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Otago bowler Shaun Scott celebrates with the trophy after winning the singles final at the New Zealand bowls championships in New Plymouth yesterday. Photo by Crispin Anderlin. |
Shaun Scott was left out of the Black Jacks team for World
Bowls in Adelaide last year and had a point to prove in New
Plymouth yesterday. Scott (47), a Cromwell contractor who
represents the North East Valley club, convincingly won his
second New Zealand singles title when he beat former New
Zealand representative Dan Delany (Onehunga) 21-10 after just
17 ends.
''I'm pretty happy with that. It is a great feeling. It was a
tricky wind and wasn't easy out there,'' Scott told the Otago
Daily Times from the Paritutu Bowling Club.
Scott backed up his 2011 win in Dunedin and joined an elite
band of bowlers who have won the singles title more than
once.
He proved he deserved to be singles champion again by beating
elite bowlers in the last three rounds.
He beat Petar Sain (Carlton-Cornwall), who won the title in
1991 and 2000 and was runner-up to Scott two years ago, 21-19
in the quarterfinal and Black Jack Shannon McIlroy 21-9 in
the semifinal. McIlroy won the bronze medal in the singles at
World Bowls.
What motivated Scott most was his desire to compete in the
world finals of the champion of champions singles again. He
had to win the New Zealand singles title to qualify.
His game plan was simple.
''I just wanted to find the best hand, the speed of the green
and play as consistently as I could,'' Scott said. The fourth
end was crucial when Scott killed the end when he was two
down on the head. It would have given Delany a 5-1 advantage.
''I couldn't get in with the draw so I went for the jack,''
Scott said. On the replay he drove out Delany's shot bowl to
reduce the gap to one point, 3-2.
Scott was on target with his three drives at this stage and
it gave him a lot of confidence. He killed the end with one,
got a shot bowl out with the second and took a bowl out with
the third. It was the start of three ends when Scott scored
four shots to lead 5-3. But it was still even after 10 ends
when Scott led 8-7.
Scott scored the first of his two fours on the 11th end. It
gave Scott a five-point cushion and the lead, 12-7. Delany
missed with two drives.
''I changed my hand for the first time in the game and played
the backhand into the wind,'' Scott said.
''I couldn't score with the forehand so I jumped on to the
backhand and got the first one close and dominated from
there.
''It gave me huge confidence and I stayed on that hand into
the wind for the rest of the game and got them closer.''
It was a confident Scott who drew three shots on the head on
the 12th end but Delany killed the end when he was finally on
target with his drive.
Scott scored singles on the replay and on the 13th end to
lead 14-7.
The game was drifting away from Delany but he fought back
with a one and two on the next two ends to reduced the gap to
four points, 14-10, after 15 ends.
The confident Scott ended the game by scoring a three and a
four on the next two ends.
Scott's second four of the game came on a loose 17th end.
''It was a scary four. My four bowls were only within 1.5m. I
was going into the wind and pulled the mat up for a medium
length end. It wasn't a good end but I managed to scrape the
four out of it and win the game.''
In the women's singles, Val McEldowney (New Plymouth) came
back from a 17-9 deficit to beat Reen Stratford (Birkenhead)
21-17, winning six ends in a row.
Ali Forsyth (Havelock) completed his set at the national
championships when he teamed with fellow Sydney-based Black
Jack Matt Gallop to win the pairs title, beating the
Johnsonville pair of Lee Barclay and Rob Ashton 15-9.
It was Forsyth's fifth title. He won the singles in 2003 and
2004 and the fours in 2011 and 2012.
Sandra Keith (Dunsandel), last year's singles champion, won
her second national title when she and Serena Matthews beat
sisters Mandy and Angela Boyd 15-13 in the women's pairs
final. The Boyd sisters also finished runner-up last year.
NZ championships
Winners
Men's Singles: Shaun Scott (North East Valley).
Women's singles: Val McEldowney (New Plymouth).
Men's pairs: Ali Forsyth, Matt Gallop (Composite).
Women's pairs: Sandra Keith, Serena Matthews (Dunsandel).
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