Indoor bowls: Builder claims gold star

Bob Williams, of Taradale Club, seeks traction in the singles yesterday. Photo / Warren Buckland

When the dust settled on the indoor bowls mat at Taradale Club in Napier about 9.30 last night Mike King was the only one left standing from a field of 112, sporting that winner's grin.

The 56-year-old builder from Christchurch not only became the singles champion on the opening day of the Clubs New Zealand men's national championship but also claimed his gold star crown for accruing five titles to become 15th player to achieve that feat.

"It was very close. I probably got a couple of lucky rubs, to be fair," King said last night, attributing his success to his Hornby club after beating Donald Leighton, of Masterton, 10-8 in the final.

"It's tremendous and one of my goals to get five titles but it means a lot more because it shows the efforts the club puts in for you to benefit and the club and its members are enjoying the benefits, too."

King said Greg Hill was the other Hornby semifinalist, losing 7-6 to Leighton, while David Woods (Hornby) lost 7-4 to the runner up in the quarterfinal.

"Three Hornby players were in the last eight so the club is strong and we had a good day," King said, looking forward to the rest of the week.

Thirty-nine 10-member clubs from throughout the country are vying for national bragging rights. The pairs have 105 combinations, triples 70 and fours 55 with competition stretching to Thursday. The annual meeting will be held on the following day to decide where the next champs will be staged in 2017.

Last night, King beat Gordon Lang (King Country) 11-2 in the quarterfinals before overwhelming Matthew Ellis (Invercargill) 14-4 in the semifinals.

In last 16 matches, King (Christchurch) eclipsed Will Peard (Gore) 12-6, Ellis (Invercargill) outclassed Winston Lee (Ashburton) 14-4 while NZ rep Graham Low (Invercargill) showed no mercy to Rio Bond (Counties) 12-3.

Freeman skinned Lewis Dellabosca (Nelson) 13-4 while Lang was too good for Stephen Langley (Invercargill) 12-5.

The others were tight affairs, with David Woods (Christchurch) pipping Jason Moore (Palmerston North) 7-6 while Greg Hill (Christchurch ) prevailed over Kevin McDowell (Pukekohe) with a similar margin.

Michael Brown, of Hibernian/Hastings RSA, made Donald Leighton, of Masterton, sweat for his 9-8 victory to progress to the last eight.

Former NZ masters champion Ross Hamilton, who is organising the champs, failed to qualify after a win and two draws at the Napier club at 12 Wakefield St before post-section at Taradale club.

On Sunday, the South Island team beat their North Island counterparts 24-16, winning the trophy for the first time in five years.