Bowls: Palmy North pair proud to beat champ

Manawatu's Terry Johnson makes another delivery during his win yesterday. Photo / Duncan Brown

Terry Johnson appreciated the magnitude of his and fellow Manawatu bowler Phil Austin's success in Hastings yesterday.

"Yes we know Murray has had a bit of a mortgage on New Zealand Professional Bowls Association events here at his Bowls Heretaunga Club, so it was good to beat him," Johnson said referring to NZPBA No1 Murray Glassey.

Skip Johnson and Austin beat Bowls Napier's Paul Sorensen and lead Glassey 7-5, 8-4 in the final of the World Indoor Pairs qualifier. Glassey won all three NZPBA singles qualifiers at his club last year and the first of this year's on Saturday.

However as the score suggests, the Manawatu pair always had the upper hand in yesterday's final, with Johnson playing some superb bowls.

"We complimented each other and never played a lot of loose bowls. We worked well as a team," Johnson, who has played the sport for 20 years, recalled.

While Austin is a Manawatu junior representative Johnson is a former Manawatu senior rep. "I haven't played rep bowls recently because I prefer to play NZPBA tournaments in nice indoor venues like this one in the winter when the weather doesn't come into play," Johnson said.

Sorensen, a multiple Hawke's Bay centre title winner, declined to comment on the loss. Several spectators said he didn't play as well as he could have in the final.

Bowls Heretaunga stalwart Mike Isaacson, who managed Glassey and Sorensen yesterday, said credit had to be given to the Manawatu pair.

"They played well together ... a bit better than our pair. I wouldn't say anything went wrong for Paul and Murray."

Phil Austin.

Johnson and Austin will play in the national final of the qualifier in Dunedin in September. The winners of this tournament will gain entry to the World Indoor Pairs to be played at the Potter's Leisure Resort in Norfolk, England in January.

The winning New Zealand pair will be subsidised to the same tune as the singles winner for the trip to the United Kingdom. Glassey was New Zealand's singles rep earlier this year.

This will be the first time since 2008, when the global financial crisis and subsequent crunch on television and sponsorship deals in the UK changed the World Bowls Tour funding model, the NZPBA branch has been able to run qualifying entry to the pairs.

In their respective semifinals of the 17-pair event, Johnson and Austin beat the host club pair of Dean Drummond and Gavin Keighley 10-2, 7-3, and Glassey and Sorensen beat Havelock North's Ian Mason and David Jones of Taupo 12-6, 9-7. Drummond was beaten 8-5, 8-9, 2-1 (tie breaker) by Glassey in Saturday's 34-player NZPBA Scottish Singles qualifier.

With this victory Glassey booked a berth in the Dunedin-hosted national tournament in September. The winner of this event wins a trip to the United Kingdon.