Bowls: Bay top gun fires twice to book trip to England

Murray Glassey.

The indomitable NZ Professional Bowls Association No1 Murray Glassey made it two from two from the finals weekend after collecting his second title in two days in Dunedin.

In doing so, the Bowls Heretaunga member has booked his ticket to the International Singles in Blackpool, England, in March next year.

Fresh from winning the Scottish Singles entry on Saturday at the Dunedin Bowls Stadium, Glassey once again survived a third-end tiebreak in his semifinal before taking the final in a more comfortable fashion.

Dunedin's Paul King pushed him all the way with a superb display and held match on the last end.

However, Glassey, who had both side spots covered, drove at the jack and King's back toucher, without nominating a kill, to hit his target as the jack spewed back up the green to one side.

The NZ PBA has become accustomed to the coolness of the "Meerkat" under pressure and his ability to find a way out of trouble time and time again.

The 40-year-old from Hastings was too steady in the final, accounting for Taranaki rookie Hamish Simpson 9-5, 10-5.

It was the first time in five years since someone had emulated the feat of Jamie Hill, who won two World Bowls Tour NZ playoffs in the same season.

The NZ PBA's first representation in seven years at the World Indoor Pairs to be played in Norfolk, England, in January was decided by a southern derby with Andy McLean (Dunedin) and Andrew Kelly (Canterbury) overcoming the Southland duo Shane Elliott and Craig Merrilees in a see-saw game 1-10, 10-6, 2-0.

The visit to the Potter's Leisure Resort in Norfolk will be the first of two jaunts for Kelly in 2017 as he also collected paid trips to the Gold Coast and entry into the Kingscliff Invitation Pairs for winning the novelty Shanghai Singles event earlier in the weekend.