John Grey, of Cantebury, is all concentration on his way to
winning the men's over-60 indoor bowls singles final in
Dunedin yesterday. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
John Grey (Canterbury) recovered from the speed wobbles
to win a dramatic indoor bowls singles final in Dunedin
yesterday.
Grey, a retired Christchurch salesman, won the Masters Games
over 60 gold medal at the Dunedin Stadium, when he beat Morry
Nielsen-Vold (Dunedin) 11-10 in a nail-biting finish.
It was the first major title Grey had won in 13 years of
indoor bowls.
He had won the South Island Chartered Clubs fours two years
ago, but this was the big one.
Nielsen-Vold, a retired special needs teacher, had previously
won a bronze medal at the Masters Games and was looking for
the gold.
He started aggressively and led 4-0 after two of the 12 ends.
Grey lost some of the composure that characterised his game
in the early rounds.
His game improved as he let the pressure of the final go and
relaxed into his game.
"I just tried to draw close," he said. "That has always been
my game."
He accurate draw bowls brought him several touchers during
the middle phase of the game, from the third to the sixth
end, and he led 7-4 after the sixth end.
He added two more on the eighth end, to lead 9-5 with just
four ends left.
Nielsen-Vold varied his play and nudged the jack around,
upsetting Grey's rhythm.
The ninth end was critical for Nielsen-Vold if he was to stay
in the game.
He trailed the jack back for two and added the bonus shot to
reduce the gap to one.
On the 10th end, Nielsen-Vold pushed the jack back to his own
bowl and took two more shots.
Grey's attempted rescue shot went off the mat and
Nielsen-Vold led 10-9.
Grey pulled a shot back on the penultimate end to level the
score at 10-all before the final end.
Both bowlers were feeling the pressure and the first four
bowls were loose and off the mark.
Grey came closer to take the shot with his third bowl.
But it was still 6cm short of the jack.
He added a second shot with his last bowl.
Nielsen-Vold could only nudge in for second shot with his
last bowl and the game was over.
Dunedin bowlers Derek Keane and Don Crawford both won bronze
medals.
The over-40 final was one-sided, with the experienced Craig
Cowan beating Andrew Thompson (Eastern Districts) 14-7.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.