Clark Leads Aussie Youth with Silver Medal in Malaysia
By Chris Rushton
Australia’s youth team have finished their Asian Youth Championships campaign in Malaysia with Will Clark leading the team to 6th on the overall medal tally after claiming silver in the singles event and finishing fourth in the Masters.
On the opening day of competition, Clark got Australia’s campaign underway at the Megalanes centre in Kuching after the Newcastle bowler stormed home in the singles event averaging 222 to finish second overall and 15 pins behind, winner Merwin Tan from the Philippines.
After accepting his medal on the podium Clark who represented Australia for the third time said the silver medal was “special” and the result set him up for the rest of the tournament.
“I knew I was in for a chance,” Will Clark
“I knew that if I threw plus 120 in the last two games I knew I was in for a chance. Shooting the 280 with everyone behind me (in the final game) was great to get into the top 3 and then finish 2nd,” Will Clark said.
“The ceremony was great receiving the medal with the Australian flag on the back was something special,” he continued.
“The medal proved to myself that I could bowl well in the Australian shirt and it showed to myself that I had a good chance in the rest of the tournament.”
On day three, it was Callum Borck who led the boy’s team to 4th place, averaging 211 and see them fall 197 pins out of the medals. The girl’s team was led by Ivy Dickinson, who averaged 187 to finish in 5th place.
Three Aussies Make Masters
After finishing 8th in the All Events, Clark joined Jones (11th) and Dickinson (16th) in the Masters event which would conclude the tournament. Again it was Clark who led the remaining Aussie’s in the first block on the medium oil. After winning five of the 8 matches in the opening block Clark sat in fourth on the leader board with a further 8 matches on the long oil. In the second block Clark won three matches out of the 8 to finish the event in 4th and 42 pins outside of a medal. For the girls it was Jones who finished the best in 11th with Dickinson in 16th.
Singapore Emerges as Overall Champion
At the end of the Championship Singapore emerged as the overall champion with a medal haul of 6-0-3. Singapore took the boys overall title with four gold. Malaysia finished second overall with 2-4-2 and emerged as the girls overall champion with 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal.
The Philippines and Macau picked up the other gold medals at the Championship in the boys and girls singles on the opening day of the championship.
A total of 40 boys and 36 girls from ten countries participated in the week long Championships.
For all the final standings, visit the abf-online website here.
All pictures courtesy of Terence Yaw abf-online.org
Australian Results
Girls Singles Overall Results
Chloe Jones – 9th
Kylie Bailey – 12th
Emma Stephens – 19th
Ivy Dickinson – 23rd
Boys Singles Overall Results
Will Clark – 2nd
Kyle Annetts – 19th
Trent Webber – 21st
Callum Borck – 32nd
Girls Doubles Overall Results
Chloe Jones & Emma Stephens – 9th
Ivy Dickinson & Kylie Bailey – 10th
Boys Doubles Overall Results
Kyle Annetts & Will Clark – 6th
Callum Borck & Trent Webber – 15th
Teams of four
Boys team – 4th
Girls Team – 5th
Girls All Events
Chloe Jones – 9th (Qualified for Masters)
Ivy Dickinson – 16th (Qualified for Masters)
Kylie Bailey – 19th
Emma Stephens – 22nd
Boys All Events
Will Clark – 8th (Qualified for Masters)
Kyle Annetts – 18th
Callum Borck – 22nd
Trent Webber – 27th
Girls Masters
Chloe Jones – 11th
Ivy Dickinson – 16th
Boys Masters
Will Clark – 4th.
