McDonald’s Games chances recede

Press, 4 January 1978, Page 3

McDonald’s Games chances recede

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

Bob McDonald's prospects of winning selection this year for his fourth Commonwealth Games — and a chance of a fourth medal — suffered a further setback yesterday when he made a bad start in the fours championship at the Rothmans national bowling tournament in Christchurch.

Last week, McDonald (Onehunga) failed to advance far in the singles and in the pairs he did not survive even the section rounds. The pressure immediately went on him in the fours yesterday when he was beaten, 27-14, 'by Roy Bailey (Mt Pleasant) in the first of the section rounds.

McDonald, who is reputed to have a sound team in front of him — it includes Murray Davis, with whom he won the fours in 1973 — was in trouble from the outset, and when the break was taken for morning tea he trailed, 17-1. .1 McDonald’s team showed I better form in the second

round and coasted to a 30-14 win. The other big surprise yesterday was the first-round defeat of Bob Park’s Carlton four, which includes the new singles champion, John Malcolm, and Dave Emirali, who with Malcolm is through to the quarter-finals in the pairs. Emirali was doing the skipping, but he found too many holes with his upshots to shake the grip taken in the middle stages by their opponents, a little-known four from the Linwood club. The Linwood team was entered under the name of Bill Trenbath, but he played third, and the skipping was in the hands of Kevin Clayton-Smith. The other two numbers are lan McLeod and Jim Burton. They consistently outdrew their opponents on a fiery Spreydon green and after leading 12-5, after 12 ends, and 19-12, after 21 ends, held on to win, 21-19. Trenbath had another narrow win, 27-25, over the

Winton Central skip, John Walsh, in the second round and Park had a more decisive victory. The strong Christchurch team of Philip Meville, Peter Jolly, Bernie Johns, and Stan Lawson narrowly lost its first game to Mai Brown (Hillsbor6), who has entrusted the skipping to Jack Gilbert, the fourth placegetter in the singles. Lawson, the beaten singles finalist, felt he could do with a spell from skipping, and he reshuffled his team in the afternoon, promoting Johns to skip, Jolly to third, and filling in, himself, at No. 2. The change did the team no harm as in the second round it beat George Suckling (Tai Tapu), 38-13. Lawson has the misfortune to have drawn what is clearly the toughest of the 47 sections. It contains no less than five of the last eight players in the singles last week, plus the formidable Paritutu entry of Ken Murtagh. Murtagh, helped by a six and a four at vital stages, had his second win for the day when he beat Brown, 29-20, in the afternoon. Another surprise yesterday morning was the 21-20 victory of the composite team skipped by Spencer Mechen (Papanui) over the former New Zealand representative, “Robbie” Robson (Tokoroa). Mechen led most of the way, until Robson levelled at 20-20 going into the last end. Vic Sellars (Northern), who like McDonald could be struggling to hold his place in the New Zealand team, began badly when he lost, 20-18, to Jack Edmonds (St Albans) in the first round, but followed with a big win in the second round. The title-holder, Kerry Clark (North-East Valley) began with a 23-14 win over Dave Page (Redcliffs), but was pressed a little harder in the second round to beat Don Walker (Invercargill R.S.A.), 23-19. Phil Skogiund (Northern), the champion skip two years ago, had two clear-cut victories, 45-8 and 29-18. With all games being of 25 ends, big scores were not uncommon. However, the biggest win of the day was registered by Clarrie Bateman’s Beckenham four when it won, 49-8, in the first round after just 18 ends.