Bowls: Lawson put champion on the road to national glory

Gary Lawson. Photo / APN

One of the country's greatest but most controversial bowlers, Gary Lawson, has been a key factor in the sudden rise of Auckland's Danny Delany, who completed a notable double at the New Zealand Open in Henderson yesterday.

After winning the pairs final on Thursday, Delany was the centre of the triple, alongside fellow national squad members Shannon McIlroy and Chris Le Lievre, which was too strong for a Rob Ashton-skipped combination in the final, winning 15-7.

Delany, who pocketed $2000 for sharing in the two titles, said his biggest break came two years ago when he was asked to lead for double world champion Lawson at the nationals in Wellington.

Together they won the national pairs title and Delany's star rose from there.

"I've got a lot to thank Gary for," Delany said.

Soon after winning the national pairs title, he was introduced to the Black Jacks; he will play for them at the Asia-Pacific championship in Adelaide this month.

Delany had a relatively low profile before Lawson picked him up. He started in bowls as a 13-year-old and played in the northern region for years. He collected 10 centre titles, many of them with Le Lievre, but had few aspirations beyond that.

In an age when athleticism has become almost as important as bowls skill, his stocky build may have been held against him. But Delany points out that since joining the national squad and starting a fitness programme, he has shed 20kg.

The Wellington-based Ashton confessed yesterday that he, Raika Gregory and Barclay Lee had been flummoxed by a difficult wind.

That wind also unsettled Wellingtonian Kaaren Guilford in the women's singles final.

The 37-year old business analyst with just two centre titles to her name since taking up the game 10 years ago after suffering a netball injury, gave experienced international Jan Khan a mighty battle.

Twice at 10-all and then 17-18 down, Guilford looked as if she might cause an upset, but on each occasion mistakes on the draw saw her concede costly threes and in the end, Khan won 21-17.

Experience also told in the men's singles final when Aucklander Neil Fisher gained the most significant win in his 24-year career by recovering from a 12-15 deficit to score nine unanswered points to beat the rising star from Kaitaia, Monte Pawa.