Geoff Wilson (Kaikorai) mastered the bowls stadium rinks with blinding accuracy, accounting for the youthful talents of Caleb Hope (Gore), Sheldon Bagrie-Howley (Gore) and Brent McEwan (St Clair) and also eliminating Kaikorai clubmate Mike Cranston.
For Wilson (67), a retired taxi driver, it was a marathon effort as his first three games were all decided in sudden-death tiebreaks.
He took advantage of a slow start to the day by Hope to account for him in the first set 8-3, but Hope bounced back to pinch the second set 7-6 to force the tiebreak. However, Wilson's accurate draw game prevailed 2-0 in the tiebreak.
Against Cranston, Wilson lost the first set 7-8, but came back to win the second set 11-4 and take the tiebreak 2-0.
It was a tale of three phases when Wilson dispatched Bagrie-Howley.
Claiming a solid 13-7 victory in the first set, Wilson had no answer when Bagrie-Howley came back with style to win the second set 10-5. The tiebreak proved a three-end thriller in which Wilson's draw game enabled him to win 2-1 to progress to a quarterfinal showdown against McEwan.
McEwan had no answer for the blinding accuracy of Wilson's bowls. Wilson won the first set 10-0 and the second 8-3.
Wilson now faces Wally Shaw (St Kilda) on Saturday in the semifinal.
Shaw dispatched players such as Marty Kreft (Taieri) and defending champion Oliver Mason (Forbury Park).
The 26-year-old Mason's only hope of making it to the national finals in Hastings now hinge on winning the pairs final this weekend.
He and partner Lou Robinson face Mario Sopp (Brighton) and Helen Carman (Taieri).
The winner of the Wilson-Shaw clash will face the winner of the semifinal between Russell Dawe (Kaikorai) and Dave Natta (Fairfield) meaning an all-Kaikorai final is on the cards.
Semifinal play is set to get under way at the Bowls Dunedin Stadium at 12.30pm on Saturday.
