Botswana is competing in Singles, Pairs, Triples and Fours. The men’s Triples team that comprised of Binesh Desai, Andre van der Walt and Baven Balendra won two games out of seven matches that they played. The men’s Triples world champions are Australia (Carl Healey, Corey Wedlock and Aron Sherriff) with Scotland grabbing the silver medal while England settled for the third position. The men’s Pairs, George Kieni and Michael Gabobewe won two matches out of seven games they played.
The Pairs champions are Adam McKeown and Gary Kelly of Ireland with silver medal remaining in Australia in the hands of Aaron Wilson and Aaron Teys. Canada’s duo of Ryan Bester and John Bezear scooped bronze. The women’s Singles player, Marea Modutlwa won three out of ten matches that she played. The Singles world champion is Tayla Bruce of New Zealand after edging out Kelly McKerihen 21-18 of Canada. Bruce added her World Bowls Championships women’s Singles crown to her World Champion of Champions title.
It has been a tough battle for the women’s Fours team of Mpopi Pelemo, Chakale Robert, Molatedi Douma and Lesedi Mafoko failing to go into the scoreboard. The women’s Fours title went to England (Amy Pharaoh, Lorraine Kuhler, Jamie-Lea Marshall and Sophie Tolchard) with Australia claiming the silver through Kristina Krstic, Dawn Hayman, Lynsey Clarke and Kelsey Cottrell. New Zealand finished the championship in the third spot and settled for a bronze medal through a team of Val Smith, Leeane Poulson, Katelyn Inch and Selina Goddard.
Speaking to Monitor Sport, Singles player, Modutlwa said on Tuesday the second week of the championships kicks off and they are looking into making a strong comeback after the first round glitches. “We are commencing the competition with men’s Singles where Balendra will be competing. On the same day, men’s Fours team will also be in action. At the same time the women will be playing Pairs and Triples,” she said.
Modutlwa said although they did not have good results in the first week, they have seen great improvement on daily basis, hence anticipating better results in week two of the competition. When asked about the team’s biggest downfall at the World Bowls Championships, Modutlwa explained that the greens in Gold Coast is different from what they are used to in Botswana. “The greens are sleek and fast, and this needs players to adapt. Some players adapt to the conditions better and quicker than others. It is like in tennis, they play on hard courts, grass and clay, all surfaces have different speeds,” Modutlwa said.
