The race for the NZ Professional Bowls Association Year End number one position goes down to the wire at next weekend’s Finals Weekend at the Frankton Railway Bowling Club in Hamilton. Wellington’s Ray Martin now has a slender lead over Southland’s Craig Tinker and they are drawn to play each other in both the World Indoor Singles and World Indoor Pairs playoffs. Tinker also plays in the Scottish Singles playoffs which has caused a few scheduling headaches for the organisers.
Both Martin and Tinker have secured their spots in the Scotty’s Meats PBA NZ team for the 2020 Trans-Tasman Challenge against the Australian PBA. Six other finalists next week are in the running for potentially three more spots including former number one Murray Glassey (Hawkes Bay), Elliott Mason (Dunedin), Richie Muir (Central Otago), Craig De Faria (Taranaki), Chris Lourie (Waikato) and Alan Bowler (Waikato). 2019 team members Craig Merrilees, Andrew Kelly and Dean Drummond will now need to finish this year’s Trans-Tasman in Perth in November as the best kiwi to retain their spot in the team next year.
Taranaki’s Rhonda Adams has secured her place as the best NZ PBA woman for the third straight year, while Jesse Russell (Auckland) is assured to be our best Under 25 player. Both have been nominated to the World Bowls Tour to play in invitation events in Norfolk, England in January but their nominations will now be considered against nominations from other overseas branches. The Best Rookie of the Year trophy will be awarded to Wellington’s Euan Wong.
Due to the number of players winning multiple berths in the finals weekend, the first quarterfinal playoffs will be played on Friday night alongside the usual Shanghai Singles qualifier. The winner of the Shanghai qualifier will join 7 other qualifiers and the top-ranked local rookie in the Shanghai semifinals and final on Saturday morning playing for travel and 5 nights’ accommodation at the Tweed Ultima Hotel on the Gold Coast for two.
Saturday afternoon and Sunday will see the rest of the National play-offs to find New Zealand’s representatives for four World Bowls Tour events in the UK. The Scottish and International Singles play-offs will conclude on Saturday and the World Indoor Pairs and World Indoor Singles play-offs will be completed on Sunday.
NZ PBA Rankings after the International Singles qualifiers
(2018 rank) Current position Name (Centre) Points
(10)
1 Ray
Martin
(Wellington)
380
(5)
2 Craig
Tinker
(Southland)
374
(2)
3 Murray Glassey
(Hawkes Bay) 339
(6)
4 Elliott Mason
(Dunedin)
322
(13=) 5
Richie
Muir
(Central Otago) 311
(15)
6 Craig De
Faria
(Taranaki)
302
(38)
7 Chris
Lourie
(Waikato)
299
(1)
8 Craig
Merrilees
(Southland)
291
(50=) 9 Lyall
Spencer
(Southland)
273
(67) 10 Jesse
Russell
(Auckland)
263
(4)
11 Dean
Drummond (Hawkes
Bay) 259
(73=) 12 Alan
Bowler
(Waikato)
254
(17) 13
Oliver
Mason
(Dunedin)
245
(19) 14
Rhonda Adams
(Taranaki)
240
(13=) 15 Duane
White
(Dunedin)
236
(30) 16 Bruce
Ross
(Southland)
231
(100=) 17 Geoff
Wilson
(Dunedin)
228
(20) 18= Shane
Elliott
(Southland)
226
(12) 18= Brent
Thomson
(Southland)
226
(28=) 20 Brent
McEwan (Dunedin)
224
Notable others:
(48) 27= Steve
Cox
(Auckland)
207
(34=) 31= Rob
Ashton
(Wellington)
206
rookie 64 Euan
Wong
(Wellington)
155
(116=) 70= Bruce
Mummery
(Taranaki)
150
Scottish Singles
Colin Rogan (North Harbour)
Joined PBA: 2000
PBA Career High Rank: 11th (2004)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 10 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 39th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2017 Pukekohe & 2019 Auckland Scottish Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-0 v Bowler
Alan Bowler (Waikato)
Joined PBA: 2006
PBA Career High Rank: 73rd= (2018)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 10 wins 3 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 12th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Hamilton Scottish Singles & World Indoor Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 0-1 v Rogan; 0-1 v De Faria
Craig De Faria (Taranaki)
Joined PBA: 2008
PBA Career High Rank: 15th (2018)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 10 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 6th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 015 New Plymouth International Singles, 2018 World Indoor Singles, 2019 Scottish Singles & World Indoor Pairs qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-0 v Bowler
