Not all big namesmake finals

Nearly all the leading seeds made it safely through qualifying in the fours at the New Zealand bowls championships in Taranaki during the weekend.

The biggest surprise in the men’s event was the elimination of Terry Scott’s North East Valley side. The team was runners-up in 2008 and 2011, and included this year’s singles winner, Shaun Scott, along with Jim Scott and Stephen O’Driscoll. They started brightly enough, posting three wins on Saturday, but then lost the lot yesterday.

They went down 24-15 to Jim Cook (Cabramatta), 18-7 to Lou Newman (Victoria) and 26-17 to Peter Thomson (Waikanae). Only Newman managed the necessary four wins to qualify.

There were no such problems for the other big names, although most did drop a match along the way.

The two exceptions were Brian Baldwin (Musgrave Hill) and Andrew Kelly (Canterbury). Baldwin is teamed with Gary Mounsey, Darren Goodin and John Reid, while Kelly’s side comprises Dan Delany, Chris Le Lievre and Raika Gregory. Both were unbeaten.

The post section draw has spread the leading teams evenly, with Baldwin, Kelly, Peter Belliss (Aramoho), Ali Forsyth (Havelock) and Richard Girvan (Onehunga) all in different parts of the draw. So there is a strong prospect all could still be alive in the last eight tonight.

Of the 38 qualifiers, just six are from the host centre, with Dean Elgar’s composite lineup the most likely looking.

There were special cheers that went up in Inglewood, Stratford, Rahotu and Paritutu when Frank Klenner, Kevin Mischefski, Ian Lowry, Don Christensen and Leo Drought qualified respectfully.

In the women’s fours, singles semifinalists Anna Davis (Northern), Wendy Mackie (Massey Avenue) and Karen Hema (Carlton Cornwall) were the most notable names to miss out.

Frankton Railway’s Sue Burnard and her side, the winners of two seasons ago and the beaten finalists last year, were the most impressive quartet, waltzing through with six straight wins. Her lineup includes the Boyd sisters, Mandy and Angela, and Leanne Curry.

Ruth Lynch (Birkenhead) skips a similar lineup that won the title 12 months ago and they qualified, dropping only one match in the process. Her team this year includes Trish Couts, Gayle Melrose and Lisa Helmling.

Other powerful sides to qualify included Sandra Keith (Dunsandel), Dale Rayner (Johnsonville), Reen Stratford (New Lynn) and Anne Bateman Hikurangi).