Bowls: Wind wreaks havoc in Naenae as suspension of play comes late

High winds played havoc at the national championships at the Naenae club in Wellington yesterday, forcing players to duck flying objects and cope with bowls disappearing across the rink and jacks that moved.

At 11am, organisers suspended play but there was a feeling among some players battling the conditions in the men's singles round of 16 and the women's pairs quarter-finals that the call had come late.

New Zealand international Gary Lawson, who was not playing yesterday, said players, who only had few chances to win a national title in their careers, shouldn't have had to play in conditions such as those yesterday when they had trouble taking up their stances.

"The decision to suspend play was the right one, but it was two hours late," Lawson, who will play against Paraparaumu Beach's Rex Holmes in the pairs semifinals today, said. "If the jack can't stay on the centre line and the bowls can't stay still ... you've got to come off.

"The organisers have got to remember it is for the players - if the conditions are unplayable, don't expect them to play."

One player who survived the conditions in the morning was defending champion Dwayne Cameron from Manurewa.

"It wasn't too bad first thing this morning but it just got worse," he said. "Bowls getting blown around the place, jacks were moving, mats were moving, you were scared you were going to get hit in the back of the head by a branch or something like that."

Cameron won his match but fell in the quarter-finals, 21-18 to Paraparaumu's Phil Dickison, who won his only national title - in the pairs - 25 years ago.

Dickison couldn't carry his form through the semifinals where he lost 21-9 to Wanganui's Alan Dickson.

On the other side of the draw, Nelson's Ali Forsyth was making up for the disappointment of missing out on Commonwealth Games selection, and now looks the hot tip to win a third title.

The 2002-03 and 2003-04 national singles champion came through a tough quarter-final against defending pairs champion Kevin Robinson of Tokoroa 21-15 and then demolished Havelock's Graham Hood 21-8.

The women's pairs appear to be heading for a showdown between Commonwealth Games team members.

Nelson's Jo Edwards and Val Smith from the United Club, thumped their opposition in both their matches yesterday to make the last four.

On the other side of the draw, Palmerston North's Sharon Sims, who will skip the Commonwealth Games triple, and partner Mary Cambell, from Taupo, scraped a 15-14 win over Beckenham's Karin Ware at the height of the bad weather and then held off another Beckenham pair, skipped by Lorraine Davis 20-19.

"Until the last five ends (of the first match), I have played in much worse conditions than that but from the last five ends, it got a bit dangerous," said Sims.

The finals of both singles and the semifinals and finals of both pairs will be played today.

The women's singles final is between Inglewood's Lois Ritnor and Audrey Stevenson of Raumati South and the other men's pairs semifinal features Peter Petherick from Central Levin and Tokoroa's Kevin Robinson.

In the women's pairs semifinals, Edwards will play Onehunga's Rima Strickland, and Sims meets Wellington's Betty Hicks.

- NZPA