KEY POINTS:
Gary Lawson's hunt for a 10th national bowls title was ended in the fours semifinals yesterday by Canadian Ryan Bester.
Bester, who beat New Zealand representative Lawson 20-11, will meet North East Valley club's four, skipped by Terry Scott, in this morning's final at the Papanui Bowling Club in Christchurch. Scott beat Blaketown's Lance Pascoe 20-18.
The women's final will be between North Island skips, Jo Babich from Auckland's Carlton-Cornwall club and Mina Paul of Ngongotaha.
Babich beat Papakura's Dianne Harris 19-13 while Paul beat Ashburton's Diane Gutberlet 20-14 in the semifinals.
After a day filled with tension, Lawson conceded with an end to play against Bester, having struggled throughout the afternoon trying to recover his team's situation virtually every time he stood on the mat.
Lawson paid tribute to Bester's second, Chris le Lievre from Onehunga, who consistently drew within centimetres of the jack.
"He was given a bit of a free rein and we just couldn't hide it from him," Lawson said. "Bester played four or five real good shots and that's what he's good at."
Bester's young lead, Nick Buttar, and the experienced Bruce McNish also chipped in regularly with telling bowls.
"Chris and Nick were playing really good up front and they just kept putting the pressure on," Bester said. "I think the New Zealand fours is probably one of the hardest titles in the world to win because it's so long and there's so many good players."
Scott's nerves have taken a battering in the last couple of days, having to come from behind in virtually every game his four played.
His escape act against Pascoe in the semifinal was a real Houdini act though, as his team scored 11 unanswered shots in the last six ends for their 20-18 win.
At 9-18 down halfway through the match, Scott looked dead and buried.
"We really struggled at the start and put pressure on ourselves but, at the end of the day, I think that bit of experience we have really counted," Scott said.
Only Paul's four can bring a halt to a dream week for Babich.
Babich, who has already grabbed the national pairs title with Bev Crowe, wore a wide smile as she contemplated the prospect of winning two titles in a week. "It's awesome that I've got one title and to be in another final is just fantastic."
The team of Paul, 2007 New Zealand rep Mary Campbell and two Englishwomen, Ellen Faulkner and Mary Price, are playing together for the first time and have gelled from the first day when they beat the full strength England four in section play.
Faulkner is a World Bowls singles player, while Price is the English team manager and they had requested two Kiwis to play with them at the national championships.
- NZPA
