Bowls Canada Boulingrin – Canadian Pricilla Westlake of Delta, B.C. will be bringing home a gold medal from Australia. Westlake won the women’s singles final at the 2017 World Youth Championships for lawn bowls held at the Broadbeach Bowls Club in Gold Coast, Australia.

Westlake finished the women’s singles round robin in third place with a record of 8-2. With her only losses against Malaysian Noorazlinda Zakaria and Australian Chloe Stewart, Westlake advanced to the quarter finals where she would face New Zealand’s Tayla Bruce. 

In the battle to 21 shots, Westlake proved superior, winning with a score of 21-16. The win gave Westlake a shot at revenge, as her semi-final counterpart would be Chloe Stewart of Australia. Stewart came out hot, getting off to an early 12-3 lead over the Canadian. Westlake battled back to claim the grudge match with another win of 21-16.

Westlake had her work cut out for her in the final, facing off against defending champion Ellen Ryan of Australia. The Canadian got off to a slow start once again, giving up six shots before getting on the board. After rallying back to tie the game at 9-9, the duo exchanged shots but were still tied at 13-13 a few ends later. Westlake appeared to gain some momentum by grabbing four shots to increase the score to 17-13, but Ryan was not to be outdone. The defending champion battled back to tie the game once more at 17-17. After exchanging blows to make it 18-18, Ryan creeped towards the finish line by scoring two shots to make it 20-18. Westlake put an end to the battle by scoring three points to claim the gold medal with a score of 21-20.

This is the first time a Canadian has ever medalled at the World Youth Championships, and has been the best showing of a Canadian contingent at the event to date. Going into the final day of round robin, the other Canadian representatives of Luke Caldwell (Peterborough, ON), Rob Law (Winnipeg, MB) and Nicole LeBlanc (Uxbridge, ON) all had a shot at playoff contention as well. In the mixed pairs, Caldwell and Westlake finished the event with a record of 5-4, missing out on making the playoffs by a game and a half. The other duo of Law and LeBlanc finished with a record of 4-5, three wins shy of knockout round play.  

Darryl Fitzgerald (Waterloo, ON) got his first taste of international podium success as a coach. In his second trip to Broadbeach as the Canadian coach, Fitzgerald brought the four Canadian youth representatives together to form a resilient team. Arriving a week before the event, Fitzgerald ensured that all four Canadian players spent time together both on and off the green prior to the event. His expertise as a coach paid off, as this was the best showing any Canadian team has done in the Mixed Pairs portion of the event, as well as the first time Canada has won a medal at the World Youth Championships.

For more information on the 2017 World Youth Championships, please visit:
http://www.worldbowls.com/event/world-junior-cup-2/

For more information on Broadbeach Bowls Club, please visit:

http://www.broadbeachbowlsclub.com/

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For more information, please contact:
Jake Schuknecht, Technical Coordinator, Bowls Canada Boulingrin
jschuknecht@bowlscanada.com 

About World Youth Championships
The World Youth Championships are an annual outdoor championships that feature Men’s and Women’s Singles and Mixed Pairs events.  Eligible athletes must have reached their 18^th birthday but not reached their 25^th birthday the start of the event.  The 2017 event will be hosted at Broadbeach Bowls Club in Queensland, Australia from March 27^th – April 2^nd.

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.