S 2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES TEAMS

Men: Darren Burnett, Ronnie Duncan, Paul Foster MBE, Derek Oliver Alex Marshall

MBE;

Women: Caroline Brown, Lesley Doig, Claire Johnston, Stacey McDougall, Kay Moran:

The Scottish Commonwealth Games team members at the announcement

Lesley Doig will compete in her

first Games

IN the playdowns for the Jack High

Insurance Women’s Masters final,

which will be decided during the

first WBT ranking event of the

season at the Dewars Centre in

Perth on November 10, Scotland’s

recently named Commonwealth

Games team member Caroline

Brown, the reigning British singles

champion, will go head to head

with international team mate

Leanne Furye from Arbroath for

the title.

During the second phase of

the knock-out stages, Brown beat

fellow international colleagues

Liz Fraser from Turriff, Glasgow’s

Lorna Cameron and then Lauren

Upton from Tweedbank 2-0 on

a tie break to set up her title

challenge, while Furye knocked

off Ruth Stewart from East Fife,

was pushed to a 2-1 tie break by

Sarah Jane Ewing and then got past

Blantyre’s Mhairi Buchanan.

The newly created Masters

replaces with old SIBA Champion

of Champions event.

RESULTS

Rebecca Houston (Prestwick Ambassador) beat Kim Watt (Stonehaven) 8-3, 6-

Mhairi Buchanan (Coatbridge) beat Angela Banks (Stonehaven) 4-7, 8-4, 2-

Leanne Furye (Arbroath) beat Ruth Stewart (East Fife) 11-3, 7-

Sarah Ewing (Headwell) beat Claire Walker (Blantyre) 9-7, 6-7, 2-

Caroline Brown (Blantyre) beat Liz Fraser (Turriff ) 10-4, 9-

Lorna Cameron (Glasgow) beat Ellie Borthwick (Midlothian) 9-9, 10-

Rachel Sinclair (West of Scotland) beat Kimberley Dodds (Falkirk) 7-4, 2-11, 0-2;

Quarter Finals: Buchanan bt Houston 10-2, 9-

Furye v Ewing 9-4, 6-9, 2-

Brown v Cameron 9-7, 11-

Lauren Upton (Tweedbank) bt Sinclair 10-7, 13-1;

Semi Finals: Furye bt Buchanan 11-9, 10-

Brown bt Upton 5-8, 14-4, 2-0;

Jack High Insurance Women’s Masters Championship

08-9_BI_SCOTNEWS_Nov17_cc.indd 8 12/10/2017 14: