Rough ride for Skoglund

Press, 9 January 1987, Page 28

Rough ride for Skoglund

PA Wellington The seasoned bowls campaigners, Nick Unkovich (Rawhiti) and Phil Skoglund (Northern), had contrasting rides into the qualifying rounds of the Rothmans national men’s fours bowls championships in Wellington yesterday. Post-section play starts today with 104 qualifiers, and the final will be held on Monday. Unkovich did not have to play his last game of eight, having earlier wins Of 40-6, 24-13, 39-11, 35-11, 37-9, 28-18 and 28-24 since section play started on Monday. Skoglund, who dropped a game on Wednesday, still needed one win from two yesterday and was in trouble in the first. With sons, Philip, jun„ and Raymond, and Jim Christie, Northern were always struggling against Brian

Barker (Havelock North). Barker’s team included Dave Trainor, formerly of Palmerston North and now of Wellington, a former champion jockey, Bill Broughton, and a Blenheim player, Noel Williams. Barker won 2717, leaving the Skoglunds one more chance.

They beat Island Bay’s lan Hartley, 33-12, in the afternoon to qualify and play Titahi Bay’s Ron Tibbits today. Unkovich meets the steady Bruce Ballinger (Marewa) today and, if successful, will meet the winner of the Brian Baldwin (Paritutu) clash with Levin Central’s Howard Hudson.

Quietly proud to have bolted through section play, Unkovich made no predictions about prospects for the tough last stages of the tournament. “If you play bowls, you win, and if you don’t play

bowls you lose,” he said. “We will hopefully still be around on Monday for the final, but in the meantime I’m going home to cook tea.” Unkovich is sharing accommodation with his fellow Aucklanders and cooking, cleaning and other chores are equally divided. He is chasing his tenth national title for his second gold star, having already won the fours eight times. Rowan Brassey’s Okahu Bay four made sure of the win it needed to qualify in its first outing yesterday, as did Hillsboro’s . Ivan Kostanich, Aramoho’s Peter Beiliss and Kaikorai’s lan Dickison.

Whakatane’s Peter Clark, who won the national pairs with Don McKillop last Sunday, won both games to grab a postsection place. In his last game, he beat Tawa Services’ Maurie Pearce, 22-

Paritutu’s Bill Mac Arthur, Waikanae’s lan Mahoney, and the Wellington selection convener, Graeme Galvin, each won seven games and Hawera Park’s Maurice Symes, like Unkovich, did not have to play his last, Symes will be involved today in what will be one of the games of the championships when he meets Northern’s Vic Sellars, another to win seven games and forgo his last. Another game of early interest will that between Brassey’s Okahu Bay four and the former world champion shearer, Godfrey Bowen (Waikanae Beach). Meanwhile, last year’s pairs winner, Les Morrison (Clinton), meets George Shaw (Buckland’s Beach), and the 1986 runner-up in the Wellington open fours, Khandallah’s Harry Purcell, meets Hutt’s Peter Miller.