Wellington’s winning team : Seamus Curtin (Singles). Robbie Bird and Ben King (s) (Pairs). Richard Corry, Grant Wakefield, Bradley Down and Raymond Martin (s) (Fours). Ben King (Player Coach) and Leigh Griffin (Manager).
Wellington and Canterbury were the winners in the Bowls New Zealand National Intercentre Bowls Tournament held in Christchurch over the weeekend.
Tight games were the order of the day as the weather and bowls improved markedly from three days of cold blustery conditions with rain to give Post Section teams the chance to play on the beautifully prepared Burnside greens on Sunday.
In the Men's tournament, Wellington emerged from a tight semi-final to beat Marlborough 2-1 and then accounted for Dunedin 2-0 in the final. Again Wellington’s Singles player Seamus Curtin remained unbeaten, winning his games 25-12 against Marlborough’s Andre Smith and then in the final against Dunedin’s Shaun Scott 25-14.
The Women's tournament proved to be a cliffhanger with Canterbury in a ding-dong battle with Northland in the final.
Canterbury’s winning team : Sandra Keith (Singles). Sherrie Cottle and Adele Greenfield (s) (Pairs). Angela Boyd, Tessa Hocking, Julie Adams and Mandy Boyd (s) (Fours). Roger Munro (Coach) and Raelene Peters (Manager).
After both the Singles and Pairs had been settled one-a-piece, the Fours match was played out taking two extra ends to complete, with the unbeaten Canterbury Four only settling the issue after Canterbury’s skip Mandy Boyd had burnt the end twice when down on the head.
FINALS
Men
Wellington beat Dunedin 2-0 Singles 25-14; Pairs (Unfinished); Fours 15-14;
Women
Canterbury beat Northland 2-1 Singles 20-25; Pairs 19-13; Fours 13-12;
SEMI-FINALS
Men
Wellington beat Marlborough 3-0 Singles 25-12; Pairs 18-17; Fours 15-14;
Dunedin beat Manawatu 2-1 Singles 25-21; Pairs 11-13; Fours 16-13;
Women
Canterbury beat Counties Manukau 2 ½ - ½ Singles 25-22; Pairs 17-17; Fours 20-5;
Northland beat Bay of Plenty 2-1 Singles 25-21; Pairs 13-17; Fours 17-11;
QUARTER-FINALS
Men
Marlborough beat Wanganui 3-0 Singles 23-17; Pairs 19-14; Fours 19-15;
Wellington beat Central Otago 3-0 Singles 24-20; Pairs 21-3; Fours 17-14;
Dunedin beat Northland 3-0 Singles 25-12; Pairs 18-9; Fours 15-10;
Manawatu beat Nelson 2-1 Singles 25-12; Pairs 15-16; Fours 17-12;
Women
Canterbury beat Auckland 3-0 Singles 25-18; Pairs 20-15; Fours 15-9;
Counties Manukau beat Thames Valley 3-0 Singles 25-21; Pairs 19-11; Fours 21-6;
Northland beat Waikato 2-1 Singles 24-25; Pairs 16-14; Fours 16-12;
Bay of Plenty beat Wellington 2-1 Singles 25-18; Pairs 15-13; Fours 10-19;
QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS
Men
In Section 1 Seamus Curtin from Wellington playing singles was the standout player with 5 wins which included a good win over Canterbury’s Andrew Kelly. First qualifier in this Section played over 6 rounds was Manawatu hotly pursued by Wellington. All the other Sections played just 5 Rounds.
In Section 2 Marlborough finished 1st with Wanganui 2nd. Both the Wanganui Pairing of Alan Dixon and Ray Park (s) and Marlborough’s Four of Ken Hart, Kevin Greenwood, Lloyd Gallop and Andre Smith (s) won 4 out of 5 games.
In Section 3 The Northlands Four of Don Cameron, Paul Wrightman, Sam Nelson and Trevor Reader won their 5 games in winning the Section along with Nelson who finished 2nd.
In Section 4 Central Otago finished in 1st place with Dunedin in 2nd. Both Dunedin’s singles player Shaun Scott and the Pairs team of Craig McCaw and Rob Fleming won 4 out of their 5 games.
Women
In Section 1 of the Womens tournament the Canterbury Four of Angela Boyd, Tessa Hocking, Julie Adams and Mandy Boyd (s) won all 5 games and was the first qualifier with Thames Valley coming second.
In Section 2 the Auckland pairing of Kirsty Hill and Anne Bateman (s) won their 5 games with Auckland qualifying first in the Section. The Counties Manukau Singles player Natarsha Grimshaw also won her 5 games and was an integral part in Counties Manukau being second qualifier.
The Taranaki Fours team of Val McEldowney, Bev Robinson, Susan Cottam and Cathy Andrews (s) also won their five games but their differential wasn’t quite enough for their team to qualify.
In Section 3 Waikato Singles player Ashleigh Jeffcoat was the only player to win all 5 games which helped her team to qualify first for Post Section play with Northland the second qualifier.
In Section 4 Bay of Plenty Singles player Mary Campbell won all her 5 games to help her team to qualify second. Wellington however were dominant in winning the Section with 42 points dropping only the one game over 5 Rounds with both their Singles player Lisa White and their Fours team of Kimberley Hemingway, Janeen Noble, Nicole Toomey and Helen King (s) winning their 5 games.
