Bowls: Corry homes in on UK big-money tournament

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Rowan Brassey - "Radar" to many in bowling circles - is under threat from the real thing.

When he is not on the bowling green, Richard Corry is likely to be found at his day job - sitting in front of a radar screen in one of the Air Force's Orions.

Corry had his bowling radar working pretty well as he came from behind to beat Morris Farac in a tense final of the Professional Bowlers Association's season-opening tournament at Pukekohe.

That win earned 30-year-old Corry a trip to England in November and a shot at $200,000 prizemoney at the world indoor tournament.

While hardly a household name, Corry has the credentials to be a genuine challenger for future international honours.

His uncle Ian Dickison won singles gold at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. From the time Corry, as a 4-year-old, wandered on to the greens at Dunedin's Kaikorai Club he has been hooked.

"I just wish we had had the opportunities to play while I was at school like the kids have today," said Corry who settled for table tennis, badminton and hockey in his Logan Park High School days.

While he did not play much tennis, he remains a great fan of the court sport and its knockout format.

That sudden-death system was used in the Pukekohe tournament which attracted some of New Zealand's best, including Gary Lawson, Steve Posa and Adam Newman whom Corry beat in the quarter-finals.

A fan of singles and the sets format - he and New Zealand Commonwealth Games representative Andrew Curtain last year played a five-set thriller - Corry nevertheless had some misgivings about the two-set affairs at this year's tournament.

"The games were very short. Just two sets and then, if needed, three extra ends," said Corry.

"But it was pretty exciting. Morris came out very quickly and blew me away 11-1 in the first set and led 2-0 in the second. I then needed all three tiebreak ends to win 2-1."

His fulltime job as an airborne electronics operator on the Orions has kept him on the move including a nine-month stint in Australia where he joined the Sale club in eastern Victoria while on a training exercise.

He has also played at the Kaikorai, Bulls and now Hillsboro clubs.

While he spends time in search and rescue operations over the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea, Corry will be looking for as much time as possible back on land - preferably at the indoor complex at Pukekohe - over the next few months.

"Rowan Brassey and Marlene Castle have already said they will give me as much help as the can," said Corry.

"Their experience on indoor surfaces will be invaluable. I can't wait to get to England and test myself against the best in the world."

Somewhat ironically, Brassey's ranking has slipped and he will not be there after carrying the New Zealand flag for years.