Tony Terry (Hawkes Bay)
Joined PBA: 2005
PBA Career High Rank: 21st (2007)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 5 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 99th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2006 & 2019 Hastings World Indoor Pairs, 2019 Scottish Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-0 v Jones
David Jones (Bay of Plenty)
Joined PBA: 2015
PBA Career High Rank: 33rd (2016)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 13 wins 3 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 27th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Wellington Scottish Singles & Hastings World Indoor Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 0-1 v Terry
Elliott Mason (Dunedin)
Joined PBA: 2014
PBA Career High Rank: 6th (2018)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 15 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 4th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2018 Dunedin International Singles & 2019 Scottish Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Craig Tinker (Southland)
Joined PBA: 2017
PBA Career High Rank: 5th (2018)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 14 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 2nd
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2018 & 2019 Invercargill Scottish Singles, 2019 World Indoor Singles & Pairs qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
International Singles
Steve Cox (Auckland)
Joined PBA: 2002
PBA Career High Rank: 4th (2008)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 7 wins 2 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 27th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2006 Pukekohe Welsh Singles, 2009 Pukekohe Scottish Singles, 2018 Auckland World Indoor Pairs & 2019 Auckland International Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-3 v Russell; 1-1 v Glassey; 1-0 v Ashton
Jesse Russell (Auckland) – age 23
Joined PBA: 2018
PBA Career High Rank: 67th (2018)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 10 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 10th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2018 Auckland Scottish Singles & 2019 Hamilton International Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 3-1 v Cox
Bruce Mummery (Taranaki)
Joined PBA: 2018
PBA Career High Rank: 116th= (2018)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 5 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 70th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 New Plymouth International Singles qualifier; runner-up 2018 New Plymouth Scottish Singles qualifier
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Murray Glassey (Hawkes Bay)
Joined PBA: 2000
PBA Career High Rank: 1st (2015)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 16 wins 2 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 3rd
PBA Career Highlights: round of 16 2015 WBT International Singles in Blackpool and 4 other WBT appearances; winner 2013 & 2014 Australia v NZ Challenges in Newcastle and 5 other Challenge appearances
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-1 v Cox; 3-2 v Ashton
Rob Ashton (Wellington)
Joined PBA: 2005
PBA Career High Rank: 3rd (2014)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 11 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 31st=
PBA Career Highlights: round of 32 2014 WBT Scottish Singles in Perth, 2016 WBT World Indoor Singles in Norfolk, 2018 WBT International Singles in Norfolk; 4th 2016 Australia v NZ Challenge in Hastings and 1 other Challenge appearance
PBA Career head-to-head: 0-1 v Cox; 2-3 v Glassey
Brent McEwan (Dunedin)
Joined PBA: 2016
PBA Career High Rank: 28th= (2017)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 11 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 20th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Dunedin International Singles qualifier; runner-up 2017 Dunedin World Indoor Singles qualifier
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Richie Muir (Central Otago)
Joined PBA: 2016
PBA Career High Rank: 13th= (2017)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 16 wins 3 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 5th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2016 Invercargill World Indoor Singles & 2019 International Singles qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
World Indoor Pairs
Bart Robertson (North Harbour)
Joined PBA: 2001
