Titleholder Keith has poor start at champs
Reigning singles champion Sandra Keith, of Dunsandel, crashed out of the national championships, losing all three section matches on the opening day of the tournament in New Plymouth yesterday.
Keith, who also won the world champion of champion singles in Cyprus last month, was beaten comfortably 21-11 by Leigh Griffin (Victoria), then 21-12 by Tania Wrigley (Carlton/Cornwall) and finally 21-16 by Reen Stratford (New Lynn).
Keith will be hoping for better form today when qualifying in the women’s pairs. She is teamed with clubmate Serena Matthews. Matthews, a past New Zealand rep, had a narrow 21-19 win first-off against Jacinta Cousins (Northern), was untroubled in her next two matches to qualify.
The men’s pairs also began yesterday with several players from Canterbury prominent.
Andrew Kelly (Canterbury) and partner Raika Gregory (Frankton Railway) marched through with three wins and conceded only 15 points throughout the day.
That was a similar trend for most of the leading lights. Defending champions Blake Signal (Stokes Valley) and Alvin Gardiner (Elmwood) made it safely through the day, with their last win a 16-10 effort over Brian Kjestrup and Neil Paterson (Paritutu).
The teenage duo of Daniel Harris (Lincoln) and his Blenheim partner Chase Bishop (Riverside) opened with a brace of wins. Harris is 17 and still at Lincoln High School while Bishop is 16.
There was three relatively comfortable wins for the experienced pairs skipped by Peter Belliss (Aramaho), Rowan Brassey (Cabramatta), Phillip Skoglund (Northern), Shannon McIlroy (Stoke), Ali Forsyth (Havelock), Ken Walker (Fairfield) and Rob Ashton (Johnsonville).
However, Onehunga’s Richard Girvan, a member of the New Zealand world bowls side, and Tokoroa’s Kevin Robinson came unstuck in the third round.
They fell 21-12 to Royce Hill (Perth) and Barry Agnew (Fitzroy), who had opened with two losses.
Kensington’s veteran Graeme Parker and Bill Harris, who is playing in his first year, won three-straight.