The women's singles at the New Zealand open championship were redrawn according to Bowls New Zealand rules, tournament director Allan Griffiths says.
Because the first day was abandoned after heavy rain, it was decided to take all 152 players into post-section play.
Bruce Christie, of the Tawa club in Wellington, was not in Dunedin but he accused Griffiths and Bowls New Zealand president Coral Wing of not following the rules in the re-draw.
In bowls, all byes are dealt with in the first round, so the top 104 of the 152 players in the draw should have received a bye, Christie said in an email to the Otago Daily Times.
This did not happen; instead, the top 48 and the bottom 56 players got byes.
Christie said that this might not sound serious, but it meant the women's singles event was compromised and no national title should be awarded under the circumstances.
In addition, it was a breach of the laws, Christie said.
Bowls New Zealand was obliged to follow the laws like everyone else.
Griffiths denied the accusation, and an examination of the draw by this reporter at the championship headquarters at the Taieri Bowling Club yesterday confirmed that the 104 players with byes had indeed been placed at the top - as was normal practice, Griffiths said.
The draw was down to 16 players after three and four rounds.
Griffiths said it took three hours for the re-draw to be made.
"We checked and double-checked to see that we got it right," he said.
