N.Z. bowlers falter at last moment

Press, 12 August 1978, Page 14

N.Z. bowlers falter at last moment

NZPA-staff correspondent Edmonton Lapses by New Zealand bowlers yesterday will cost them dearly. Both the four and single Kerry Clark, dropped vital points from matches they were favoured to win in the thirteenth and fourteenth rounds. reaching out for gold, is now thinking of the silver medal. The 30-year-old Clark, who started the day, challenging for silver, now has a desperate battle to win the bronze medal during the final and fifteenth round today. Although the New Zealand pair of Bob McDonald and Ivan Kostanich won yesterday afternoon, they had earlier dropped out of medal contention by losing a cruc.al match against Scotland . Alex Mclntosh and William Wood) in the morning McDonald, winner of three Games medals, and Kostanich. who have the bye today can finish no higher than fourth. Scotland ended the New Zealand pairs’ seven-in-

a-row winning streak with all 27-19 victory. In the after-p noon McDonald and Kostan-|i ich beat Malawi's Peter 1 , Crossan and Edward Davey. The manner in which the;; New Zealand four relinquished its over-all lead in | the morning was surprising. They dropped a point by,' drawing 19-19. with Wales, I after having a commanding lead The Welsh four levelled i by scoring a three on the; eighteenth end and a four on! the twentieth end after the i New Zealand skip. Phil] .Skoglund. missed all shots I ' bowled with two drives. I New Zealand won the last! end by one shot, but it was] not enough for the victory, ; The four of Skoglund. Mor-1 gan Moffat. Dave Baldwin I and John Malcolm walked' dejectedly from the green 1 that had caused them frustration with narrow and difficult drawing hands. They had just given away leads on 9-0. 13-2. 16-10. and 17-12. at the seventeenth, end. The four redeemed itself in the afternoon by beating Zambia. 29-14. but the damage had already been done. Hong Kong, its adrenalin! running high after the New! Zealand-Wales draw, played:

’superb pressure bowls to ■ win its 13 and fourteenth : matches, and keep a one ’point lead for today’s final session. Hong Kong beat Canada, 24-19. and Kenya. 34-8. : Clark came close to rei raining his overnight second ' place. Twice he had the chance to score three shots |on the last two ends to clinch a tight match against Canada's Bruce Matheson. And twice he just missed . with the delicate run shots. Instead the Canadian, one of ithe find of the tournament [with his sixth placing, pickled up tw’o shots on these lends to win, 21-8, and gave I Clark his fifth loss. | Clark had earlier beaten | Jersey’s Arthur McKernan, 121-11. McKernan has been ’the only player to beat out:standing David Bryant, of ‘England, who is already assured of winning the gold singles medal for a record fourth time. The New Zealander needs a bit of luck to stand a chance of collecting a medal himself. He is in fourth place, but badly wants Bryant to beat the secondplaced Welshman, Russell Evans, while he tackles the 1 fifth-placed Hong Kong ’bowler. George Souza, in the Imorning.