Pryor was dubbed a giant-killer for his Open run but he was unable to progress past the semi-finals, going down yesterday to England international Graham Shadwell in a tie-breaker.

The 17-year-old Gunnedah Services and Bowling Club member gave the Commonwealth Games representative a scare, leading 3-nil after the first end.

Shadwell couldn’t get on the board until the fourth end and was unable to add to that as Pryor took the first set 11-2.

He then took the lead early in the second set but Shadwell won four of the last seven ends to take the set 11-6.

Pryor seemingly ran out of steam in the tie-break with Shadwell finishing over the top 3-nil.

“He won the first set quite comfortably... I’m struggling, he’s playing really well and it might have been as if he thought he’d already won it,” Shadwell said afterwards on the Bowls Australia website.

Pryor had knocked over some big names on his way to the semi-finals of the nation’s blue ribbon lawn bowls event.

His biggest win of the week came on Thursday when he beat one of Australia’s finest bowlers in Commonwealth Games gold medallist Wayne Turley.

Pryor held his nerve with a nailbiting 11-2, 6-12, 3-1 win over Turley in his quarter-final.

During a coming of age tournament, Pryor – who captured gold in the triples at the Australian Junior Championships last year – also eliminated Kiwi legend Rowan Brassey as well as national squad member Gerard Beath.

Shadwell advanced to yesterday’s semi-final with a 10-8, 4-9, 4-3 victory over 2008 finalist Mark Casey.

“It’s pretty good,” a shell- shocked Pryor said on the Bowls Australia website after his win over Turley.

“I’ve knocked off a couple of Australian players along the way so it should be all right. I’ll probably be a bit nervous but I’ll see how we go,” he said of his looming semi-final.

The other semi-final was also pushed to a tie-breaker, with Aron Sherriff prevailing over former international David Holt 9-8, 2-9, 4-2.