Blackjacks legend Jo Edwards has advanced to the semifinals

Blackjacks legend Jo Edwards has advanced to the semifinals of the women’s singles at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast after posting two big wins over Malaysian rival Emma Firyana Saroji on Saturday.

It means that Edwards is now just two games off repeating her 2014 gold medal triumph.

In order to qualify, Edwards beat Saroji 21-7 in a comprehensive display and then repeated it with a 21-9 win later in the day. Remarkably, the random quarterfinal draw placed the two against each other.

Edwards meets Colleen Piketh (South Africa) in the semifinals, which start at 2.30pm on Sunday (NZT). Piketh came from behind to upset Australia’s Karen Murphy in the quarterfinals.

Edwards will then play off for either gold or bronze on Sunday evening, commencing at 7.31pm (NZT).

But elsewhere it was largely a forgettable day for the Kiwis, with the three other able-body disciplines all being soundly beaten at the quarterfinals stage to be eliminated.

It was an especially difficult pill to swallow after the women’s four, and both the men’s pair and triple had appeared in good touch. But the curse of the quarterfinals struck again.

The women’s four bowed out 16-8 to South Africa

The women’s four bowed out 16-8 to South Africa, the men’s pair were defeated 20-7 by Wales and the men’s triple went down 25-10 to Australia.

Tayla Bruce, Val Smith, Katelyn Inch and Mandy Boyd’s demise came after they had been beaten 16-11 by the same side, South Africa, in the last section play game earlier in the day, after trailing 11-1. It was déjà vu a few hours later, falling behind 12-1 in the quarterfinals. And while Boyd’s side rallied, it was to no avail.

Blake Signal and Shannon McIlroy were perhaps left to rue a qualifying path that was a little too easy, even though they had a good work-out against the non-qualifying English on Saturday morning. Against Wales in the last eight, they fell behind 4-0 (after two ends) and 12-4 (after 11) and never recovered.

The triple of Michael Nagy, Paul Girdler and Ali Forsyth, after completing section play with the perfect record, were never really in the hunt in the quarterfinals against the favoured Australians. The green-and-golds led 8-0 after three ends. At 12-7 after 10 ends, Forsyth’s side still had a sniff, but a two and a single to Australia, followed soon after by successive threes, put the game beyond reach. The hosts simply put many more bowls around the head.

The triple of Michael Nagy, Paul Girdler and Ali Forsyth were never really in the hunt in the quarterfinals

Men’s assistant coach Richard Girvan admitted it had been a frustrating day. “Yes, it was a very tough day for the team. As you can imagine, the team is extremely disappointed with the results. Both the men’s pair and four were outplayed by Wales and Australia respectively and you have to take your hat off to them.”

All able-body players get a second chance, when from Monday, the men revert to singles and fours and the women to pairs and triples.

Bruce Wakefield, Barry Wynks and Mark Noble in the B6/B7/B8 triples made it two wins from three matches with a relatively trouble-free victory over Scotland 17-9

But there was further concern in the B2/B3 mixed pairs, involving David Stallard [with Peter Blick] and Sue Curran [with Ann Muir]). They lost their second match, this time to Australia 16-11.

BLACKJACKS IN ACTION

Results day three – Saturday, April 7.

Women’s singles (Jo Edwards): beat Malaysia 21-7; Quarterfinals beat Malaysia 21-9.

Men’s pairs (Blake Signal, Shannon McIlroy): beat England 14-12; Quarterfinals lost to Wales 20-7.

Men’s triples (Michael Nagy, Paul Girdler, Ali Forsyth): beat Namibia 28-8; Quarterfinals lost to Australia 25-10.

Women’s fours (Tayla Bruce, Val Smith, Katelyn Inch, Mandy Boyd): lost to South Africa 16-11; Quarterfinals lost to South Africa 16-8.

B2/B3 mixed pairs (David Stallard [with Peter Blick], Sue Curran [with Ann Muir]): lost to Australia 16-11.

B6/B7/B8 triples (Bruce Wakefield, Barry Wynks, Mark Noble): beat Scotland 17-9.

Draw day four – Sunday, April 8. NB: all times are NZT.

Women’s singles (Jo Edwards): semifinals 2.30pm v South Africa; either gold or bronze medal match 7.30pm.

B2/B3 mixed pairs (David Stallard [with Peter Blick], Sue Curran [with Ann Muir]): 11am v Scotland.

B6/B7/B8 triples (Bruce Wakefield, Barry Wynks, Mark Noble): 7.30pm v South Africa.