Bowls: Richer kitty a real sweetener

Richard Girvan. Photo / Getty Images

Black Jacks international bowler Richard Girvan, still a fervent admirer of the national championships in the traditional Christmas-New Year format, believes it could benefit with one major improvement.

"I think they have to make it more attractive," he said as he and fellow international, Danny Delany, emerged among the early favourites for the pairs title by winning their opening two post-section matches.

"The prize money needs a serious look," the Australia-based Girvan said, pointing out the equivalent national singles championship in Australia had a first prize of $18,000, compared to $1200 for New Zealand's title.

Otherwise, Girvan had little complaint about what he agrees is a fine event. That even included having to play on indifferent artificial greens because of the poor weather. In the case of Girvan and Delany, they were forced to play yesterday at Epsom which, rather than carpet, has an outdated Astroturf greenwhose many kinks made results a lottery.

Winners of November's New Zealand Open, Girvan and Delany continued much of that form though in their second round match they were pushed hard by Wellington's Richard Corry and Raymond Martin. Also at Epsom, the run of narrow escapes by Aucklanders Petar Sain and Scott Cottrell came to an end. Trailing 7-0 at one stage to the Wellington-Canterbury pair, Blake Signal and Alvin Gardiner, Sain and Cottrell forced an extra end.

The Aucklanders then drew two shots to hold the game, only for Signal to draw immaculately with his last bowl to win 12-11.

The South Island pair of Kelvin Scott and Lance Pascoe, who had been impressive in qualifying unbeaten, also departed, beaten by experienced Aucklanders Steve Cox and Neil Fisher.

Other leading combinations to book a high-profile showdown against each other today were Gary Lawson and Chris Le Lievre and Shannon McIlroy and Matt Gallop.

In the women's singles, the prospect of the Boyd sisters, Mandy and Angela, meeting was averted when Angela lost to Wellington's Leigh Griffith.

The promising Dunedin-based Rebecca Jelley upset 2010 pairs champion Reen Stratford, and Taranaki's Cathy Andrews beat North Harbour's Hilary Ross. Black Jack Clare McCaul was another in top form.