Barry, Protopapas conquer the world
Australia has two new world bowls champions.
Victorians Josh Barry (Sebastopol) and Lucas Protopapas (Heatherdale) have teamed for gold in the pairs competition at the World Cerebral Palsy Games in Nottingham, England.
And Barry made it two gold medals when he won the singles final, beating England’s Laurie Turner.
Unlike the last group of sporting Australians who visited Nottingham and came away empty-handed – our cricketers – there was little doubt Barry and Protopapas were going to have success of some sort from the moment they took the green.
Barry scorched through the singles sectionals with little problems, while Protopapas dropped just one match but missed out on shot difference for a chance to play his fellow Aussie in the gold medal match.
Protopapas, 19, and venturing overseas for the very first time, lost the bronze medal singles playoff to England’s Steve Angus, though the match went down to the tie-break game and the very last bowl.
Barry, 33, found the going more comfortable against Turner in his singles final, winning in straight sets 9-3, 10-1.
In between their singles commitments, Barry and Protopapas teamed up to win the pairs.
Barry hails from Warracknabeal in north-west Victoria but plays for Sebastopol in Ballarat.
