One of the new generation of lawn bowlers knocking on the door of the national selectors is Ray Martin (Victoria Bowling Club, Wellington).
Martin was in sparkling form this weekend to advance to this morning’s quarter-finals as the top qualifier, the only undefeated player to go into the post-section game.
Entering the tournament for the fourth time, Martin came up with a plan to at least get better and make it to the final after being knocked out in the semi-finals by world champion Shannon McIlroy last year.
Others who automatically qualify for the post section by finishing at the top of their respective groups come from a wave of young talent coming through the ranks – Sheldon Bagrie Howley (Gore), Keanu Darby (North East Valley) and Finbar McGuigan (Stokes Valley , Wellington).
Bagrie-Howley fell at the first hurdle on Friday when he went to blackjack Tony Grantham (Birkenhead, Auckland). But when Grantham lost to Joko Susilo (North East Valley), the qualifying top in group two came down to a differential. Bagrie-Howley finished 30 points ahead of Grantham, who had to play a quarter-final qualifier against fellow Blackjack Blake Signal (Stokes Valley, Wellington).
Signal made short work of Grantham in a 15-end demolition job, 25-5, for a quarter-final matchup against Stokes Valley club mate McGuigan this morning.
At the top of the draw, Darby was unbeaten in Group One until the final round, when Brent McEwan (St Clair) finished his series 25-12, but had done enough at that stage to automatically advance to the quarter-finals.
McEwan’s win lifted him into the quarterfinal playoffs and a match with Susilo. After the scores remained close for most of the game, McEwan eventually pulled back to win 25-15 and will face Martin in form in the quarter-finals this morning.
At the bottom of the draw, McGuigan topped group four to advance automatically. His upset second round loss to Sean O’Neill (Kia Toa, Timaru) sent him into action and he scored a string of one-sided wins throughout the remainder of the section play.
One to suffer a heavy 25-5 loss at the hands of McGuigan was Blackjack Jamie Hill (Auckland).
Hill, who finished second in the group, survived to fight another day in the qualifying round where he played Roger Stevens (North East Valley), for a 25-19 win and a quarter-final against Bagrie Howley.
The disruption to the quarterfinal qualifying round came in the match between New Zealand high-performance team member Seamus Curtin (Stokes Valley), who was knocked out 25-24 by O’Neill.
O’Neill will face Darby this morning for the right to advance to the semi-finals.