Grassroots indoor bowls: National Championships

Defending titleholder Bruce Meyer, from Manawatu, has qualified for post-section play along with 237 others.

Meyer came through with three wins and a draw to have the chance to become the first person to win the singles in consecutive years.

Among the former champions to qualify were Neil Semple (Upper Hutt Valley), Paul Jamieson (Hutt Valley), Patrick Hoult (Upper Hutt Valley), Murray James (Waikato), Barry Kinnaird (Auckland), Rod Fleming (Hawkes Bay) and Kevin Boothby (Waikato).

Fleming and Boothby require one further title to earn a gold star, which is awarded for five titles.

Top women to qualify include Suzann Burnand (Waikato), Julie Kirk (Canterbury), Lyn Brittain (Northland), Fiona Wilson (Tauranga), Linda Judson (Tauranga), Ruth Baxter (Auckland) and Raewyn Bishop (North Taranaki).

Last year's runner up, Darryl Gallagher (Otago), missed the cut, as did prominent lawn bowler Ali Forsyth (Nelson).

A feature of the 54th championships was 83-year-old Don McLennan, from Hillcrest in Hamilton, making his 50th appearance. He competed in the first national championships in 1950.

McLennan was runner up in the pairs in 1953 and the singles in 1958. In 1953 he played with Alan Waters when they lost to Frank Haines and Wally Wearne (Waikato) and in 1956 he lost to Reg Pinhey from Hutt Valley.

In singles section play this year, McLennan was as competitive as ever.

In his first game he came from behind to score three shots on the final end to beat Heather Tobin (Northland) 10-9, and in the second game he defeated Ian Hight (South Canterbury) 10-6.

However, he was unable to maintain his winning form, losing his next two games to Mike Jones (Auckland) 15-10 and to Robert Hansen (North Wellington) 9-6. Hansen was the only qualifier from that section.