My bowling got better day by day but I still didn't really settle in and play to my best until the final 3 games in the 5 man team event.
Trios I played with Hayley W & Nicki... We did OK, but never really got going enough to make a threat to the other teams. I struggled on the fresh on the short pattern then missed the transition in the final game on the medium pattern.
Our other team of Autum, Hayley R & Lisa were amazing though and qualified for the finals in 3rd place guaranteeing them a medal and giving them the opportunity to bowl for gold.
The semi finals are 1 v 4 2 v 3 with the highest seed selecting which oil pattern to play on. Canada chose the short oil which was not our strongest. The girls gave it a go but unfortunately Canada were the better team and had a lot of strikes. The girls did get a bronze medal though, which at world level is amazing and I couldn't be happier for them!
Next up was the 5 man team event - I played in the make up team for the short oil then Hayley W played in the make up for the medium. We really gave it a good go for a team medal - fought right till the end but the other teams around us didn't stop fighting either. We finished the team event in 9th place and it was gutting for all of us.
On the flip side we did finish the team event on a high because Hayley finished 22nd in the all events meaning she qualified for the top 24 masters event. Also John Wells from the men's team qualified too!!
Both of them gave it a good go but both missed the next cut which was top 8, was a great achievement by both though on a world class level.
So looking back and reflecting on my own Championships is hard - it's really frustrating when you work so hard to prepare for something like this then come away and don't perform to the level you know you can. I wish I had some excuses to use, I wish I could blame my equipment, the lanes or something else but I can't. I just didn't bowl good enough - simple.
Today is the last day with the team here, we have the banquet/farewell party tonight and then my next challenge starts. Time to take the few positives I have from the championships and leave the negatives behind. It's a new tournament, new format, new oil pattern & new challenge.
Huge thanks from myself & the whole team for everyone's support at home. The trip hasn't been as successful as a lot of us would have hoped, we will all come home with certain things to work on but as a team we are extremely proud of the girls getting a world medal :-)
Right now I'm gonna enjoy some sun & pool time with the girls before getting ready to let our hair down tonight!
Bye for now, J xx
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