Bowls: Great Girdler has 200 reasons to smile

National triples skipper Paul Girdler (centre) flanked by Andrew Kelly (left) and Mike Nagy.

National skipper Paul Girdler had 200 reasons to be happy when he led his Blackjacks triples team into next week's Asia Pacific Championships gold medal bowls playoff.

Girdler, who is based on Australia's Gold Coast as sports co-ordinator at the palatial Tweed Heads Bowls Club, answered an SOS from Bowls New Zealand and returned to international duty during the past week.

He last wore the Blackjacks uniform at Ayr in Scotland during the 2004 world outdoor championships.

The elimination final against Brunei at the Burnside Club in Christchurch was his 200th appearance for New Zealand.

Girdler was delighted to claim victory in his 200th, which was heightened after he and teammates Andrew Kelly and Mike Nagy, came from behind to defeat hot favourites Fiji 20-16 in the semifinal.

Next Friday, the trio will face the high-flying Japanese team in a showdown for the gold medal.

In the biggest shock for years, the previously unheralded Japanese combination of Kenta Hasebe, Ken Emura and Hank Sato, staved off a late charge by the Australian team of world champions Wayne Ruediger, Mark Casey and Aron Sherriff to win 14-11.

Another former New Zealand representative Mike Kernaghan, who retired two years before Girdler, also responded to a national recall appeal - making his most welcome return to the international stage in these championships.

In combination with Blackjacks regular Shannon McIlroy, Kernaghan, the reigning national singles titleholder, qualified for the men's pairs semifinals, where the Kiwi duo faced the highly-ranked Malaysian team of Hizlee Rais and Fairul Muin. With the scores tied after 18-ends, the local pair were eliminated when the Malaysians collected the tie-breaking shot on an extra end.

New Zealand's world No 1 Jo Edwards also top qualified for the women's singles semifinals. Edwards, the Commonwealth Games singles champion, led Norfolk Island's legendary Carmen Anderson 19-17 in their race to 21 shots but got run down.