Bowls: And the award winners are ...

By BOB PEARCE

Earrings, tattoos, computers even - this year's national bowls tournament based at Onehunga has shown how the game has changed in the new millennium.

Croatian cunning still abounds, with Ivan Kostanich at 80 now the doyen, and umpires and markers still look the part with their blazers, badges and immaculate white flannels. But there are coloured bowls on the green, corporate boxes and even a real-life controversy over illegal equipment.

A lighthearted look at Onehunga's centenary-year spectacular suggests the following awards in a sport determined to shuck its ultra-conservative image:

* Best Tatts: Napier bowler Mike Bowden, whose left arm is a mass of blue artwork. He plays right-handed and reached the last eight of the singles.

* Most Unusual Occupation: Reg Sim, from Ngongotaha, who is a possum hunter. He reckons he allowed them time to fatten up in the Mamakus while he partnered Pere Paul into the last eight of the pairs.

* Best Tummy Bulge: Too large a field to decide, proving that some of the old traditions of bowls live on.

* Best Nicknames: It would be hard to go past Camilla for David Parker, of Bowls New Zealand. Surely the least appropriate was TV sad sack Victor Meldrew for Nelson's Ron Robb, who smiled his way through the mysteries of Auckland traffic and still won a swag of games.

* Optimist of the Tournament: The woman who hot-footed it to Onehunga after hearing a radio advertisement trumpeting free entry. She confronted the club president under the impression the club was offering free membership.

* Supreme Award: To the Onehunga Club, all the volunteers and particularly greenkeeper Wayne Motu.