KEY POINTS:
One of Canterbury's favourite sporting sons, Gary Lawson, took himself to within one win of capping his illustrious bowls career when he and his pairs partner Russell Meyer made today's final.
Overcoming a blustery north-westerly wind, Lawson and Meyer ousted Australians Nathan Rice and Aron Sherriff and now
meet Scotland's Billy Mellors and Darren Burnett.
Such was the strength of the wind, especially during the two trial ends, Lawson suggested to officials that the match be delayed for an hour or two. "But they had a lot of people here and didn't want to disappoint them," he said.
Lawson, however, didn't think he and Meyer, in winning 18-12, were necessarily at an advantage because Lawson was in his home town. "Even when you live here you still find conditions like that unplayable."
Lawson and Meyer jumped to a 14-1 lead after seven ends, then had to withstand a late Australian recovery. "Even with our lead I never thought we had enough," Lawson said. "I knew they would come back. They are too good a team to fall apart."
Lawson felt he and Meyer played good pressure bowls, but he complimented Meyer's leading. "Stick got two or three bowls on the jack nearly every end," he said. "In some ways, indeed, he had been too precise setting up targets for the Australians' drives."
Neither Meyer nor Lawson has a world title but gold today for Lawson would be especially sweet, as he already has two bronze medals and a silver from previous championships.
However, he was wary of his Scottish opponents who came from a country with immense bowling depth.
Lawson and Meyer's win completed a happy afternoon double for New Zealand after the disappointment of the triples and fours losses in the morning. Nelson's Val Smith also made the women's singles final, beating Malaysia's Siti Zalina 21-10 in the semifinal.
She now plays England's Ellen Falkner, who gave Smith her only defeat in section play. The little English woman again showed her class under pressure when with a superb last bowl she pipped Australia's teenage prodigy, Kelsey Cottrell 21-19.
Smith described the conditions for her match with Zalina as the hardest she had known in an international and said that had been the difference. She was hoping for calm conditions for tomorrow's final. "If the conditions are like today it'll be a scrap but if it's calm it could be a great final," she said.
The women's final today will be between Australia and Wales. The men's triples final tomorrow will be between Scotland and Fiji.