Bowls: Working day out of the ordinary

Wellingtonian Phil Powell will clock in for work at 4.45am sharp on Friday, but knows it will be the start to anything but an ordinary day.

That afternoon the Hutt player will swap his butcher's knife for his Henselite Classic II bowls and an unexpected shot at the coveted national singles crown.

Nelson youngster Ali Forsyth, of the United club, is all that stands between Powell and a home-green ending to what has become the fairytale story of these 88th national championships.

The 53-year-old will have a rowdy Wellington crowd and the confidence-boosting semifinal scalp of former international Gary Lawson behind him for Friday's 1.30pm decider.

Nobody guessed the unheralded Powell, who joined Hutt two seasons ago after 13 years at the Taita club, would survive when he struck Lawson, of Hornby Domain, yesterday afternoon.

Lawson had been the in-form player of the tournament and had just drawn two shots on the final end of his quarter-final with Dunedin's Gary Andrews for a gutsy 21-20 come-from-behind win.

But Powell, a former Wellington champion-of-champions singles and triples champion, produced more of his outstanding draw play to lead 18-10 in the semifinal and held his nerve when Lawson crept back to 18-15.

"This is a dream, mate ... unbelievable," Powell said after finally beating Lawson 21-15.

"I just wanted to qualify, that's all."

A 21-6 thumping of Wellington selector Lou Newman in the first round set Powell on the road to fame.

Yesterday he beat Wanganui representative Chris Waterson 21-4 and Tokoroa's Nev Risbridge 21-18 before ending Lawson's bid for a third national singles title.

Now Powell cannot wait for the final.

"I'll go to work. Why change my routine now?

"There's no pressure on me ... I'm just rapt to get here, so I'll just go out and enjoy it."

Forsyth, 23, is a 15-year veteran of indoor bowls and has been runner-up in the national champion-of-champions singles for the past two years.

A rugby injury in 1997 saw him move to outdoor bowls and last year he and Leo Leonard of Kia Toa/Timaru were beaten in the semifinals of the national pairs.

"I was playing prop for Naylands College in a first XV tournament on the Gold Coast when a guy of about 140kg sat on my neck in a ruck ... that was it," he said.

Forsyth yesterday accounted for Canterbury's Alvin Gardner 21-16, Auckland under-30 international Jamie Hill 21-17 and 1998 national singles champion Kelvin Scott, of Belfast/Christchurch, 21-13 to set up the meeting with Powell.

- NZPA