Kelly (23), a civil engineering cadet, reached the semifinals of the North East Valley Invitation singles when he beat experienced international Jamie Hill (Auckland) 25-20 in the quarterfinal.
"The earthquake and other life experiences I have gone through in the last year has given me a different perspective on bowls," Kelly said.
He demonstrated this against Hill, who has been the most successful New Zealand bowler on the Professional Bowls Association circuit.
Hill has been the best-performed New Zealand bowler on the World Bowls Tour since Rowan Brassey has confined himself to playing in New Zealand and Australia.
"There is still pressure in quarterfinals and knockout bowls but it is just a matter of coping the right way," Kelly said.
"It's the first time I've played Jamie and I'm stoked to beat him. He is a world-class player."
When Kelly first burst on to the national scene six years ago he was noted more for his driving. But he now concentrates more on the draw shot and uses the drive only sparingly.
"You can't do anything out on the green unless you set yourself up with bowls around the head," Kelly said.
He did this in the quarterfinal when he outdrew Hill and forced the Auckland bowler into playing more upshots and drives But they did not always come off and he conceded too many shots to Kelly.
This happened on the seventh end when Hill was one down on the head. His drive was astray and he conceded two extra shots to Kelly who led 9-3.
Kelly drove less but when he did let fly he gained points. On the 19th end he was two down on the head and his drive took the jack to the ditch and gained him three shots. He led 17-12. It was a five-point turnaround and was one of the most crucial shots in the game.
But Kelly still had a couple of hiccups when he dropped three shots on the 27th end to lead 22-18. But he added a single and two on the last three ends to win the game.
The three Dunedin players in the quarterfinals were all beaten by their northern opponents.
New Zealand singles champion Shaun Scott (North East Valley) started slowly and trailed Greg Ruaporo (Waikato) 19-10 after 22 ends.
He fought back to score nine shots on the last eight ends before losing 25-21.
Bruce Dunn (North East Valley) was competing in the event for the sixth time and this was the first time he had qualified for the main event.
He put up a game fight before losing to new international Tony Grantham (Auckland) 25-21.
Dunn trailed 19-10 after 17 ends but fought back gamely to close the gap.
Mike Kernaghan (Kaikorai) was the other Dunedin player in the quarterfinals and he lost to Shannon McIlroy (Nelson) 25-17.
McIlroy won the Speight's-sponsored event in 2006 and 2008 and needs only to win two more games today to equal the record of former international Rowan Brassey (Auckland), who won on three occasions.
In this morning's semifinals, Grantham will play Kelly and Ruaporo will be matched against McIlroy. The semifinals start at 9.30am and the final at 1pm at the North East Valley green.
