The rise of Wellington teenagers Bradley Down and Finbar McGuigan proved a talking point at the Taieri greens at the national championships in Dunedin yesterday.
After winning their first post-section game 19-13, they met a favourite pair for the tournament in Blackjacks combination Mike Kernaghan and Tony Grantham.
The Wellington pair quickly put Kernaghan and Grantham under the pump, holding a 12-6 lead after 13 of 18 ends.
The Kernaghan-skipped pair then picked up three shots on the 14th end and looked to be clawing their way back into the match to close it up to just two shots heading into the 18th and final end. However, it was not to be as Down drew shot with the final bowl of the 18th end to halt the progress of Kernaghan and Grantham and notch up a 14-11 win.
The Down pair then eliminated 2017 singles champion Dean Elgar and Scott Roberts in the third round 21-6.
Just two days ago, Down (19) and McGuigan (17) played with experience beyond their years to help beat Ali Forsyth in the qualifying rounds of the men’s fours.
In the other half of the Taieri rink draw, 2016 world singles champion Shannon McIlroy and pairs partner Justin Goodwin showed no ill effect from a first-round bye to record a 26-15 second-round win, but had a scrap on their hands to overcome the Waikiwi pairing of Craig Merrilees and Brent Thompson 18-16.
With Merrilees and Thompson holding shot on the final end, McIlroy stepped up to the plate with his final bowl too knock his opponents’ shot bowl away and take the shot for a 18-16 victory.
Defending champion Gary Lawson, the holder of 11 national titles, has teamed up this year with Forsyth, a winner of the pairs title in 2016 and 2013 and yesterday proved they will be a force to reckon after winning three straight at Fairfield to book their place in the quarterfinals tomorow.
The other qualifiers coming away from Fairfield yesterday were the Burnside pairing of Mike Small and Barry Williams.
At Balmacewen, composite pairings were to the fore as Paul McKinnell and Graham Low progressed along with Nick Sinclair and Callum Horwell.
The evergreen Peter Belliss and partner Lance Tasker qualified at for a quarterfinal showdown after recording 31-6, 16-12 and 19-12 wins at the top of the draw on the Kaikorai greens. At the bottom of the draw at Kaikorai, young up-and-comers Sheldon Bagrie-Howley and Seamus Curtin impressed with convincing 22-15, 22-5 and 19-13 victories to earn a meeting with Belliss and Tasker.
