Karen Murphy (bowls)
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| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 December 1974 Kiama, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Karen Anne Murphy AM (born 18 December 1974) is an Australian international lawn bowler and indoor bowler.[1]
Bowls career
World championships
After winning pairs silver and singles bronze in Moama in 2000[2] and pairs bronze in 2004, Murphy went on to win World Championship golds. Murphy won the 2008 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in the fours, 2012 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in the triples and twice in the singles at the 2012 World Outdoor Bowls Championship and the 2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship.[3] She successfully defended her title in the singles at the 2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Christchurch after defeating Lesley Doig in the final.[4] This achievement is generally agreed to have elevated her to being the best female bowler since Margaret Johnston.[5]
Commonwealth Games
She has won gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in the pairs. In addition she has won three Commonwealth Games silver medals,[6] the most recent being in the Women's triples at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[7]
Asia Pacific Championships
She has won a remarkable 13 medals at the Asia Pacific Bowls Championships, of which no less than eight have been gold in colour.[8]
Nationals
In 2023, Murphy won the Australian National Bowls Championships fours title with Jamie-Lee Worsnop, Ellen Falkner and Ellen Ryan,[9] to add to her three Australian Open titles.
Indoors
In 2012, she also won the World Indoor Bowls Championship title, a fine achievement bearing in mind that she does not compete every year in the event held in England.
Awards
She has also been a guest commentator during the World Indoor Bowls Championships for the BBC. She was a Director for World Bowls from 2014-2018.
Murphy was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2021 Australia Day Honours, for "For significant service to lawn bowls as an elite player at the international level."[10]
In 2024, she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.[11]
References
- ^ "profile". Bowls Tawa. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Scots duos' world crown". Aberdeen Evening Express. 16 March 2000. Retrieved 9 November 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "World Bowls 2016 - Profiles" (PDF). World Bowls. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2017.
- ^ "2016 World Bowls Championship Finals". Burnside Bowling Club.
- ^ "Back to back world bowls champion Karen Murphy hails Burnside as her 'happy hunting ground'". Stuff.co.nz. 4 December 2016.
- ^ "COMMONWEALTH GAMES MEDALLISTS - BOWLS". GBR Athletics.
- ^ "Karen Murphy biography". Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^ "Asia Pacific Championships Past Winners" (PDF). World Bowls. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "Day 13 recap". Bowls Australia. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
- ^ "Australia Day 2021 Honours List" (PDF). Governor General of Australia. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ "Sport Australia Hall of Fame announces eight new Inductees for 2024 | Sport Australia Hall of Fame". 24 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
