Western News: June 18, 2019

20 Tuesday June 18 2019
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Silver medal exceeds expectation
• By Gordon Findlater
JUST ONE team practice
the night before leaving for
Mongolia didn’t get in the way
of Ashley Strawbridge and her
New Zealand team winning
silver at the FIBA Under 18 3x3
World Cup.
The 17-year-old Rangi Ruru
Girls’ School basketballer was
part of the New Zealand team
along with Sharne Pupuke-Robati,
Tayla Dalton and Charlisse
Leger-Walker who outdid expectations
to reach the final of
the tournament in Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia, before falling to the
United States.
“I’m still riding the high, it’s
been really cool to have people
at school ask about and be able
to share the experience,” said
Strawbridge.
The team had next to no
experience playing 3x3 basketball,
but were selected on their
strengths from the five-aside
game which would translate
well to the high intensity 3x3
format.
New Zealand, seeded 15th,
went into the tournament
with little expectation in the
20-strong World Cup.
However, they finished
second in their pool with wins
over Hungary (16-9), Russia
(14-2) and Poland (21-4). Their
only pool loss came against the
United States 11-20.
“The fact we got to the quarter
ACCOMPLISHMENT: Ashley
Strawbridge has returned
from Mongolia with a silver
medal from the FIBA Under
18 3x3 World Cup ​
finals was amazing in itself,”
said Strawbridge.
In the quarter-finals they
SPORT
defeated Japan 14-12 in an extremely
tight match which went
to overtime. The win set up a
semi-final with No. 1 ranked
China, which New Zealand
swept aside 21-15 before going
down to the United States 13-
19 in a more than respectable
performance.
“When we first played them
we were like: ‘Oh my god we’re
playing America’,” said Strawbridge.
“In the final we knew we had
no pressure and all eyes were on
them.”
Strawbridge’s biggest contribution
to the Kiwi effort came
on the defensive end which saw
her touted as one of the best
defensive players at the tournament.
She says the biggest challenge
came against the United
States.
“They are just so quick, so it
felt really good any time you
could stay in front of them and
stop them from scoring,” she
said.
Strawbridge will now
turn her attention to
representing New Zealand
in the five-a-side game at the
Oceania Championships in
Noumea, New Caledonia, from
August 19-24.
Lawson establishes
bowling team of Saints
• By Gordon Findlater
HORSE AND Jockey owner
Gary Lawson will headline
Christchurch’s new Bowls3Five
team the Elmwood Saints.
The Saints will take on seven
other clubs from around New
Zealand over eight weeks of
competition in Auckland starting
in October. The competition will
be broadcast live on Sky Sport
three nights a week.
Last year Lawson was part of
the Sky commentary team during
the competition. However, with
the competition expanding from
six to eight teams and Sky signing
up to broadcast it for another
three, he’s now opted to put
together a team of his own.
“I went to the [Elmwood]
committee and said I’d like to put
a team together. They were right
behind it, so we put our proposal
together,” said Lawson.
Joining Lawson will be Mandy
Boyd, Jan Shirley, Steve Ditford,
Lance Pascoe and Bev Morel –
who is in her late 70s. Two further
team members will be named
before the competition begins.
“It’s great for our sport having
prime time TV three times a
week. We can’t ask for much
more, it’s what the game’s needed
for a long time,” said Lawson.
“The idea for us is to have a real
good crack at the title.”
Last year Canterbury rugby
WESTERN NEWS
NEW CHALLENGE: Publican
and former bowling world
champion Gary Lawson.
icon Alex Wyllie was part of
the Woodend Jets team with
Na Katae and Jenny Anderson.
However, the team went winless
during the competition which
saw them relegated.
“The idea of the whole thing
was to show people who don’t play
bowls that it’s a game anyone can
play . . . I think this year they’re
trying to strengthen some of the
sides to make them just a little
more competitive,” said Lawson.
The name Elmwood Saints
was inspired by Elmwood Park
Bowling Club’s amalgamation
with St Albans-Merivale. Lawson
hopes the club’s members and
Christchurch people will rally
behind the team.
Lawson is currently in Australia
where he will represent the
Blackjacks at the Asia Pacific
Championships on the Gold
Coast from Tuesday to June 28.