Nelson's Ali Forsyth lost his chance of a hat-trick of titles when he was one of many shock losers as the national singles championship was whittled down yesterday to the last 16 on Auckland greens.
The 2003-04 champion won his first three post-section matches, but bowed out in the round of 32, beaten by a little-known bowler from Auckland's Glen Eden club, Ray Davidson.
But even this sensation was topped in a day of drama and tension by a teenager from Gisborne, Shannon McIlroy, who upstaged everyone by winning all his matches to make the last 16.
Bowls New Zealand chief executive Kerry Clark, himself a youthful prodigy of the game in his playing heyday, believes it is the furthest any player has gone in the long history of the national singles at such an age.
McIlroy, who does not turn 18 until tomorrow, has for the past three years been the national collegiate champion - a striking illustration of the success bowls has had in recent years through concentrating on youth development.
The Lytton High School pupil has returned from the Commonwealth youth games, where he picked up a bronze medal.
Among his victims yesterday were some notable bowlers, including experienced Wellingtonians Lou Cancian and Lou Newman.
Cancian, the national pairs runner-up at Onehunga 20 years ago, was in awe of McIlroy's performance, saying he had the talent and temperament to become a superstar.
"He played magnificent bowls, either driving or drawing," Cancian said.
"It wasn't as if I was playing bad bowls myself and at one stage I led him 15-13.
"He's a nice kid, too, a gentleman on the greens."
Besides the youth of McIlroy, yesterday's singles matches projected some of the game's senior players, such as George Benvenuti, Cancian's Naenae club partner when they played such a memorable final in 1984-85 against Taranaki's Maurice Symes and Geoff Hawken.
Now 67 and not having played the game too seriously in recent years, Benvenuti climaxed a long day at the Henderson headquarters green with a 21-20 thriller over Trevor Foord from Carlton.
Foord, known to most Auckland bowlers by the nickname Model T, was involved in two epic contests yesterday. Before meeting Benvenuti he had ousted one of the more favoured bowlers, the Tokoroa club's well performed Kevin Robinson, 21-20.
Foord, like Davidson, is one of a number of Auckland journeymen who have exceeded expectations to achieve last-16 status.
Others are Norm Scott-Morrison (Henderson), Tony Andrews (Carlton), Mark Hall (Avondale) and Doug Parlane (Onehunga), as well as Tony Grantham from North Harbour and Dwayne Cameron from Counties-Manukau.
Rowan Brassey, with four comfortable wins yesterday, is in a good position to take the singles title which has eluded him so far.
But other top bowlers are also in the last 16, including Silverdale's Brent Turner, Australian-based Richard Girvan, Canterbury's Doug Wilson and Steve Posa, the Waikato representative now with Takapuna.
Players to drop out included Kelvin Scott, Philip Skoglund, Robinson, Ivan Marsic, Graham Skellern and past singles champion Petar Sain.
The women's pairs competition was also reduced to 16 yesterday, with the main surprises the early defeats of former international Patsy Jorgensen and the successful New Lynn skips Norma Stewart and Maureen Parker.
But what appear to be the strongest pairs, Marlene Castle and Wendy Jensen, Sharon Sims and Mary Campbell, the Khan sisters, Jan and Marina, and Shona Klimeck and Adele Greenfield, were rarely troubled in yesterday's three matches.
Bowls: Teen sensation reaches last 16 in day of drama
Ali Forsyth
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