Woodend Hanging Rock Petanque Club’s Shirley Marshall has brought home a gold medal from the Trans Tasman Championship against New Zealand.
Shirley represented Australia in the over 60s team of 12 at the Perth event earlier this month and claimed the trophy. Also bringing home gold was Australia’s open team.
This year marked Australia’s fourth double win against NZ in the 20 years that the competition has run.
“It was pretty exciting,” Shirley said.
“We had a great team dynamic and everyone was supportive of each other.”
Players faced temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius for both Friday’s training session and day one of competition on Saturday. Sunday’s cooler temperatures eased play.
They also had to tackle an unfamiliar and challenging pist with red dirt and shale.
The Australians had a good lead on NZ after day one of play on Saturday and held strong into Sunday to bring home a win.
The next Trans Tasman Championship is expected to be held in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2025.
Shirley will be competing in Adelaide in the Australian National Championships over Easter.
There, she will play in the ladies doubles, ladies triples and mixed doubles.
