Ready for action
Andy McLean (North East Valley) has earned the right to test himself against the world's elite bowlers in England in January.
McLean (33), the marketing manager of the Otago Cricket Association, has qualified for the world PBA indoor singles finals at Potters Recreation Centre.
''It definitely feels good. It was a nice one to get,'' McLean told the Otago Daily Times.
The World Indoor Singles is the prestige event on the international Professional Bowls Association circuit.
''I'm looking forward to the experience but I'm going into it with realistic expectations,'' McLean said.
''There will be tough opposition right from the start and it is just a matter of being good enough on the day. I have spoken to Ken Walker and others and they tell me it is a very good venue for the event.''
McLean, a left-handed bowler, won the New Zealand final in Hastings earlier this month, beating Jason Heffer (Southland) 9-8, 5-5.
''It was a close game and there was only one shot in it. I scored on the last end of both sets. It was good to come out with a win in a tight game.''
Walker's close call
Ken Walker (Taieri) reached two finals in Hastings but failed to qualify for trips to the United Kingdom.
He was beaten by Rob Ashton (Wellington) in the Scottish open singles event 6-8, 8-7, 1-2 and by Natarsha Grimshaw (Hawkes Bay) 10-11, 10-3, 1-2 in the International open singles qualifier.
Walker will get his fifth trip to Australia for the Transtasman Challenge next year after finishing the New Zealand PBA season at the top of the ranking list. The other four players who have qualified for Australia are Craig Merrilees (Southland), Duane White (Forbury Park, Dunedin), Rob Ashton (Wellington) and Murray Glassey (Hawkes Bay).
Stern test
Andy McLean will face another big challenge next month when he plays in the 24th annual invitation singles at the North East Valley greens for the third time.
McLean reached the quarterfinal in his first attempt in 2010 when he won six of his seven games. He did not make the cut in his second attempt in 2012.
''It is a top-quality field and I will need to give it 100% to qualify for the main event,'' he said.
Strong field . . .
All five members of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games men's team in Glasgow will be playing in the 32-strong field at North East Valley at Labour Weekend.
They are Shannon McIlroy (Nelson), Richard Girvan (Nelson Bay, New South Wales), Blake Signal (Wellington), Ali Forsyth (Taren Point, New South Wales) and Tony Grantham (Auckland).
The best New Zealand male bowler at the Commonwealth Games was McIlroy, who finished fourth in the singles. His wife, Amy, also competed in Glasgow and won a bronze medal in the women's fours.
Shannon McIlroy has previously won the Speight's-sponsored invitation singles in 2006, 2008 and 2012. The only other bowler to win the event three times is the Ice Man, former world champion Rowan Brassey (Auckland), who won in 1995, 1997 and 2007
. . . for invitation singles
The defending champion is Forsyth, who also won the New Zealand singles title in Dunedin last season.
Forsyth skipped the New Zealand triples and four in Glasgow. His lead in both events was Grantham, who won the North East Valley singles in 2011. Other players coming from Australia at Labour Weekend are Chris LeLievre (Taralgon, Victoria) and former North East Valley club bowler Mark Watt, who now works for the East Cessnock club in New South Wales.
A new player in this year's event is Gary Watson (Nelson), while 2007 New Zealand fours champion Sean O'Neill (Kia Toa, Timaru) returns after a gap of a few years.
There is prize money of $16,000 at stake. The winner's purse is $5000.
Jonty's jaunt
Jonty Horwell (Kaikorai) became the New Zealand small bowl junior indoor champion early this month when he beat Jakeb White (Counties) 8-7 in a tightly-fought final in Wellington.
Horwell (15), a pupil at Logan Park High School, has been playing both big bowls and small bowls for six years but this was his first national title.
He trailed by three shots with four ends left but he drew one shot on each of the next three ends to draw level 7-7 before the final end. He drew the winning shot with his last bowl and became the first Otago indoor bowler to win the national junior title since Kristen Gould (Brockville).
''It was a pretty exciting time and it felt great,'' Horwell said.
In May, Horwell was the youngest bowler in the 48-strong field that contested the PBA Shanghai singles at the Westpac bowls stadium.
A month later, he won the Otago junior (under-19) singles title with the small bowls.
Three years ago, at the age of 12, he was the youngest bowler at the centenary celebrations of the Kaikorai Bowling Club.
French bliss
Daniel French (Green Island) made it a good month for Otago indoor bowls when he won the national senior champion of champions singles title in Hamilton.
He made a flying start to beat Chris McAdam (Upper Hutt Valley) 13-7 in the final.
French won his fourth Otago indoor bowler of the year title this year. He also won the award in 2009, 2010 and 2013.
Rex and Gaynor Moss won the Otago champion of champions pairs title when they beast Kristen Gould and Tim Wood 11-10.
French, Daniel Sinclair and Lyn Rance beat Kristen Gould, Tim Wood and Heather Gould 13-1 to win the Otago champion of champions triples title.
Contact us
To pass on snippets of bowls news, quirky tidbits, photo opportunities or ideas, contact Alistair McMurran via telephone (03-453-5577) or email (alistaim@ihug.co.nz).
