Reigning women's singles gold medallist Val Smith created a small piece of international bowls history as pool play reached the halfway point at the Bowls World Championships in Adelaide today.
Pitted against Norfolk Island's Debbie Wilford, the world's ninth-ranked singles player, Smith unleashed a scoring spree unlike anything ever witnessed on the international stage.
Smith's 21-1 victory at Holdfast Bay took just nine ends - the fewest ever required to complete an international singles encounter. The Nelson bowler led 8-0 after four ends then conceded a single to Wilford, before storming home with scores of three, four, two and four to bring the rout to a halt.
"Debbie would be gutted," Smith said. "I know how she feels - Karen Murphy beat me 21-0 in my international debut at Burnside during the 2007 Asia-Pacific Championships, but the match lasted longer than nine ends."
What Smith neglected to mention was how she eventually qualified for the final that year, where she met and defeated Murphy 21-16 in the gold medal playoff.
