KEY POINTS:
Top players fell by the wayside in a day of upsets at the national bowls championships in Christchurch yesterday.
But national coach Dave Edwards is totally unfazed about the results, despite the world championships being only 10 days away, saying he is totally satisfied with the team's form.
It looked ominous when defending champions of the last two years, Sharon Sims and lead Mary Campbell were beaten in the first round of the women's pairs post section play by the well performed Tauranga bowler Marilyn McLeod and Elaine McClintock of Mt Maunganui.
But worse was to come when the world bowls pairing of Jo Edwards and Val Smith also exited in the second round, being bustled out of contention by Pat Clark and her Georgetown club-mate from Invercargill, Pam Calder.
Both teams went into the last end, 13 apiece, with Edwards and Smith holding shot. Clark played her last bowl with weight, got a feather off another bowl on to the jack which spewed sideways to give the Southlanders the shot. Edwards chose to draw to retrieve the situation with her last bowl but was slightly too heavy and slipped a yard past.
The real surprise came though, when Gary Lawson, who'd played with great authority through all six days of competition, hit the wall against the consistent draw play of local Canterbury representative Roger Glendinning of Parklands, to be eliminated in his last game of the day 21-7.
On the positive side, sisters Jan and Marina Khan came through both their rounds with good wins in the pairs and the men's world bowls team continued their impressive form throughout the first week.
Andrew Todd and Lawson are through to tomorrow's pairs semifinals, while Ali Forsyth and Russell Meyer are all still alive in the singles.
Lawson survived a crucial second round game against his pair teammate and former New Zealand rep, Andrew Curtain, 21-17, before losing to Glendinning while Forsyth was taken to the wire by Tauranga's Steve Beel in a thrilling match before winning 21-20. Not so for Meyer, who breezed through his first two games 21-7 and 21-10 before playing superbly to beat last year's New Zealand rep Doug Wilson 21-5. Meyer's final outing caused a little more stress however, with Blair Barringer of Fairfield giving stiff opposition before conceding 21-16.
