Bowls: Waterson pulls out all stops to qualify at last minute

By BOB PEARCE

Defending champion Chris Waterson had to draw on all his skill to qualify at the death for the national pairs bowls championship in Auckland yesterday.

Needing to win for a place in post-section play, the Wanganui bowler with clubmate Rob Robertson was level 18-18 with the Mt Richmond pairing of Maurice Payne and Don Faifua.

Faifua drew shot for the Aucklanders, and Waterson had three bowls to keep his title hopes alive.

With his first he drove out Faifua's shot bowl. His second drew shot and he did not need his third as Payne could not improve.

Robertson has replaced Sean Johnson as Waterson's lead and he struggled a little in his national championship debut on the unfamiliar Onehunga greens.

The big surprise of the day was the non-qualification of Dunedin bowlers Paul Girdler and Mike Kernaghan, who lost their last two games to North Harbour combinations skipped by Brent Turner (Orewa) and Noel Frederick (Glenfield).

Girdler won bronze with the NZ fours and pairs at the world championships in South Africa.

On a day when the other favoured pairs achieved the three wins necessary to qualify without too much drama, some of the tensest action was at Remuera - and at the centre was the grand old man of northern bowls, Ivan Kostanich.

The Helensville fisherman won this title in 1984 with Pat Robertson. Now, four days short of his 80th birthday, he is paired with Pat's son, Wayne.

In their first game they battled to a 16-15 win over the redoubtable Ivan and Wally Marsic, of Carlton.

But in their second they were down 5-12 after 12 ends against Graham Catton and Haydon Haszard, of Waimauku. Then the master found his touch, scoring fours on consecutive ends to win 18-13.

After losing the third game 9-20 to Graham Skellern and Merv Gibbons, of Tauranga South, Kostanich defied the Auckland heat to win his final game 26-4 to qualify. Skellern and the Marsics also qualified from this section.

One of the most impressive displays came from New Zealand representative David File (Te Karaka) and his partner, Adam Newman (Victoria), a former national finalist. They won three straight, 20-6, 20-6, 22-5.

One of those forced into a fourth game was Kerry Chapman (Henderson), playing with David Eades (Orewa). They won their fourth game, but Chapman will not be able to continue if they progress much further. He won Superbowls and a place in the world indoor final in England, and to get there in time he must leave on Monday before all three national finals at Onehunga on Tuesday.