Bowls: Bold title fightback from Brassey

SYDNEY - New Zealand's Rowan Brassey needed all his fighting qualities to claim the Energex Open singles bowls title and some tidy prizemoney at the Tweed Heads club in Queensland yesterday.

In both his semifinal and final the Aucklander overcame early deficits to emerge victorious and claim an $A8000 ($10,345) cheque for his efforts.

It caps a superb six months for Brassey, who was part of the successful New Zealand triple at the world championships in South Africa this year.

He has also been in winning form recently as an overseas professional for his club in the strong New South Wales competition.

Unlike Wednesday, Brassey made slow starts yesterday.

He trailed Englishman Stephen Halmai 3-9 and only hit the front at 16-15 after 20 ends.

However, he produced some deadly draw bowls to pick up nine shots over four ends to power away to a 25-15 win.

An even bigger fightback was needed in the semifinal where he trailed Queensland's Ken Evans 4-14.

Brassey hit the front at 18-17 and stayed ahead to take it out 25-21.

The $A30,000 tournament is touted as one of the richest around in Australasia and attracts most of the best talent from both sides of the Tasman.

The next best New Zealanders were Australian-based Peter Belliss - a triples team-mate of Brassey in South Africa - and Wellington's Lou Newman, who both reached the last 16.

- NZPA