Mark Watt (North East Valley) catapulted up the PBA rankings with his victory in the Scottish International Open Singles at the Dunedin Bowls Stadium yesterday.
Watt (23), a heating and ventilation apprentice and member of the New Zealand development squad, has kept a low profile on the bowls front over the past two years due to work and apprenticeship commitments.
As an 18-year-old, he won direct entry into the English International Open in Sheffield, only to be wiped out in the first round by world No 1 David Gourley.
"He annihilated me," Watt said of his first international experience.
But international success followed when he won the Hong Kong Sevens invitational singles in 2007. Although selected in the main squad for the Delhi Commonwealth Games, life commitments intervened to see him dropped back to the national development squad of which he has remained a part of since.
"I'm only 23. I still have plenty of time to develop," he said.
Ranked No 6 going into the tournament over the weekend, Watt's first scalp was the No 5-ranked Peter Wilson (Kaikorai), who won the Scottish and Welsh International Invitations in 2010.
The match itself was a seesaw affair with Watt winning the first round 8-3, and Wilson bouncing back in the second for a 9-3 victory to force a tie-break, which Watt won 2-0 to progress through.
This victory alone will see Watt take the No 5 ranking and, depending on other results around the country, his victory in the regional final yesterday could see his ranking climb further.
He recorded straight-set victories in his remaining qualifying matches, and was matched with Regan Larkin in the final.
After a nervous start, in which Watt dropped two shots on the first end, he dominated the remaining eight ends to win the first of two matches 10-4. But mid-way through the second match Watt's form fell away allowing Larkin to win 11-8 and force a tie-break. A refocused Watt took the tie-break 2-0 to win the Otago section and passage through to the national final in Dunedin on September 7-9.
With an anxious three-month wait until the national final, and match-ups with the country's leading players, Watt is looking forward to the challenge.
"I'll be looking to freshening my approach, focus and time preparation," he said.
However, following his victory yesterday morning there was little time to spend with girlfriend Rebecca Jelly, a member of the national women's development squad, as it was back on the greens for the first rounds of the pairs competition, where he was defending the title with partner Ken Walker (Fairfield).
The pair progressed through to the final where some masterful draw shots, from Walker in particular, saw the two successfully defend the title 11-6, 9-5.
"That was a fantastic display of bowls," defeated finalist Ross Brown (Forbury Park) said.
Brown paired with Larkin, who was ranked 22 going into the tournament but now rests in the top 10.
The Shanghai singles, held in association with the Scottish Invitation, saw Craig Forgie (Taieri) defeat Ross Brown (Forbury Park) and Bill McKinlay (Fairfield) in the final with 31 points, to Brown's 30 points and McKinlay's 22 points.
As the top two qualifiers Forgie and Brown go through to September's national final in Dunedin.
With some regional qualifying matches still to be decided Forgie and Brown will join those who have already qualified: Craig Merrilees (Invercargill), Murray Glassey and Natasha Grimshaw (Hastings) and Wayne Stewart (Hamilton).
