KEY POINTS:
A scratch four from the North Harbour centre, mostly from the small Glenfield club, caused one of the main upsets when the New Zealand Open started at the Henderson club yesterday.
Skipped by Browns Bay's Lin East, three inexperienced Glenfield bowlers, Keryl Blackburn, Rachel Huriwai and Lisa Helmling,
eliminated New Zealand's second four, skipped by world championship player Val Smith and with national development squad members Manu Timoti, Jan Malcolm and Mary Campbell up front.
The Harbour composite four took the match 12-11 when, after scores had been even, East drew the winning shot with her last bowl.
The East combination were brought back to reality soon after when they were overrun in the second round by a powerful four skipped by South African international Lorna Trigwell and which included New Zealand's former world champion Marlene Castle, Australian world championship reserve Sharon Renshaw and Auckland's Norma McEwan.
But even with this defeat, East and her team of tyros left the tournament on cloud nine. Of the four, only East, who has been bowling for 20 years and has two Harbour centre titles to her credit, the latest just a few weeks ago, has much experience at top level.
Huriwai is only a year out of juniors, Blackburn is a fourth-year bowler and the lead, Helmling, has been playing only since last season. Adding to the surprising nature of the win, Blackburn rose from a sick bed to play, having been ill on Sunday.
"It was a big buzz just to be here," said East. "It's the first time we've played together and we're pretty much a scratch side. Most of us are replacements for original entries."
New Zealand's No 1 four of Jo Edwards, Sharon Sims, Marina and Jan Khan were in commanding form, easily winning their opening match.
But it was also a less than memorable day for the male Black Jacks, who will represent New Zealand in the world championships in Christchurch in January.
Only Andrew Todd made the singles quarter-finals, along with two other New Zealanders, Aucklander Barclay Lee and talented Christchurch youngster Andrew Kelly. Australians Scott Caundle, Wayne Turley, Bill Cornehls, Gerard Beath and Aron Sherriff captured the last five places.
Struggling with the quicker pace of the greens, internationals Gary Lawson, Russell Meyer, Richard Girvan and Ali Forsyth went out in the second round.