Big day for NZ bowls pairs
Three of New Zealand's bowls pairs were in action and all scored wins, though two matches were decided by third-set tiebreakers.
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First up were the New Zealand men's pair of Ali Forsyth and Tony Grantham, who took on Fiji. The New Zealanders won 2-6, 10-5, 1-0 and were relieved to get through.
'We got behind early on, but we weren't playing that badly,' Forsyth said. 'It's a brutal format, really quick, and we had to park that first set and quickly focus on the second set.'
Things looked grim for the New Zealand pair when they trailed 5-2 in the second set after three ends, but Forsyth, the skip, stepped up at the right time. A five on the fourth end virtually secured the set, and then Forsyth drew beautiflly in the tiebreak.
Grantam said Forsyth played a great shot to keep them in the match. 'Ali can do that. I've played with him a long time and he's shown that ability a lot. We have to learn from this match and come back much better for the rest of the tournament.'
The New Zealand men's para pair B6-B8 also squeezed honme in a third set tiebreak. Kurt Smith and Mark Noble beat South Africans Gareth Rees-Gibbs and Jarid James 2-5, 5-4, 1-0.
Noble and Smith make an unusual pair. This is Noble's fourth Commonwealth Games and the 63-year-old has already won two silver medals. Smith, 37, is new to this level of bowls, though he has established a strong domestic reputation. The pair improved as the match progressed and will be hoping to carry that form forward.
In New Zealand's other pairs outing, Teri Blackbourn and Julie O'Connell scored an opening win in the women's para pairs B6-B8. The New Zealanders beat Malaysians Norazian Daoud and Jariah Zakaria 7-4, 6-4.
There wasn't such good news for Tayla Bruce in the women's singles. Bruce is a superb player, with a world singles crown and many other triumphs in her career CV. But she's struggled in Glasgow. After an opening loss to Singaporean Serena Tiong, she hoped for better against Norethern Irishwoman Shauna O'Neill.
Bruce began well and raced to a 6-0 lead in the first set before she finally managed to win it 7-5. O'Neill took the second set 10-6 and the subsequent tiebreaker. With three players unbeaten in her group, the odds are very long on Bruce being able to reach the semi-finals at this point.