Bowls: Sain, Cottrell battle back into contention

Petar Sain. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Petar Sain, one of Auckland's best bowlers over the past 20 years, did not panic when he and his lead Scott Cottrell had won only one of three games of pairs qualifying at the national championships.

That meant that yesterday, in the final three qualifying games, they could not afford to drop one.

"I saw it as an omen," Sain said yesterday.

"The same thing happened to me in the fours in Wellington in 1999. We lost two games on the first day and then went out and won the title."

And while it wasn't always comfortable, with blustery winds again making it difficult for all bowlers, Sain and Cottrell duly won all three of their games yesterday to be among those to contest post-section play.

In both their fifth and sixth-round matches Sain, especially, had to call on all his experience to overcome first Takapuna's Murray Mathieson and John Sakey, and then Morrinsville's father and son combination of Paul Casey and Paul Casey snr.

Also qualifying yesterday, at Birkenhead, was one of the players who had upset Sain on the first day, Browns Bay veteran Tony Marinkovich, who skipped his club-mate Brian Wilson.

The 2011-12 nationals provide Marinkovich with a special anniversary. For 25 years ago he and his then Takapuna clubmate George Fabling, both only a year or two out of junior ranks, startled everyone by making the 1986-87 national pairs final in Wellington.

They lost that to Bay of Plenty's Peter Clark and Don McKillop, but at one stage had a big lead and looked headed for a sensational win, only to lose, probably, Marinkovich believes, through inexperience.

Like Sain and Cottrell, Marinkovich and Wilson also had their worries yesterday before confirming their post-section places. In their fifth-round match they were overwhelmed by South Islanders Kelvin Scott and Lance Pascoe.

Others who qualified easily yesterday included Gary Lawson and Chris Le Lievre, Nino Vlahovic and Ross Haresnape, Shannon McIlroy and Matt Gallop and Richard Girvan and Danny Delany.

But 2009 champions Rob Ashton and Ray Boffa and Jamie and Neville Hill both needed a sixth-round win to qualify.

Maria Broadbent and Jo Babich, two surprise no-qualifiers in the women's singles on the first day, made amends by winning their opening three pairs games yesterday, as did other fancied combinations Clare McCaul and Amy Brenton, Sue Burnard and Leanne Curry, Sandra Keith and Serena Matthews and Kareen Guilford and Feona Sayles.

Also with a maximum three and needing only one win today were Auckland and North Harbour combinations Reen Stratford and Hetty Bolscher, Wendy Jensen and Olivia Bloomfield, Carol Frederick and Ruth Lynch and Mary Guldbrandsen and Colleen Sexton.