Bowls Canada Boulingrin – Ryan Bester (Hanover, ON) has secured himself a spot in the semi-finals of the men’s singles. Bester started the third day on the right foot, beating Todd Priaulx of Guernsey 21-11. In the second round, Bester faced a difficult Peter Bonsor from Spain. After being tied at 12-12, Bester raced ahead to a score of 20-12 before Bonsor came alive. The Spaniard fought back to 20-18 and was lying 3 for the win when Bester drew the shot with his last bowl to win 21-18. The third and final round of the day pitted the master blaster from Ontario against Australian superstar Aron Sherriff. Going into the match, Bester was in sole possession of first place with a record of 7-1, while Sherriff was sitting in third place at 6-2. The game was back-and-forth from the very beginning, with both players trading shots. The Australian proved too much in the end, and handed Bester his second loss with a final score of 16-21. Bester finished first in his section and secured a spot in the semi-finals which will take place December 8^th at 7:00pm EST.      

Kelly McKerihen (Toronto, ON), Leanne Chinery (Victoria, BC) and Pricilla Westlake (Delta, BC) began the day against Team USA. The Canadians started off hot, taking an early 7-0 lead against the Americans. A tough match saw the Canadians continue their momentum before Team USA started to put the pressure on. The Americans fought hard and managed to tie the trio 18-18 to finish the game in a draw. The second match of the day was against Zimbabwe. The Canadians lead 12-8 after 8 ends prior to going on a 13-1 run to secure the match, 26-12. With the win over Zimbabwe, the ladies found themselves in third place in their section. The final match of the day was a must-win for the Canadians in order to make the playoffs. The final round robin matchup was against Brunei, who had just been crushed by Australia in the previous round. McKerihen, Chinery and Westlake got off to a strong start but found themselves tied 11-11 after 13 ends of play. Brunei took over the second half of the match and ousted the Canadians 13-23. The loss bumped the Canadian trio out of playoff contention and gave the ladies a record of 5 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie.

The women’s pair’s team made up of Shirley Fitzpatrick-Wong (Winnipeg, MB) and Jacqueline Foster (Bridgetown, NS) faced Cyprus in the morning match.  The pair found themselves down 1-18 after 10 ends, but rallied to go 12-5 over the remaining 8 ends. Fitzpatrick-Wong and Foster lost to Cyprus with a final score of 13-23. In the second match of the day, the Canadians dominated against Singapore to secure a blowout win of 29-8. In the final match of the day, Fitzpatrick-Wong and Foster faced Australian powerhouse Karen Murphy and Kelsey Cotterell. The ladies battled hard and had a one-point lead at the halfway mark of the match. The game continued with Fitzpatrick-Wong making several clutch shots for the Canadian pair to hold onto a 17-16 victory over the Australians.  The duo finished the round robin with a 4-5 record.  

On the men’s side, Cameron LeFresne (Enfield, NS), Steven Santana (North Vancouver, BC), Steve McKerihen (Toronto, ON) and Ryan Stadnyk (Niagara Falls, ON) started the morning with a win over Fiji (22-9) for their second victory in the men’s fours. The Canadian crew continued into the second round on a high note, getting off to an early lead against Wales. Unfortunately, LeFresne, Santana, McKerihen and Stadnyk couldn’t keep the pressure on the entire game, and ended up in a 15-15 tie. The last match for the men was against Brunei.  LeFresne, Santana, McKerihen and Stadnyk took control in the second half and secured the victory with a score of 22-17. The men finished the fours event with a record of 3 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie.

Ryan Bester’s semi-final matchup will start at 7:00pm EST December 8^th.

Stay up to date with the action by following Bowls Canada on Twitter for live end-to-end updates during the match.

For more information on World Bowls Championships please visit: http://www.worldbowls2016.com/Category?Action=View&Category_id=89 

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For more information, please contact: 
Katie Gardner, Communications and Promotions Manager, Bowls Canada Boulingrin
kgardner@bowlscanada.com 

About Bowls Canada Boulingrin
Bowls Canada Boulingrin (BCB) is the governing body responsible for lawn bowls in Canada.  The BCB mission is to advance the sport of bowls in Canada.  For more details on Bowls Canada Boulingrin and the sport of lawn bowls, visit www.bowlscanada.com.