Past pairs winners back in contention
Two past Black Jacks Tony Grantham and Maurice Symes gave a timely reminder that they are far from spent forces when they made the quarterfinals of the men’s pairs at the New Zealand bowls championships in Auckland yesterday.
Both Grantham and Symes are past winners of the event and after their three comfortable wins yesterday, they appear serious contenders this season.
Their opponents in today’s quarterfinals will be Richard Corry and Raymond Martin (Victoria, Wellington).
In the third round yesterday, Grantham and Symes beat Ta Rito and John Almond 23-16, and Richard Corry and Raymond Martin snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to edge out Australian-based Aucklanders Chris Le Lievre and Richard Girvan 16-15.
Le Lievre and Girvan led by four shots playing the last end. Martin killed it twice and on the replay touched the jack with his final bowl to secure the four points to force the game to an extra end, which the Wellingtonians won.
Thames Valley’s Colin Gawith and Karl Garrett, semifinalists in
2015 and 2017, scored their second win of the championships over the favoured Jamie Hill and Gary Lawson combination in the last
16, this time with a 16-14 score. Gawith and Garrett play Hawke’s Bay’s Lloyd Fitness and Richard Hocking in the quarterfinals, after the latter pair edged Takapuna’s Brett O’Reilly and Graham Skellern 15-13.
The top half of the men’s pairs sees Pt Chevalier’s Steve Hoeft and John Petelo met Mangere’s Jordan King and Chris Lowe, while Taranaki’s Gerry O’Sullivan and Dean Elgar will square off against Browns Bay’s Brent Turner and Adam Haywood.
O’Sullivan and Elgar made the final eight after beating Bart Robertson and Dennis Brewster 17-10 in the last game of the day. Robertson and Brewster had caused an upset earlier in the day when they ousted Justin Goodwin and Shannon McIlroy 20-17.
Meanwhile, talented Hinuera bowler Debbie White breezed into the semifinals of the women’s singles after she trounced Te Rangi’s Bronwyn Stevens 21-8 in the quarterfinals.
White has been a consistent competitor in recent years, albeit without cracking a title at the championships.
Equally as comfortable in beating Howick’s Estelle Hickey 21-11 and former Black Jack Dale Rayner (Johnsonville) 21-7 – that could change.
She meets Kirsten Edwards (Stoke) in the semifinals. Edwards, who remains a stronger chance to make the new Black Jacks squad, had a close 21-19 shave over Orewa’s Lisa Parlane in the last eight.
The other semifinal will be between Sarah Scott (Te Rangi) and the 2017 champion, Selina Goddard (Carlton Cornwall).