One of the glories of the BLK National Open Championships is that an unknown player or two comes from nowhere are threatens to win a title.

This season’s event in Dunedin has seen all the disciplines dominated by current and past Blackjacks and included in that group is Bruce McNish. McNish turned in an excellent performance on Friday in skipping his team of Geoff Griffiths, Nick Buttar and Murray Wilson into the semifinals, with their third win, in the quarterfinals, coming 19-10 over Rob Ashton’s quartet.

McNish is a past NZ rep, having attended both the 1994 and 1998 Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze at the former event. He also has six titles at the BLK Nationals, the first of which was secured away back in 1983. The most recent one was in 2008, but over the past couple of decades McNish has spent more time overseas than in NZ.

However, he is back now and spends most of his time on the West Coast, where he has joined the Karoro club. After an initially quiet Nationals, where he missed qualifying in both the singles and pairs, McNish has returned to form in the fours, with a most unlikely combination.

Buttar, with whom he shared his most recent victory in the 2008 fours, is the son of former NZ player and coach Stu Buttar. He, too, has returned to New Zealand after a spell overseas and has linked up with the Mercury Bay club in Whitianga.

Initially McNish and Buttar struggled to form a combination, before Wilson (Fairfield) and Griffiths (Taieri) came on board. In section play, in fact, it was Taieri’s Karl Mason who led for the side, but following a family bereavement, he has been replaced in post section by Griffiths.

Wilson forgot to place his entry in the pairs and singles, which on the form he displayed on Friday, must have frustrated him. He played some telling shots, especially so in the first round of post section against two-time champion Andrew Kelly.

Griffiths was expecting to watch the business end of the championships, but now will be involved in what is undoubtedly his biggest moment in the sport.

The exact date and time of the semifinal involving McNish’s side is yet to be determined, but it will be no later than Monday morning. In the semifinal they will play Ali Forsyth’s side of Justin Goodwin, Shannon McIlroy and Gary Lawson.