Havelock North Bowling Club member Ian Mason, 77, competes in the NZPBA ranking singles qualifiers at Club Hastings tonight. Photo/Paul Taylor
Havelock North Bowling Club member Ian Mason, 77, competes in the NZPBA ranking singles qualifiers at Club Hastings tonight. Photo/Paul Taylor
Nobility was the winner when the ranking singles careered towards the business end of the New Zealand Professional Bowls Association in Hastings tonight.
The deposed No 1 seed in the country, Murray Glassey, and fellow Hawke's Bay rival Ian Mason deferred their final at Club Hastings to Saturday, September 1.
"Ian had to travel back to Waipawa because he's not the youngest player here," said Glassey, of Hastings, referring to 77-year-old Mason who represents Havelock North BC but commutes from Waipawa.
The pair, who are both in the Bay outdoor bowls squad trails on September 1, will complete the final after that at the same venue.
"It's better to play it then because there'll be more people to watch the game," Glassey said, happy with his effort today.
Mason, a retired entrepreneur in the panel and paint shop business in Hastings, said he had left home at 7am today to compete so it as a long day for him.
The finalists had played four games today.
Mason had lost to the then teenager, Bradley Down, of Victoria BC (Wellington), in the ranking singles final here in 2016.
"They [younger players] are probably much fitter than what I am at the end of the day but I'm still very competitive," said the former Bay outdoor bowls selector who will represent the province for 45 consecutive years if selector Tony Terry picks him for the men's team.
Today, Daryll Johnson, of Foxton, beat Hastings young gun and NZPBA No 3 Dean Drummond 8-6, 8-3 in the quarterfinals.
However, No 2 Glassey remains on quest to register enough points to wrest the top rung back from Craig Merrilees, of Invercargill, provided he claims two more victories tomorrow in the international singles qualifier starting at 8.30am tomorrow.
The 42-year-old Heinz Watties employee beat Scotty McGavin, of Marton, 11-4, 11-3.
Taradale club member Dave Henderson had also kept the Bay flag fluttering when he beat host club member Dave Porteous 11-5, 6-6.
Mason had to toil to beat Terry Johnson, of Northern BC in Palmerston North, 8-8, 8-5. In the semifinals, Glassey had an arm wrestle with Johnson 5-8, 11-3 before edging past to the final with a 2-0 tie break from three ends.
Mason beat Henderson 12-5, 7-5.
Murray Glassey (left) watches David Holt, of Australia, play in the Transtasman Challenge in 2016. The Hastings ace is on track to represent New Zealand again. Photo/file
The ranking singles points will be tallied up at the end of the year to pick the top six qualifiers to take on their Australian PBA counterparts in the annual Transtasman test.
All seven NZPBA venues will be humming tomorrow to find the qualifiers for the international open singles to earn the right to represent the country in Blackpool, England, in March.
The other venues are New Lynn (Auckland), Frankton Railway (Hamilton), Paritutu (New Plymouth) and Naenae (Wellington) in the North Island and Dunedin Community Bowls Stadium and Waverley Club (Invercargill) in the South Island.
International singles qualifier Tomorrow from 8.30am:
1st rd: (277) Wayne Stewart v (96=) Aaron Bryant; (2) Murray Glassey v (102=) Bunny Kupa; (253=) Tasha Haronga v (3) Dean Drummond; (180=) Scotty McGavin v (57) Gavin Keighley; (102=) Richard Kupa v (7) Terry Johnson; (26=) Daryl Johnson v (119=) David Jones; (122=) John McLaughlin v (102=) Mike Isaacson; (135=) Steve Love v (253=) Phil Tasker-Poland; (212=) Merv Brown v (226=) Mike Amy; (93=) Lisa Carlson v (54=) Grant Sargison; (113=) Ian Mason v (241=) Bryan Gibson; (253=) Jae Johnson v (113=) Tilly Carlson; (135=) Peter Jones v (226=) Dave Porteous; (107=) Dave Henderson v (241=) James Bragger; (143=) Charles Haronga v (226=) Jack Giddy.
2nd rd: (241=) Steve Asquith v winner Stewart/Bryant.
