Bowling: Champ just misses rare double

Peter Hodson says he was "stoked" to have made it into both finals. Photo / Richard Robinson

Peter Hodson, little known outside of Nelson, came within a match yesterday at the national bowls championships in Auckland of joining a select band of some of the sport's most illustrious names.

Hodson, a surprise winner of the singles over Auckland's Neil Fisher, then had a chance of winning the pairs final with his 23-year-old lead and Stoke clubmate Jimmy Pugh. But securing the rare double on the one day proved too much, with the favourites, Wellington's Blake Signal and Canterbury's Alvin Gardiner, too strong with a 22-12 win.

Those who previously had done the double were Percy Jones in 1967, Phil Skoglund in 1972 and Peter Belliss in 1992 among the men and Cis Winstanley had been the only woman until joined by Jo Edwards last year.

Hodson himself admitted that having to peak for two tough matches on the one day had been draining. "I found it very hard to motivate myself," he said. "I felt flat."

But Hodson was still a proud man, despite the pairs defeat, and slightly disbelieving that he had achieved so much. Until these championships Hodson had done little at national level, other than being part of a Stoke side that won the inter-club title.

"I'm absolutely stoked," he said. "I couldn't have asked for anything better. I didn't expect to be playing today, let alone be in two finals."

In his final with Fisher, Hodson trailed at one stage 13-7, and only gained the lead late when he found his weight to finish strongly with three and four on consecutive ends.

For Signal and Gardiner their win added to a fours title two years ago. They became favourites after winning an epic match with Gary Lawson on Sunday. But Signal, a 29-year-old with six titles, took nothing for granted.

"We still had to play some very talented bowlers, especially Jamie Hill and Neville Hill who we met in the semifinal," he said.

Adding lustre to the success was the fact that Signal and Gardiner had faced some of the toughest skips in the tournament, starting with Petar Sain and then Richard Girvan and Lawson.

Gardiner's experience was crucial yesterday, especially in adapting to the rink's pace after it quickened following early showers.