Hot runs in women’s singles qualifying
Dale Rayner, and the 2008 world singles winner, Val Smith.
But it was a reversal from the pairs for Reen Stratford, twice a singles finalist, after she missed out. Meanwhile, in the men’s pairs, nearly all of the favoured combinations survived, although there were some anxious moments.
The exceptions were Wellington youngsters Finbar McGuigan and Bradley Down, who made the quarterfinals last season, but never recovered from Thursday’s two losses. They fell 17-13 to Justin Goodwin and Shannon McIlroy in their first match on Friday to be eliminated.
In the section of death, the other big guns survived, with a surprising seven of the 14 teams gaining the necessary four wins from six games to advance.
Those teams included Goodwin and McIlroy, who gained their fourth victory with a round to spare, 19-12 over Cook Islands representatives Adoni WichmanRairoa and Aidan Zittersteijn.
However, the latter pair got through in the sixth round 18-16 over Seamus Curtin and Sheldon Bagrie-Howley, who had already qualified.
Jamie Hill and Gary Lawson also incurred a second defeat 15-13 to Thames Valley’s Colin Gawith and Karl Garrett, twice semifinalists in the pairs. But Hill and Lawson successfully negotiated their fourth win, 15-11, in a winner-take-all last round clash against well-regarded Aucklanders Graham Growcott and Nick Thompson. Today sees the start of post-section play, with the women playing pairs and the men playing singles.