Midlothian star Steven Currie has dropped out of the limelight since winning the last of his 21 full caps back in 2009 but the now 29-year old produced some of that razzle-dazzle form to win all three of his section matches in the qualifying play of the M&F Funeral Services sponsored Open Triples event at the Dalkeith indoor bowls stadium.
Read moreCurrie – who by the age of 20 had also captured three national and two British Isles titles playing with David Peacock twice in the Pairs and with Peacock and Willie Rankin in the Triples – was the only qualifier with a one hundred percent record.Skipping his front-two Colin Adamson and Liam Mitchell to commanding 13-2 and 13-4 wins over Peter Gray and Alan Robinson respectively having between times edged a 6-5 nail biter over Andy Scott.The final standings in Section 4 were, S Currie 6 (+21), A Scott 2 (+1), P Gray 2 (-6), A Robinson 2 (-16).The locals decided that Section 1 was ‘The Group of Death’ with the final outcome too close to call however the final reckoning saw Scott Ritchie skip Scott Runciman and Neil Linton to a 9-6 win over Graham Steele and a 10-2 win over Andy Caldwell to snatch the qualifying place ahead of Ian Forbes.Ritchie and Co had suffered a 7-6 setback against Forbes but topped the section with 4 points and 10 shots to the 4+4 of Forbes while Steele’s tally was 2-2, and Caldwell’s, 2-12.Bonnyrigg personality figure Drew Pearson looked the favoured choice in section 2 and he dually delivered by skipping Neil Murray and David Bryce to 9-2 and 6-3 wins over Willie Burnett and Frank Malko respectively.Pearson suffered a narrow 9-7 defeat at the hands of Robert Stenhouse but didn’t pay a stiff price with the final standings reading, Pearson 4 +9, Malko 4 +5, Stenhouse 3 –6. Burnett 2 –8.Teenager Jack Macnab – recently crowned The Scottish Young Master – skipped Les McCormack and Ewan Rutherford to a stunning 15-0 win over Ronnie Allen then having scrambled a 7-7 peel with David King edged an 8-7 thriller over John J Watson.Watson joined Macnab in the final days line up with the section 3 standings reading, Macnab 5 +16; Watson 4 +13, Allen 2 –7< King 1 –22.The section 5 honours were claimed by les Nicholson who tipped the scales by skipping Tony Abernethy and Willie McIntosh to a spectacular 18-1 win over Mike Goldsmith then backed it up with a second win.The final standings were, Nicholson 4 +18, N Watson 4 +3, I Lockhart 2 –10, M Goldsmith 2 –11The section 6 outcome produced two qualifiers with the triple of Grant Low, Paul Innes, and Robin Macnab getting the nod for top position as a result of them scoring a 12-4 win over Sandy (AJ) Knight having also edged a 7-6 win over Gary Thomson. Knight qualified as one of the top two runners up with the final standing reading,Macnab 4 +8, Knight 4 +8, Thomson 2 –7, R Borthwick 2 –9.The eight qualifying trio’s will now parade their skills and knowledge of the Dalkeith carpet against a galaxy of invited stars on Saturday January 3.