Winning easily hurt bitterly for Australian bowlers Kelsey Cottrell and Dawn Hayman as they cruelly missed out on the Commonwealth Games semi-finals.
Cottrell and Hayman needed to beat Northern Ireland’s Chloe Wilson and Shauna O’Neill by 10 points to leapfrog them to the top of Group A and a semi-final berth in the women’s pairs.
Instead, Australia won 9-4 5-1 to fall short by just one point.
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So while the Irish women hugged in jubilation as they progressed to the semis, the body language of the Australians showed how deep the win had cut.
“We were pretty close … right until the last bowl, but it didn’t go our way,” Cottrell told AAP.
While Cottrell has won a gold medal in her previous three Games, this was Hayman’s debut and she looked shattered.
“It’s obviously disappointment. We played one of our best games here this week, so it’s really disappointing to only win by nine,” Hayman said.
Cottrell reflected on how close they had come and what might have been the difference.
“When it comes down to that, you never know which one (end) it is,” she said.
“It’s never the last bowl of the game, it’s always something that’s happened throughout the game, where you just didn’t take that one opportunity or you dropped short, whatever it might have been.
“But we can’t dwell on it too much, we have to put on a happy face for the rest of the Australians who are still going.”
Immediately after Cottrell and Hayman went so close early on Tuesday morning (AEST), Aaron “Disco” Wilson won his last group match ahead of the men’s singles semi-finals later on day four.
Wilson won all six of his group matches and is yet to drop a set.
Jersey’s Taylor Greechan briefly took the lead late in the second set as he tried to force a tiebreak, but Wilson closed out the game 8-5 7-5 and will play Malaysian Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple in the semis.
“It’s all behind me now, it’s down to finals time,” he said.
Aaron Wilson made it through the group stage unbeaten. Credit: AAP
Wilson, who is out to win his third straight singles gold medal at the Games, felt for Cottrell and Hayman.
“It’s certainly one of the most nerve-racking games you’ll watch and that’s why we love the game of bowls,” he said.
“But for our girls to show that resilience, it was amazing. They were so close.
“It will certainly hurt, but I am so proud of what they achieved.”
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