Bowls: Teenager breaks Skoglund's national title record

Poverty Bay's Shannon McIlroy made bowls history yesterday by becoming the youngest holder of a national title.

Playing at three in the Dwayne Cameron-skipped four, McIlroy, 19, helped his side to a 20-5 win in the fours final at the Naenae green over teenager Andrew Kelly, who led a composite team of teenagers from both islands.

The women's fours went to Beckenham, comprising Christchurch foursome Lorraine Davis, Bev Heathcote, Karin Ware and Maureen Doherty.

They beat Meryle Mackie, Norma Stone, Betty Thomas and Linda Sollitt, all from Wellington's Taita club, 24-13.

The previous youngest winner of a national title was the legendary Phil Skoglund, who won the men's singles in 1958 at the age of 21.

McIlroy, from Te Karaka, northwest of Gisborne, praised his opponents - Kelly, 17, from Otago, Allan Stewart, 16, from Waihi, Stephen Wood, 19, from Eastbourne and James Pugh, 17, from Nelson - saying that with a little more maturity they would become star players.

McIlroy, who celebrated his birthday last Thursday, said he had long wanted to break Skoglund's record, coming closest last year when he exited in the singles quarter-finals, losing to Cameron.

"I started playing when I was seven and have been at the nationals four times now," said McIlroy, a member of NZ Bowls' high-performance squad and who plays internationally at under-25 level.

"I have wanted this pretty bad, and because so many younger people are getting into the sport, such as Andrew Kelly and all those boys, I knew this was probably going to be my last shot at it."

But it was almost not to be because McIlroy wasn't going to play the fours. He came into the side after Takapuna's Richard Collett became unavailable, joining Manurewa's Cameron, Hunua's Shane McConagle and Naenae's Ross Thorne.

"Dwayne was an inspiration to me; I couldn't have done it without him and the boys," said McIlroy.

For Cameron, 29, the 2004-5 singles champion, who exited in the singles quarter-finals this time, it was satisfying to have won another title for a second straight year.

His overall performance sees him returning, after a gap of five years, to NZ Bowls' national open squad that was named yesterday.

Meanwhile, Davis, 62, was ecstatic with Beckenham's win after joining the club from Canterbury last year.

"All the heavies were on the other side of the draw. We knew it was in our favour and we knew we could come up with the goods, and we did," she said.

Davis' team lost their first two encounters in section play but won the next 10.

"They just played solid bowls, they let me direct them and they didn't question anything I asked of them," she said.

"They have told me I have been quite bossy, and I can stop giving them orders now."

The other titles settled earlier went to Alan Dickson (Castlecliff) and Audrey Stevenson (Raumati South) in the singles and Rex Holmes and Brian Howman (Paraparaumu Beach) and Sharon Sims (Northern) and Mary Campbell (Taupo) in the pairs.

* A six-strong 25-and-under New Zealand men's team was named yesterday to contest the Tri-Nations Cup in Melbourne from January 31.

The side will join New Zealand open men's and women's teams, and a women's development side, to compete in the three-day event against Australia and Malaysia.

Tri-nations squad

Open men
* Singles: Russell Meyer.
* Pairs: Rowan Brassey (skip) and Jamie Hill.
* Triples: Gary Lawson (skip), Justin Goodwin and Richard Girvan.

Open women
* Singles: Jo Edwards.
* Pairs: Jan (skip) and Marina Khan.
* Triples: Val Smith (skip), Sharon Sims and Serena Mathews.

25 and under men
* Singles: Shannon McIlroy.
* Pairs: Andrew Kelly (skip) and Matt Gallop.
* Triples: Doug Wilson (skip), Stephen Wood and Richard Collett.

Women's development
* Singles: Cathy Fleming.
* Pairs: Jan Malcolm (skip) and Manu Timoti.
* Triples: Jessie Anne Law (skip), Michelle Preston and Josie Uren.

- NZPA