Gary Lawson has two goals to achieve at the New Zealand open bowls championships in Auckland - to win his his 11th title and get back in the New Zealand squad.
Lawson (45) won his first national title in the singles at Auckland in 1989 and his 10th last year in the pairs at Wellington.
He wants to get a national record in his own right over the next two weeks by getting one more title than the legendary Nick Unkovich (Auckland).
The national championships begin at the Carlton Cornwall Bowling Club on Wednesday and conclude with the finals of the fours on January 9. The finals of the singles and pairs will be held on January 4.
Lawson is playing in all three disciplines - singles, pairs and fours.
He is teamed with New Zealand junior representative Chris Le Lievre in the pairs and they are joined by Black Jacks Dan Delaney and Richard Girvan in the fours.
Lawson was banned for six months by Bowls New Zealand last year on a match-fixing charge, after the fours skip deliberately lost an end to Thailand at the 2009 Asia Pacific Championships in Thailand.
Lawson has told the national selection panel that he is keen to play for New Zealand again.
He wants to defend his World Bowls titles in Adelaide next year. He won the pairs and fours at Christchurch in 2008.
National bowls coach Dave Edwards has stated that he and Lawson have buried the hatchet and Lawson is now eligible to be selected for New Zealand again.
Lawson declined the invitation when the new national squad was announced early this season but there was still a chance for him to be added when a review of the group was conducted after the national championships.
If Lawson is included in the squad, it will open the way for him to be selected for World Bowls at Adelaide in November-December next year.
Bowls New Zealand selector Terry Scott told the Otago Daily Times that if Lawson was available there was a chance Lawson could be selected.
Scott still rates the national open championships as a key event in which to judge players.
"If our top players are unable to attend it opens the door to someone else," Scott said. "They put their positions at risk.
"There are a lot of good bowlers out there who see the nationals as a key event for them to advance."
Former Bowls Dunedin representative Paul Girdler did not attend the nationals a few years ago and did not play for New Zealand again.
"We like to see the best players competing," Scott said.
Only five of the 10 players who represented New Zealand at the Asia and Pacific championships at Adelaide will be competing at Auckland.
They are Richard Girvan, Dan Delaney and Leanne Curry, in all events, and Genevieve Baildon in the singles and pairs and Ali Forsyth in the fours.
Players not competing are Shaun Scott, Tony Grantham, Val Smith, Jo Edwards and Jan Khan.
About 900 bowlers have entered the national championships at Auckland. There are 280 in the men's singles and 136 in the women's singles.
There are 202 men's teams that have entered for the pairs and 107 in the women's pairs. There are 107 teams in the men's fours and 52 in the women's fours.
There are 10 bowlers from Dunedin competing at the championships and two from Central Otago.
The seven bowlers from the North East Valley Club are Kay Hammond, Vicki Robinson, Rebecca Jelley, Laurie Moore, Craig Ellis, Mark Watt and Kelvin Budge.The other bowlers from Dunedin are Sue Hodges (Outram), Malia Tavite and Carolyn West (Andersons Bay).
Players travelling to Auckland from Central Otago are Pat Houlahan (Alexandra) and Howard O'Donnell (Clyde).
