Van Asch and Edwards seal semi-final spots at Bowls World Cup

Bec Van Asch has secured a semi-final spot at the Bowls World Cup ©World Bowls

Australia’s Bec Van Asch and New Zealand’s Jo Edwards reached the semi-final stage of the Bowls World Cup at the Warilla Bowls and Recreation Club.

The two bowlers dominated the sections of the women’s competition, with both claiming victories on the final day of the preliminary stage.

Van Asch beat India’s Ruparani Tirkey 9-8, 10-10 in section one, meaning she ended on a total of 27 points.

An 8-3, 8-6 win over Hong Kong’s Danna Chiu saw defending champion Edwards finish well clear on 24 points in section two.

Both Edwards and Van Asch will be able to watch elimination finals tomorrow, where they will find out their semi-final opponents.

Section two runner-up Kay Moran of Scotland will take on New Zealand’s Val Smith in the first elimination match, the winner advancing to a tie against Van Asch.

Edwards will meet the winner in the match between Guernsey’s Lucy Beere and South Africa’s Colleen Piketh.

2018 World Cup
Warilla, New South Wales, @BowlsAustralia ??

Women’s elimination finals
(Monday 12.30pm AEDT):

• Val Smith (NZL) v Kay Moran (SCO) winner to play Bec Van Asch (AUS) in SF

• Lucy Beere (GUE) v Colleen Piketh (RSA) winner to play Jo Edwards (NZL) in SF
— World Bowls (@WorldBowls1) March 11, 2018

The opening round of the men’s competition has continued, with defending champion Jeremy Henry six points clear in section one.

The Australian beat Guernsey’s Matt Le Ber to move on to 27 points, with Malta’s Brendan Aquilina second on 21.

David Ferguson continued his domination in section two, with an 8-6, 9-6 success over Fiji’s David Aitcheson moving the Australian to 30 points.

New Zealand’s Ali Forsyth maintained his pursuit of Ferguson, with a 14-2, 13-6 win over Macau’s Chan Chuen Poon keeping him just three points behind the leader.