The next generation of New Zealand international lawn bowlers could well dominate at this weekend’s North East Valley 10,000 invitational tournament, which starts at the North East Valley greens at 1pm today.
Despite the unavailability of recent tournament champions such as world champion Shannon McIlroy and double Commonwealth Games gold medallist Aaron Wilson (Australia), along with Canadian international Ryan Bester, the 28-strong, all-New Zealand field is still stacked with past and present national champions and internationals, and the next wave of New Zealand representatives look set to further enhance their growing reputations.
Four of these players are drawn in group two of section play, which without doubt is sure to result in some very intense encounters, with each player surely hell-bent on survival and progressing though to post-section.
The scene will be set in the first round this afternoon in which New Zealand high performance squad member Sheldon Bagrie-Howley (Gore) will play former national singles champion and Blackjack Tony Grantham.
Bagrie-Howley then has the unenviable task of a second round encounter with Rory Soden (Auckland), a New Zealand representative to the world youth championships in 2018 and runner-up in the national singles final in 2021.
In his first round match Soden will play Otago champion Oliver Mason, who without doubt will be seeking to enhance his growing reputation after winning all four senior Bowls Dunedin open titles last year. Mason will then face Grantham in the second round.
A battle of southern champions looms in the remaining first round match of the group between Bryan Harvey (Invercargill) and Nick Buttar (Queenstown).
In group one Dunedin's Brent McEwan will be seeking an upset when he takes on Blackjack Blake Signal. In his second round match he will face the promising Caleb Hope, now playing out of Stokes Valley.
Cromwell's Shaun Scott, the 2009 tournament champion and past Blackjack, will be aiming to get away to the best possible start. But his task is demanding. First up he faces the youthful talent of South Canterbury representative Tom Taiaroa, and in the second round he will be up against high performance squad member Seamus Curtin (Stokes Valley).
Curtin has a habit of going deep into any tournament he plays in, and with Andrew Kelly (Christchurch) owns the current national pairs title.
Kelly, a Blackjack at the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, has been a regular at this tournament in recent years, but is unable to make the journey south for this year’s tournament. He recently played a key role in the South Island's team victory in the recent inter-island tournament.
But another member of the victorious South Island team Jonty Horwell (Dunedin) is set to feature, and it will come as little surprise to see him progress through to post-section play.
Three Blackjacks will be in action in group four, with Jamie Hill (Auckland) and Sean O'Neill (South Canterbury) drawn to play in the first round of group four. Shayne Sincock (Canterbury) meets Hill in the third round tomorrow and O'Neill in the final round of section play on Sunday morning.
But waiting to stamp his authority on the group is the Bowls New Zealand emerging male bowler of the year, Finbar McGuigan (Stokes Valley). He is another good bet to be involved in post-section play.
The first two rounds of section play are scheduled for this afternoon, with another three rounds tomorrow. The final two rounds are on Sunday morning, followed by the first round of post-section.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for 8.30am on Monday, followed by semifinals, with the final estimated to start around 2pm on Monday.
