Bowls: Young guns show old guard door during nationals

By Graham Skellern

The younger guns, including Hillsboro's talented Justin Goodwin, yesterday took over in the singles competition at the national bowls championships in Christchurch.

Incumbent New Zealand players Brian Baldwin and Paul Girdler, former international Philip Skoglund jun and national under-25 representative Goodwin all won their quarter-final matches convincingly.

The four semifinalists, who do battle again on Sunday morning, have an average age of 32, proving that the future of New Zealand bowls is in good hands.

The oldest, 38-year-old Baldwin, is now chasing his third national title in four years - and his second singles championship - after beating Hampstead's Alistair Keith 21-16 in the quarter-finals.

The fired-up Baldwin, champion in 1995, was strong over the second half of the match, moving from 4-7 to lead 14-8 18-10 and grabbing a three to go out after Keith struck back with four successive singles and a two.

The youngest, 22-year-old Goodwin - an eighth-year player - thought only of beating his good friend and clubmate Neven Grgicevich's resounding quarter-final victory at last year's championships in Wellington.

Grgicevich, who skips Goodwin in the Auckland Academy side and was watching yesterday, recorded a 21-6 win and eventually fell in the semifinals.

"I was trying to get a score better than Neven," said Goodwin, exuding the confidence of youth.

Goodwin, drawing consistently and trailing the jack those vital few centimetres when required for shots, raced to a 18-4 lead over the experienced Leo Leonard (Timaru), a former national saloon car racing champion.

Leonard picked up six shots over the next four ends before a delighted Goodwin won 21-10. By then, beating Grgicevich's score was not a bother as the quietly spoken Goodwin looked ahead to his first semifinal in his fourth national championships.

"I had only qualified once before, in my second year at Hamilton," he said.

"Singles has not been my strong game, but I've been playing heaps this season and it has made me more consistent.

"You've got to do well in the singles if you want to make a name for yourself," said Goodwin, who spent 18 months at the Warrilla club in Australia playing full-time. But he is back, to stay, in Auckland.