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Fiona Goodall / Getty Images
Nelson’s Val Smith fell victim to Nicole Toomey in the women’s singles at the New Zealand Bowling Championships in Auckland. FILE PHOTO
Talented Wellington player Nicole Toomey completed a memorable day by advancing to the women’s singles quarterfinals at the New Zealand Bowling Championships in Auckland on Sunday.
Toomey was a member of the victorious Stokes Valley Bowls3five team last year, although he is playing this event under the Victoria club banner.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Fairfax NZ / Stuff
Nicole Toomey is proving to be a talented bowler. FILE PHOTO
Toomey’s biggest win of the day came in the second round, when she knocked out 2008 world singles champion Val Smith, 20-16, and the two-and-a-half-hour time limit was invoked when organizers correctly advanced on all four rounds of the day.
After ousting Smith, Toomey dashed hopes for another promising prospect in the country, Ashleigh Jeffcoat 21-16, and then it was a comfortable 21-8 win over Margaret O’Connor of Queenstown.
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In the quarterfinals, Toomey will face Karen Hema (Carlton Cornwall). In the other eight clashes Monday morning, Canterbury teammates Tayla Bruce (Brunside) and Mandy Boyd (Elmwood Park) face off in what should be a high-level clash, Linda Ralph (Carlton Cornwall) takes on Rima Strickland (Gray Lynn), while Connie Mathieson (Takapuna) will play Patricia Murray (Kensington).
Smith wasn’t the only big name to drop in the first two rounds.
The two finalists from two years ago came out early.
Debbie White fell 21-20 in the first round to Lisa Parlane, a highly successful competitor in Auckland and North Harbor for several years, while Selina Smith was ousted 21-12 by Ralph in the second round.
Parlane competed diligently all day and was only beaten 21-20 by Bruce in the fourth round.
Boyd was particularly impressive, with only one of his four opponents making double figures, with Wanganui’s Dianne Patterson routing 21-5 in the fourth round.
Strickland started her day off with a 21-20 effort over Angela Boyd and victory number four came over Mary Campbell with a surprisingly easy score of 21-4.
Murray advanced on Clare Hendra (Silverstream) 21-10 in the final round.
Saturday’s weather resulted in all the players being included in the post-section draw after some had completed just one game, while the male pairs were cut down to five rounds, with three required wins.
Perhaps the biggest victims were the North Harbor duo of former international Kerry Chapman and Adam Haywood.
They drew the hardest section and were defeated by Ian Fisher and Steve Arms (Howick) as well as Jordan King and Chris Lowe (Mangere) on Saturday.
After two victories, they were eliminated 16-4 by the Canterbury pairing of Andrew Kelly and Gary Lawson.
The latter duo, both current Blackjacks, won four matches in section play but were defeated by King and Lowe, the 2019 champions in one game.
