HILL’S
ABSENCE ASSURES NEW BOWLS NUMBER ONE
Jamie Hill’s absence from
this weekend’s Welsh International Open Singles qualifying tournaments in
Hastings
and
Dunedin
assures there will be a new
New Zealand
number one player at the end of the 2008 Professional Bowls Association season.
The twenty-seven year old Aucklander has held the number one position since the
end of 2004, and this will be the first year since 2002 that Hill has not won a
tournament.
Best placed of the contenders
for year-end number one is
Dunedin
’s Ken Walker, however there are still five players with a mathematical chance
which may require
Walker
to make the quarterfinals at the Westpac Bowls Stadium in
Dunedin
this weekend to wrap up the top ranking. Walker, who also acts as the regional
coordinator for the PBA in the
South Island
, has the added opportunity of gaining ranking points at the national pairs
playoffs in
Hamilton
at the end of the month.
The other four players still in
the running are
Waikato
’s Kevin Robinson and Brian Cathro, Kapiti-Coast’s Ray Boffa, and
Auckland
’s Neil Fisher. Robinson, Boffa and Fisher will all be in action at the
Heretaunga Club in
Hastings
this weekend. Both Fisher and Robinson face tough first round opponents in
Manawatu’s Phillip Skoglund and Terry Johnson respectively. Boffa and Robinson
may face each other in the third round.
Cathro is not playing this
weekend but like
Walker
, has also qualified for the national pairs playoffs on August 30th
on his home carpet in
Hamilton
. His playing partner in those pairs, Frances Knight is still in the running for
PBA rookie of the year but still needs some good performances to catch
Auckland
’s Dan Delaney for that trophy. Knight faces the guaranteed year-end top
female in another Aucklander Linda Ralph in the first round in
Hastings
this weekend.
Peter Unkovich from
Dunedin
and Alvin Gardiner from
Canterbury
also have mathematical chances of catching Delaney if they can progress to the
final of the tournament in
Dunedin
. Delaney will be competing in the World Indoor Singles in
England
next January but is not participating this weekend.
Draws for the NZ PBA Welsh
International Open Singles direct entry tournaments 16th and 17th
August (winners represent NZ PBA in Llanelli,
Wales
in February):
(player’s NZ rank) match
(previous head-to-head record)
Heretaunga
Club, Hastings: 1st round – 8.30am start: (33)Linda Ralph v
(166=)Frances Knight; (175=)Shoota Ballinger v (79=)Desire Lambert; (216=)Dave
van der Weele v (56=)Richard Corry; (47=)Reen Stratford v (34=)George Ngametua;
(135=)Guy Taylor v (27=)Paul Sorensen; (10)Neil Fisher v (22)Phillip Skoglund;
(117=)Cliff Olliff v (245=)Scott Roddick; (228=)Chris Bryant v (12)Rob Ashton.
1st round – 10am
start: (5)Ray Boffa v (158=)Craig Faulknor; (66)Barry O’Brien v (52=)Alan
Stewart; (27=)Terry Johnson v (2)Kevin Robinson; (68=)Stephen Zino bt (19)Bruno
Lourie by default.
1st round – 11.30
start: (197=)Ian Meyer v (257=)Kristin Stampa; (86=)Vickie Crystall v (25)Mike
Isaacson; (115=)Byron Brook v (101=)Mike Tamati; (126=)Hayley May v (83=)Glenn
Stratford.
1st round –
1pm
start: (38=)Graham Skellern v (214=)Harry Mills; (228=)Kaaren Guilford v
(23)Tony Terry; (97)Bruce Henderson v (46)Ken Smith; (114)Dave Porteous v
(8)Chris Lourie (1-0 Lourie).
1st round – 2.30pm
start: (197=)Terry Curtis bt (216=)Brian Wilson by default; (126=)Pat O’Neil v
(81)Sue Murray; (13)Steve Wood v (257=)Warren McCarthy; (65)Lou Newman v
(54)Laurie Guy (1-0 Newman); (62=)James Ballard v (228=)Peter Wester.
2nd round –
4pm
start: (92)Val Mathews v Ballard or Wester; (142=)Barry Wakely v (43)David
Eades; (98)Steve Love v (216=)Laurie Gordon; (20)Phil Bennett v (90=)Peter
Lambert.
Westpac
Bowls Stadium, Dunedin: 1st round – 12.30pm report: (228=)Ross
Brown v (228=)Steve Jones; (257=)Andrew McLean v (7)Mark Cowan; (257=)Cliff
Morgan v (139=)Nick Buttar; (117=)Brent Webster v (138)Bob Crawford; (38=)Mark
Lister v (3)Ken Walker (2-0 Walker); (145=)Robert Gibson v (83=)Mark Griffiths;
(124=)Malia Ellison v (29=)Bill Clements; (16)Andrew McCallum v (47=)Bevan
Clark.
1st round – 1.30
report: (129=)Evan Roberts v (150=)Tony Cockerill; (58=)Duane White v (26)Paul
Girdler; (82)Shaun Scott v (129=)Terry Scott (1-0 S Scott); (60=)Doug Thomas v
(41=)Mike Bracegirdle; (245=)Ross Munro v (105)Emrys Parry; (50=)Steve Wilson v
(228=)Max Grey; (117=)David Pile v (212=)Graeme Hislop; (163=)Dave Archer v
(24)Andrew Kelly.
1st round –
3.30pm
report: (93=)Mark Watt v (104)Andrew MacGregor; (75)Bill Hinton v (197=)Alvin
Gardiner; (154=)Carolyn Crawford v (14)Robbie Thomson (1-0 Thomson); (67)Geoff
Wilson v (162)Sue Hodges.
2nd round –
3.30pm
report: (147)Jim Scott v (170=)Peter Unkovich; (109=)Steve Kannewischer v
(237)Lou Robinson; (124=)Colin Ward v (148=)Thomas Malcolm; (74)Shayne Sincock v
(173=)Beth Brown.
2nd round –
4.30pm
report: (90=)Peter Wilson v (18)Ross Stewart (1-1); (56=)Miguel Rodriguez v
(100)Blair Barringer.
Thanks to Richard Corry