Close shave for Kerkow

Kelvin Kerkow

THE semi-final draw for the prestigious Golden Nugget tournament has been decided by the barest of margins after a sensational day of action at the Tweed Heads Bowls Club.

The make-up of the semi-finals was in doubt until the final matches of the qualifying rounds yesterday.

Kevin Kerkow was beaten 25-17 by Mark Casey in their Round 5 encounter but Kerkow snuck into the semi-finals with a better percentage.

Casey and Kerkow finished the qualifying rounds with three wins each and the same plus-17 shot margin, forcing a countback on percentage of shots for and against.

Kerkow prevailed by just .05%, advancing to the final four after finishing second in Section A.

Leif Selby topped the section after navigating the qualifying rounds without loss.

Sean Baker topped Section B while Ben Twist who, despite losing 25-24 to Baker in Round 4, also advanced.

Twist beat Andrew Todd 25-17 in their Round 5 match to seal his place in the final four.

Twist will line up against Selby today while Baker will take on Kerkow.

In the ladies competition, two-time champion Karen Murphy was a shock elimination yesterday. Murphy was beaten 25-20 by Julie Keegan and then was upstaged 25-23 by Jo Edwards.

The result was enough to hand Edwards top spot in Section A with four wins and a plus-36 shot margin.

Rebecca Quail also notched four wins to finish second in the section.

Lynsey Armitage topped Section B with four wins plus-26 shots while Lisa Phillips sealed her place in the semi-finals with three wins plus-23 shots.

Armitage will take on Quail in today’s semi-finals while Edwards will play Phillips.

The semi-finals will be played this morning with the finals to get underway after lunch.

Meanwhile, Joyce Lindores, who fell ill on Tuesday, did not recover in time to take part in yesterday’s action.

Lindores fell ill early in her Round 3 match against Murphy on Tuesday.

Organisers had hoped she would be right to play yesterday but instead she was forced to forfeit her final three matches.

Organisers said she was recovering.