Merry weekend for Merrilees at bowls

The Professional Bowls Association (PBA) got under way last weekend at the Waverley Bowls Stadium, as bowlers throughout the province pitted their skills in a cut-throat knockout, sets format.

The weekend’s action started with the captivating Shanghai singles discipline, which sees three bowlers go up against one another in a race to 31 shots. Each bowler has three bowls and the shots are counted as three points for the closest bowl, two points for the second closest and one point for the third. (Players also have a joker at their disposal, which allows them to double their points on any one end.)

In a formidable line-up, which included last season’s National Shanghai champion Jason Heffer, among other representative bowlers, the games got into full swing and after several rounds, the final three were left standing.

Waikiwi club-mates Craig Merrilees and Roger Stevens played their way through to the final, with Northend’s Bryan ‘‘Bugsy’’ Hartstonge joining them.

In an entertaining display, Merrilees went on to clinch victory 31-19-13 and will represent the Invercargill PBA branch at the national play-offs to be staged in Auckland later this year.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Singles Qualifiers commenced on Sunday with more than 20 players vying for the opportunity to represent New Zealand on the international PBA circuit.

Some impressive games were played out with notable performances from Merrilees and his faithful pairs lead Stevens, who traded blows in a see-saw fixture in the early rounds. Merrilees went on to take victory and later dispatched promising PBA debutant Caleb Hope, of Waverley, who despite a courageous effort in the second set succumbed to Merrilees’ superior indoor experience, 15-2, 7-7.

In the other semi-final, Edendale’s Shane Elliot rounded out a consistent performance against Hokonui’s Darren Broome to set up a blockbuster clash with Merrilees.

A solid start to the first set saw Elliot edge closer, though Merrilees put up a strong display of bowls in the second, taking control of the game in the earlier ends and forcing Elliot to fight.

However, a spirited Elliot returned to form and did enough to close out the second set and take the win 11-3, 8-7, to book a seat to the national finals weekend, to be held at Pukekohe in September.

In other results, Waikiwi’s Glenn Milne and Roger Stevens combined impressively to take out the Ranking Pairs event, accounting for Merrilees and partner Hartstonge in the final – following a semi-final win against Te Rangi’s Bronwyn Stevens and Scottish Singles winner Elliot.

Merrilees and Hartstonge defeated local duo Hugh Andrews and Hope in straight sets, in a fixture that elevated Merrilees to three straight finals over the long weekend.

Players will be back in action for the next round of the Invercargill PBA next month.