Bowls: Brassey loses by 2cm

LONDON - New Zealander Rowan Brassey has been eliminated from the world professional indoor bowls singles championships in England after losing an epic five-set battle to world No 1 David Gourlay.

With most of the capacity 1300-strong crowd urging him on, underdog Brassey took the Scotsman to 6-7 in the last set in the best match of the Great Yarmouth tournament so far.

But his bid to throw Gourlay from his throne ended in misfortune.

Brassey took the jack with his last shot of the game, only to watch in horror as his bowl toppled away from it, leaving Gourlay's best just 2cm closer.

That was the match won and lost.

It was an unfortunate end to a second-round match in which Brassey fought tooth and nail, only to have the bowls gods desert him. Gourlay won 7-2, 6-7, 7-4, 3-7, 7-6.

Brassey fought back from 0-4 and 2-6 down in the final set, scoring a four on the second-to-last end to keep his hopes alive.

"You go so far, you get so close and you're out there for about 3 3/4 hours, it comes down to the last bowl and you miss out by that much," Brassey reflected.

"I was a bit unlucky, on a few shots - things moved around a lot."

Brassey needed to win to get more ranking points, meaning he would not have to qualify for the 2002 tournament. He hopes to return to England for the international classic singles later this year.

Brassey holds high hopes for the pairs, beginning next weekend, where he will partner Noel Kennedy of Hong Kong.

Brassey was the last New Zealander eliminated from the singles. Steve Posa and Kerry Chapman were both beaten in the first round by English opponents.

- NZPA