KEY POINTS:
The man they call "The Scud" and the 60-to-one shot who can't quite believe what is happening to him will contest the final of the men's singles at the national bowls championships in Dunedin today.
Shaun Scott, one of the illustrious Scott family from North East Valley, will
play Birkenhead's Tony Grantham, who was paying $60 when the TAB quoted their odds at the conclusion of qualifying play.
Scott has acquired "The Scud" nickname through the ferocious nature of his driving, although it was his deadly accurate draw play that brought him a surprise 21-15 victory over hot favourite Ali Forsyth of Nelson in yesterday's semifinals action.
Forsyth, who'd won the event in 2003 and 2004 and finished runner-up to Alan Dickson last summer, was confidently expected to continue on his winning way, but he couldn't match 42-year-old Scott's steadiness.
Meanwhile, the fairytale rolls on for Birkenhead's Grantham who survived a spectacular comeback by Hokonui's Tony Andrews to win his semifinal 21-15, after causing a major shock by downing former titleholder Kelvin Scott, 21-20, in his first game of the day.
Grantham, 34, who admits to "amazement" that he is in the final, said he would like to win to compensate his brother, John, who helped fund his trip to Dunedin.
John, who is from Adelaide and holidaying in Auckland, invested a few dollars on his brother at 60 to one.
"He'll get his money back with interest if I can manage one more win," Grantham said.
Grantham, who has been the sensation of the tournament, because no one in the deep south had ever heard of him before this week, admits to "falling asleep" when he led Andrews 16-3 and appeared to be cruising to victory.
It wasn't until Andrews had closed to 15-16 that Grantham recaptured his touch.
Because of the vast wealth of talent in North Harbour, Grantham is only a reserve for the rep team. Ahead of him are such achievers as Rowan Brassey, Danny O'Connor, Doug Wilson and Justin Goodwin. He's happy to be associated with them and says he has learned an enormous amount from Brassey and O'Connor, in particular.
Forsyth was everyone's pick to play the final after he had hammered Sam Toloke 20-1 and Nigel Wright 21-10, but he was outplayed by Scott and had to resort to driving to stay in the game.
Scott and Forsyth had played twice before, managing a win each.
"We always have a good contest," said Scott, "because we play very similar games - draw and drive.
"I was happy with the number of good pressure shots I played and the three I collected to go to 16-13 was probably the turning point of the game."
Meanwhile, the proven performers have risen to the surface in the women's pairs with the reigning champions Sharon Sims (Northern) and Mary Campbell (Taupo) and the 2005 champions from Kensington, Anne Bateman and Janice McLean, through to the semifinals.
Also through are Lois Ritson (Inglewood) and Cathy Fleming (Paritutu) who are seeking to reach a final for the third year in a row.
In 2005, Fleming lost the singles final to Sims, and last year Ritson lost the singles final to Audrey Stevenson.
Completing the line-up are Yvette Elder and Barbara Lyon of New Lynn.
Comebacks were the feature of the quarter-finals, with Ritson and Fleming coming from 6-15 down against Linda Pedro and Caroline Downes (Hikurangi) to get up and win 16-15 on the last end.
Sims and Campbell, who have demonstrated great fighting qualities throughout the championships, came from 2-9 down to beat Carolyn Crawford and Trish Marr (St Clair).
The semifinals will be played this morning with the final scheduled for this afternoon.
- NZPA
