Canterbury’s Commonwealth Games duo Tayla Bruce and Katelyn Inch will carry the remainder of New Zealand’s hopes in the Women’s Singles at the World Junior Championships at the Broadbeach Bowls Club on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Keanu Darby and Rory Soden ultimately failed to progress past their section in the Men’s Singles and it was a similar story in the Mixed Pairs, leaving Bruce and Inch as the shining lights in their singles discipline.
Tayla Bruce : Medal guaranteed
Burnside’s Tayla Bruce has guaranteed herself a medal courtesy of topping her section and earning a Bye into the semi finals.
Bruce made serious inroads on previous section leader Kristina Kristic of Australia over the final two days of singles play. Despite suffering her only loss of the section (to Bruce) way back in round 2 of 9, Kristic was drawn a Bye in the final round. With Bruce also only dropping the one match to Norfolk Island’s Shae Wilson, she rebounded to gather some serious margin with her last 4 games producing 21-11, 21-2, 21-9, 21-13 victories, overtaking Krstic on margin while the Western Australian watched on from the sideline in the last round.
Bruce will now await the winner of the all-Australian quarter final affair between Chloe Stewart and Krstic.
“They’re all tough at this stage” was Bruce’s response when questioned of who might be her biggest threat. “Katelyn is going pretty strong as well which is cool for us (New Zealand).”
Katelyn Inch : Going pretty strong
Looking to meet Bruce in a possible final will be her Commonwealth Games teammate Katelyn Inch who is on the opposite side of the post section draw. The Broadbeach based 22 year old also only had the one loss in sectional play – to Australia’s Ellen Ryan.
Inch will now face Norfolk Island’s Shae Wilson, herself having a sensational tournament having booked a spot in the Mixed Pairs semi final. The winner of the Inch/Wilson clash will face Ryan.
Inch defeated last year’s winner and Commonwealth Games rep rep Pricilla Westlake of Canada 21-9 in Round 3.
In the men’s singles Rory Soden was unable to overcome Hong Kong China’s James Po in the final round, losing 21-18 in a top class game. Winning the game would have seen him qualify for the quarter finals. Instead, that spot went to Scotland’s Ryan Burnett in an incredibly tight section where five of the nine players finished with four wins and four losses.
New Zealand’s Keanu Darby also finished with four wins and four losses to finish 5th in the other men’s singles section.
Darby also lost his final round match of the Mixed Pairs with Tayla Bruce 18-15 to Guernsey– where a win would have seen them qualify for the quarter finals.
Ditto for the other Kiwi combo – In the final round Katelyn Inch and Rory Soden fell to Ireland who at that point had only notched a single victory after 8 rounds. This loss ultimately cost them the chance at a medal.
Inch’s singles quarter final will commence at 10:30am Thursday local time, where she will look to join Tayla Bruce in the semi finals at 3:30pm local time.
World Youth Championships – Broadbeach BC, Gold Coast
Mens Singles Section 1
New Zealand Rory Soden
4 wins, 4 losses, +7, 4th place (of 9) did not qualify
Mens Singles Section 2
New Zealand Keanu Darby
4 wins, 4 losses, +12, 5th place (of 10) did not qualify
Womens Singles Section 1
New Zealand Katelyn Inch
6 wins, 1 loss, +43, 2nd place (of 8) qualified into quarter finals V Shae Wilson (Norfolk Island)
Womens Singles Section 2
New Zealand Tayla Bruce
7 wins, 1 loss, +87, 1st place (of 9) qualified into semi final V winner of Chloe Stewart (Australia) V Kristina Krstic (Australia)
Mixed Pairs Section 1
New Zealand Tayla Bruce/Keanu Darby
4 wins, 4 losses, +18, 4th place (of 9) did not qualify
Mixed Pairs Section 2
New Zealand Katelyn Inch/Rory Soden
3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses, +15, 4th place (of 8) did not qualify
