Gwen Lawson Bowls Column: Multiple centre singles titles for Joe Thorburn and Manu Timoti

Kensington's Lang (Joe) Thorburn won his 16th Northland Open Centre bowls title at the weekend.

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Last weekend the first Champion of Champion event was completed when the singles were played for men and women.

It is congratulations to Lang (Joe) Thorburn of Kensington who defeated Jason Webb of Arapohue in the final of the mens event 21-7. Third equal were Kevin Robinson (Maungaturoto) and Mike Lee (Mt Manaia). This was the 16th Open Centre title for Thorburn.

For the women it is congratulations to Manu Timoti (Hikurangi) who defeated Patricia Murray (Kensington) in an exciting match 21-16.

This was a 23rd centre title for Timoti. Well done to Karina Cooper (Kamo) and Chris Budge (Ngunguru) who were 3rd equal.

Both winners are eligible to represent the centre in the NZ Champion of Champion event to be played in Wellington July 2-5.

The Bowls Northland Umpires Association held their annual fundraising tournament at the Onerahi greens last week.

The weather started off a bit damp and then cleared to a fine day. This event was sponsored by Morris & Morris.

Winners on the day were:

1st: Gary Seddon, Grant Bush, Laurel Jones, 3 wins 20 ends.

2nd: Les Scott, Dave Smith, Sam Prasad 2 1/2 wins, 20 ends.

3rd: Rex Jury, Jim Taylor, Bruce Clarkson 2 1/2 wins, 17 ends.

Six lucky prizes were also distributed on the day from those teams that did not qualify for a prize.

Fixtures for next week are:

Today - Kensington Easter AC Triples,

Tuesday - Kamo AC Triples.

Wednesday - Maungaturoto AC Triples; Whangarei Ac 2x4x2 pairs.

Thursday - Onerahi AC Triples;

April 10 - Leigh Men's Triples.

April 10-11 Arapohue Men's Triples.

Don't forget daylight saving finishes Sunday morning, put your clocks back or you will be early for bowls.