Forsyth an early casualty at nationals
The elimination of three-time champion Ali Forsyth from the men’s singles was the major talking point from the first day of the New Zealand bowls championships in Dunedin yesterday.
Forsyth, formerly of Nelson and now based at the Clayton club in Melbourne, lost his opening two games.
Forsyth fell 21-13 to Keri Rupene (Taieri) and then his case became terminal when Richard Corry (Victoria) got the nod 21-20.
Forsyth was not alone in encountering troubles.
His pairs team-mate, Gary Lawson (Eastbourne), after an opening win, was walloped 21-5 by Rohan Ware (Canterbury). That left Lawson needing to win his last two games to qualify.
Shaun Scott (North East Valley) was upended 21-14 in the opening round by Raymond Martin (Victoria) which put serious question marks over his ability to qualify.
Peter Belliss lost 21-18 to Darren Broome (Hokonui), while past champions Ken Walker (Taieri) and Jim Scott (North East Valley) also suffered set backs during the morning. Tony Grantham (Birkenhead) dropped his third match to Andre Smith (Havelock), a result that left both players fighting for survival in the final round.
Defending champion Dean Elgar (West End) was among the early qualifiers, with none of his opponents managing to get to double figures.
Other prominent players to make positive starts included Shannon McIlroy (Stoke), Richard Girvan (Nelson Bays), Michael Kernaghan (North East Valley) and promising youngsters Seamus Curtain (Stokes Valley), and Caleb Hope and Sheldon Bagrie-Howley (both Gore).
Upsets were much less common in the women’s pairs, where the feature opening game was comfortably won by Val Smith and Jo Edwards.
They beat last season’s winners, Ashleigh Jeffcoat and Dale Rayner, 25-13. Jeffcoat and Rayner rebounded to remain in a solid position to qualify. Three further rounds will be played on Saturday, with pairs required to win four games.
Pairs skipped by past and current New Zealand reps Sandra Keith, Mandy Boyd, Amy McIlroy and Katelyn Inch all opened with victories in the first two rounds from one of the toughest sections ever seen at the nationals. Inch, skipping Tayla Bruce, was made to work hard for both wins over Wynette McLachlan and Kristin Stampa.
Canadian international Kelly McKerihen, playing with former Blackjack Jan Shirley, opened with two impressive wins, including a 25-8 effort over Nicole Toomey. But they were on course for a titanic struggle with NZ development player Natasha Russell, who had also had a bit of quality about her opening wins.