PBA Career High Rank: 3rd (2016)
Current Race to Oz Position: 26th
PBA Career Highlights: round of 32 2014 WBT World Indoor Singles in Norfolk; runner-up 2017 Australia v NZ Challenge in Melbourne and 1 other Challenge appearance
PBA Career head-to-head: 4-2 v Lourie
Dennis Brewster (Northland)
Joined PBA: 2018
PBA Career High Rank: 164th= (2018)
Current Race to Oz Position: 69th
PBA Career Highlights: runner-up 2019 Auckland World Indoor Pairs qualifier
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Chris Lourie (Waikato)
Joined PBA: 2005
PBA Career High Rank: 1st (2009)
Current Race to Oz Position: 7th
PBA Career Highlights: round of 32 2005 WBT International Singles in Sheffield, 2010 WBT Welsh Singles in Swansea; 3rd 2012 Australia v NZ Challenge in Gold Coast and 3 other Challenge appearances
PBA Career head-to-head: 2-4 v Robertson; 1-1 v De Faria
Tony Fabling (Waikato)
Joined PBA: 2019
PBA Career High Rank: rookie
Current Race to Oz Position: 100th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Hamilton World Indoor Pairs qualifier
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Steve Walker (Taranaki)
Joined PBA: 2019
PBA Career High Rank: rookie
Current Race to Oz Position: 189th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 New Plymouth World Indoor Pairs qualifier
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Craig De Faria (as per Scottish Singles profile)
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-1 v Lourie
Mike Isaacson (Hawkes Bay)
Joined PBA: 2005
PBA Career High Rank: 12th (2011)
Current Race to Oz Position: 39th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2006 & 2019 Hastings World Indoor Pairs qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: 0-2 v Toomey
Tony Terry (as per Scottish Singles profile)
PBA Career head-to-head: 0-1 v Toomey
Tim Toomey (Wellington)
Joined PBA: 2014
PBA Career High Rank: 43rd= (2018)
Current Race to Oz Position: 50th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Wellington World Indoor Pairs qualifier; runner-up 2018 Wellington World Indoor Pairs qualifier
PBA Career head-to-head: 2-0 v Isaacson; 1-0 v Terry
Ray Martin (Wellington)
Joined PBA: 2017
PBA Career High Rank: 10th (2018)
Current Race to Oz Position: 1st
PBA Career Highlights: Round of 32 2019 WBT World Indoor Singles in Norfolk; winner 2018 Wellington Scottish Singles and 2019 World Indoor Singles & Pairs qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Bryan Harvey (Southland)
Joined PBA: 2018
PBA Career High Rank: 267th= (2018)
Current Race to Oz Position: 22nd=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Dunedin World Indoor Singles & Pairs qualifiers
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Graeme Hislop (Dunedin)
Joined PBA: 2007
PBA Career High Rank: 115th= (2011)
Current Race to Oz Position: 120th=
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Dunedin World Indoor Pairs qualifier
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Craig Tinker (as per Scottish Singles profile)
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Lyall Spencer (Southland)
Joined PBA: 2018
PBA Career High Rank: 50th= (2018)
Current Race to Oz Position: 9th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 Invercargill World Indoor Pairs qualifier and 2019 1st Ranking Singles
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
World Indoor Singles
Bart Robertson (as per World Indoor Pairs profile)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 16 wins 4 losses
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Alan Bowler (as per Scottish Singles profile)
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-0 v Andrews
Ian Andrews (Taranaki)
Joined PBA: 2006
PBA Career High Rank: 25th= (2016)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 5 wins 4 losses
Current Race to Oz Position: 78th
PBA Career Highlights: winner 2019 New Plymouth World Indoor Singles qualifier; winner 2015 New Plymouth 2nd Ranking Singles
PBA Career head-to-head: 0-1 v Bowler
David Jones (as per Scottish Singles profile)
PBA Career head-to-head: 1-0 v Martin
Ray Martin (as per World Indoor Pairs profile)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 16 wins 3 losses
PBA Career head-to-head: 0-1 v Jones
Bryan Harvey (as per World Indoor Pairs profile)
2019 PBA Singles Record: 14 wins 1 loss
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
Craig Tinker (as per Scottish Singles profile)
PBA Career head-to-head: nil
