BOWLS - Excellent skills on display

With Garry Houlahan
The Champion of Champion Singles was decided on the weekend and some very fine bowls were played. After the early rounds on Saturday the players still left in to play on Sunday in the men's competition were Arapohue and Mt Manaia with two lives each and Waipu, Kensington, Ruawai and Whangarei with one life each. In the women's event Hakaru had two lives while Kensington, Te Kopuru and Hikurangi each had one life.
Round 5 saw Sandy Foy (Arapohue) win the battle of the two lifers 21-17 and John Jamieson (Whangarei) beat Max Thurston (Ruawai) 21-13 and also Wayne Wrack (Waipu) beat Sam Nelson (Kensington) 21-12. In Round 6 Whangarei beat Mt Manaia 21-15 after being down 6-13 earlier in the game and Waipu beat Arapohue 21-19 after the scores were tied at 19-19. Waipu then got the bye to the final and Arapohue beat Whangarei 21-11 to book their spot. The final was much more clear cut than the earlier meeting of these two players, with Wrack proving far too consistent for Foy whose drive failed him at crucial times. In the end it was a comfortable 21-10 win for Wrack.
In the women's event day two saw two-lifer Sue Wightman (Hakaru) go down to one-lifer Ann Muir (Kensington) 21-15 and Sally Stirling (Te Kopuru) beat Manu Timoti (Hikurangi) 21-20. This was an extremely close game and Manu Timoti led 20-19 with the bell about to ring. Stirling laid the mat quickly and delivered the jack just in time and then scored two shots on the last end to take the victory. This meant that Muir had a bye to the final while Wightman then had to play Stirling and had a comfortable win and we then had a replay of the earlier match between Muir and Wightman, this time with each one having one life. The final was an excellent match with both players right on their game. After the opening few ends scores were tied 5-5 but Muir then got ahead 13-7 only to have Wightman draw back up to 13-12. Muir then went ahead again to 19-12 but Wightman came back again to close to 19-17, but she could hold on, and Muir scored the two vital shots to take the title.
The win was Muir's 20th Centre title to earn her a fourth Gold Star. The situation with Wrack's Gold Star tally is somewhat obscure as he earned some Centre titles while playing in Auckland and nobody is quite sure of his overall tally.
Congratulations , not only to the winners, but to all who participated. The standard of bowls was first-class.
* Champion weekend
Champion of Champion events continue this weekend with the Fours being played at Bowls Whangarei for both men and women. Entries are: Men - Whangarei RSA, One Tree Point, Arapohue, Dargaville, Mangawhai, Te Kopuru, Maungatapere, Maungakaramea, Onerahi, Kensington, Maungaturoto, Ruawai, Waipu, Kamo, Whangarei, Hikurangi, Ngunguru.
Women's entries are: Whangarei RSA, Arapohue, Dargaville, Hakaru, Te Kopuru, Maungatapere, Maungakaramea, Onerahi, Kensington, Kamo, Whangarei, Hikurangi.
Good luck to all taking part.
* Hocking wins
One final matter on things relating to Champion of Champion events. Northlanders will be pleased to see that Russell Hocking, formerly of the Mangawhai club, won the North Harbour singles title. Russell moved down to Milford a few years ago but is obviously still playing pretty good bowls with a comfortable win in the North Harbour event. Congratulations to him.
* Onerahi winners
A couple of First Year Singles results to hand. At Onerahi Bowling Club their men's First Year Champion is Ian Turner and the women's champion is Merran Christie. At Bowls Whangarei the men's First Year champion is Bob Smith and in the ladies Margaret Sands. Well done to them and all the best for a successful career in the bowling game.
* Women finish ahead
Onerahi Bowling Club held their annual two-day Triples tournament on the weekend. This is an "Any Combination" tournament and this year it was the turn of the ladies to come out on top with a little help from one male. A Kensington combination of Steve Smith, Pat Warth and Nancy Jujnovich were the winners ahead of an all-male Kensington combination of Mike Butler, Joe Thorburn and Dick Butler in the final. I guess bragging rights at the club will definitely be with the women on this occasion.
* Final tournament
The final tournament of the year at the Te Kopuru club was the Cobbald/Hart Pairs and a visiting Ruawai team of Tua and Adie Manga were winners and the only four winner on the day. Second spot was filled by a composite Dargaville/Arapohue team of John Matich and Monty Stott while the consolation went to Ron Hunter and Jeanette Master.
* Bowls goes online
Computer buffs may now visit Bowls Northland's new website. Site address is http://www:bowls northland.com/ although I gather this may have some amendment once some technical details are sorted out. Worth having a look at and see what the Centre has been doing.