Skoglund loses tight bowls final

Press, 11 February 1986, Page 12

Skoglund loses tight bowls final

NZPA special correspondent Coatbridge, Glasgow

Phil Skoglund’s bid to become the first New Zealand winner of the Embassy world indoor bowls title failed in a tight finish and controversy at Coatbridge. Skoglund, aged 48, of Palmerston North, lost, 15-21, in the final, to the English champion, Tony Allcock, who had earlier eliminated New Zealand’s other hope, Peter Beiliss, 21-17, in a semi-final. Skoglund won £5OOO ($12,500) while Allcock pocketed £ll,OOO ($27,500). A decisive point in the 2%-hour battle between Skoglund and Allcock came when the Englishman, aged 30, successfully challenged the length of a jack as too short after the Kiwi had delivered his opening bowl when be-

hind, 15-18. Since that bowl had touched the jack — so altering the length of the end — the challenge should technically have been ruled out of order.

However, the official markers accepted that Allcock had made his demand for a measure before Skoglund had played. The end was replayed and it broke a long run of success for Skoglund, who had crept back into the game from 18-8 down by setting short ends. This time Allcock, who had looked in trouble at 18-15 after Skoglund had fought back tenaciously, threw the white ball long, collected two crucial shots on the end and then added one more for the title. Replaying the end seemed to vitally affect Skoglund’s chances. But he said later: “I

have no protest to make,” and said that he was not certain of the rules.

Skoglund revealed great battling qualities in fighting back from a 10-shot deficit, scoring on six consecutive ends to take the score to 15-18. . But Allcock had maintained his accuracy under pressure while the Kiwi had some difficulty in finding the longer jacks? Skoglund said: “I started reasonably well but went wrong somewhere in the middle of the match. ! played too many loose balls against a player of Tony’s quality. “It has been a. great experience fdr both Peter and myself this week. Hopefully we will both be back next year trying to improve.

“We feel we have, learned a lot from our first trip to Coatbridge.”