Bowls: Good night's sleep helps pair to qualify

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The South Island's two major tragedies of 2010-11 helped to inspire two of the most outstanding performers, Canterbury's Kelvin Scott and West Coast's Lance Pascoe, on the second day of the national bowls championships in Auckland yesterday.

Scott, from Christchurch's Papanui club, and Pascoe, from the tiny Karoro club in Blaketown, near Greymouth, ran up five straight wins in qualifying play to sweep into the post section play of the men's championship pairs.

But, as Scott, the national singles champion in 1998, observed, both have had more on their minds recently than just playing bowls.

"There have been a lot of other things going on in our lives at the moment," he said.

Scott's house in the suburb of Brooklands is in the red zone. And Pascoe, who two years ago was runner-up in the national pairs to Gary Lawson and Danny Delany, lost a close friend with whom he won club and centre titles, Peter O'Neill, in the Pike River mining disaster late last year.

This is the first time Scott and Pascoe have played together though they have often been in opposition, especially in inter-centre events where Karoro, with no more than 100 male bowlers, has always boxed above its weight.

Despite the poor weather and Auckland traffic jams, Scott believed the good form he and Pascoe had found on the opening two days of the championships was due to being able to relax.

"It's good to be up here and be able to drive on roads that aren't bumpy and to be able to get a full night's sleep."