Hayden Frew caused a huge boilover at the Wellington PBA world qualifiers. PHOTO/FILE
BOWLS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Featherston bowler Hayden Frew pulled off a stunning result by winning the PBA world indoor singles qualifier at Naenae on Saturday.
Frew was competing for the first time in the series, which attracts many of the country’s leading exponents, such as former world champion Gary Lawson, and fellow Black Jack Ray Martin.
The competition was a knockout format with games played as the best of three sets of nine ends.
If the scores were tied after two sets, a three-end tiebreaker was played to determine the winner.
Frew was untroubled in winning his first three rounds in straight sets against Jayden Ravji, Peter Small, and Jim Swift, to set up a semifinal against experienced Manawatu representative and former national champion Ross Ellery.
Frew, 45, won the first set 11-6 and then dropped the second set 14-1, sending the match to a tiebreaker. Frew held his nerve to win the decider 2-1 and progress to the final against international Martin.
In a closely fought final against Martin, Frew belied his underdog status to get the better of his opponent and win the first set 8-5.
He sealed the upset victory by winning the second set 9-4.
Frew will now head to Auckland for the national playoffs in September, with the winner to represent New Zealand in the PBA world championships in the United Kingdom.
The triumph was the biggest in Frew’s nine-year bowling career.
“There were a lot of top bowlers, most of them were rep bowlers, and it was a really tough competition.
“It started at 8.30am and the final didn’t finish until 8.30pm, so it was a long day,” he said.
“I was just happy to win my first game, but to go all the way and beat some of these top-ranked bowlers like Ross Ellery and Ray Martin, who has won the Wellington open singles a few times, was amazing.”
Frew didn’t fare so well in Sunday’s pairs.
He and his Wellington partner Mike Andrews were knocked out in the first round.
The Martinborough husband-and-wife pair Garry and Rozanna Muriwai also failed to progress past the first round in the pairs.
