Bowls: Sain and Lawson go into pairs final after dramatic play

Local hearts went out to Naenae's Terry Lynch and Ron Pilcher after a day of Houdini acts saw Petar Sain and Gary Lawson walk a knife-edge into the final of the pairs at the men's national bowls championships in Wellington today.

Carlton's Sain and Lawson, of Canterbury's Hornby Domain, will contest the pairs final after semifinal wins that will live in the collective memory of all involved.

Lynch and Pilcher appeared to be headed for their first national final after leading Lawson and Andrew Curtain, of Elmwood, 14-11 going into the final end.

And when Lynch dropped in a toucher with his final bowl of the 18th end with Lawson holding four shots it appeared the fairytale would be complete.

But happy endings were not on Lawson's agenda. He drove Lynch off the jack to secure three shots, force the decisive extra end, and give himself a tilt at a second national pairs title to go with the one he won in 1997.

"We just don't panic. Andy has been steady all tournament and he always seems to come right when it counts ... it was a great match," Lawson said.

The unlikely Naenae pair had earlier eliminated joint tournament favourites Rowan Brassey and Jamie Hill, of Avondale, 22-11 in their quarterfinal. They also saw off Australian-based New Zealand player Paul Girdler, of St Johns Park, and Waikari's Steve Beel 17-14 in their first match of the day.

Pilcher said the tournament had been a "dream come true" despite the loss.

"We nearly beat five New Zealand representatives today so we did pretty well."

Lawson had earlier beaten Colin Reynolds, of Shirley, and Bruce Love, of Island Bay, 17-12, and Robbie Jacobs, of Redcliffs, and New Zealand under-30 representative Kevin Budge, of North East Valley, 18-10.

Meanwhile, Sain, a two-time national singles champion in 1991 and 2000, and his lead, Vladimir Marsic, were weaving their own magic on Hutt's No 2 green against Steve Posa, of Frankton Railway, and Kevin Smith, of Hinuera.

Down 10-14 entering the last end Sain drove for four shots to force an extra end and then drew a further four shots for a 18-14 win.

Sain had only advanced after a tight quarterfinal win over Island Bay's Mike Solomon and Carl Muollo.

Locked 13-13 going into the final end Sain drew shot with his last bowl and Solomon missed with a last ditch drive.

Smith and Posa had come back from 7-14 down to beat defending champions Brendon Gibson and Grant Wakefield, of Johnsonville, 17-15 in their quarterfinal after earlier tipping out Avondale's Mike Reid and Ross Haresnape 18-15.

The singles final will also be held tomorrow, between Ali Forsyth, of United, and Phil Powell, of Hutt.

- NZPA