KEY POINTS:
A player who describes himself as a bit of a cowboy on the bowling green has come through as the top men's qualifier at the world singles Champion of Champions in Christchurch, winning 10 of his 11 matches.
Roy Garden, from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, demonstrated his readiness for the playoffs by defeating the world's seventh-ranked player, Israel's Jeff Rabkin, in brutal conditions in his final qualifying game yesterday.
He will square off against Keith Jones of Spain in the quarter-finals today.
In the other matches, New Zealand's Alan Dickson, top qualifier in his section, plays England's Simon Jee, Scotland's Darren Burnett meets Ireland's Martin McHugh and Rabkin takes on Fiji's Ratish Lal.
In the women's competition, New Zealand's Audrey Stevenson comfortably qualified top of her group to set up a quarter-final clash with pre-tournament favourite Nor Hashimah Ismail of Malaysia.
Although 45-year-old Garden won the singles gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, he doesn't consider he has yet broken through into the "major league". He gets that opportunity over the next couple of days.
"Some of the finest bowlers in the world are here for this event," he said. Distinctively tall at 1.93m, Garden hopes to return to Christchurch for the world championships in January 2008, although whether the full 12-strong Zimbabwean team fronts up depends largely on whether sponsorship and backers can be found.
"Our sport is desperately short of cash back home," he says.
"If there's anyone prepared to sponsor us or provide accommodation, I'd love to hear from them.
"As things stand right now, I'll be putting up cash myself to try and get our team to New Zealand."
Garden is a vital member of the Zimbabwean team now but says he was ignored by the selectors for a long time because he was a "cowboy".
"You know how difficult selectors can be. I was a non-conformist and they wouldn't pick me. I mellowed a bit and the selectors finally decided I had something to offer."
While Garden was overcoming Rabkin, New Zealand's Dickson was providing another exhibition of his great tenacity, clawing his way back from 3-10, 2-5 against the world's 10th-ranked player, Syed Akil of Malaysia, to win in the second tiebreaker set.
By finishing top, Dickson has avoided the three heavyweights of the other division.
In today's other women's quarter-finals, England's Julie Saunders plays South Africa's Colleen Webb, Australian Julie Keegan plays Ireland's Jennifer Dowds and Karina Okuk of Papua New Guinea plays Scotland's Ann Marie Fletcher.
QUARTER-FINALS
Men
Roy Garden (Zimbabwe) v Keith Jones (Spain)
Alan Dickson (NZ) v Simon Jee (England)
Darren Burnett (Scotland) v Martin McHugh (Ireland)
Jeff Rabkin (Israel) v Ratish Lal (Fiji)
Women
Audrey Stevenson (NZ) v Nor Hashimah Ismail (Malaysia)
Julie Saunders (England) v Colleen Webb (South Africa)
Julie Keegan (Australia) v Jennifer Dowds (Ireland)
Karina Okuk (Papua New Guinea) v Ann Marie Fletcher (Scotland)
- NZPA
