CHAMPION BOWLER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 58, 9 March 1936, Page 14

CHAMPION BOWLER.

FETED AT ONEHUNGA. FRANK LIVINGSTONE. (By TRUNDLER.) Nearly every member of the Onehunga Bowling Club, as well as a host of visi- j tors from other clubs, gathered in the j Orphans' Hall 011 Saturday evening to tender their congratulations to Frank ] Liyingstone, the winner of the Dominion j singles championship. The usual toasts | gave all the speakers ample opportunity to express their pleasure at this honour coming to Onehunga, the tirst time a Dominion championship has come to the club. This satisfaction was all the more pronounced, becausc only last year the same player, as skip of an Onehunga team, just missed winning the Dominion rink championship through a remarkable shot played by the opposing Grey Lynn skip. The toast of the evening was proposed by Mr. A. E. Whitten, president of the Auckland Centre, who eulogised the sportsmanship always shown by the new champion, and his regular support of all the club tournaments in the city. Mr. Livingstone entertained the company with incidents of the tournament, which had been most enjoyable, and expressed his pleasure that a double honour had come to Auckland through this city supplying also the runner-up. At a later stage he proposed the toast of the runner-up, C. E. Hardley, and recalled that on- the steamer from Wellington to Lyttelton he had said to Charlie: "You and I must meet in the final." However, he could afford to lose the singles, as he had won the pairs championship some years ago, besides the centre pairs twice, and was in a fair way toward winning his club championship. Mr. Hardley seemed overwhelmed by the enthusiasm with which the toast was received, just as if he had won the great event, himself, and said he was perfectly satisfied to be runner-up to such a good sport. They were the best of friends, and always would be, notwithstanding their delight in opposing each other on the green. Other toasts were the Onehunga Bowling Club, proposed by Mr. Arthur Parsons, to which Mr. I. J. Sutherland replied; affiliated clubs, by Mr. S. Coldicutt, Mr. Parsons replying; the New Zealand Bowling Council, proposed by the Onehunga president, Mr. S. Vella, who was in the chair, to which Mr. R. Sheath replied, as past president of the. association. Mr. Sheath, in his comments on the last tournament, and on tournaments in general, made some very appropriate observations on the time limit, and if he had spent a little longer at the postsection play of the pairs tournament on Thursday he would have had still more reason to remark on the very unsatisfactory position in this regard. His point was the inordinate waste of time in the. play, which was often still worse when j there was a time limit, and Mr. Livingstone convulsed the au ,: "tice by an incident he related as an ''lustration of Mr. Sheath's contention. However, -the subject is too big to be treated just now, and wiH be dealt with ia »• later article.

Mr. li. Buchanan proposed the Auckland Centre, to which Mr. Whitten rc : plied, supported by Mr. ii. Parker-Hill, i member of the executive. The latter surprised the audience by giving them lis own connection with the guest of the jvening. They all knew that besides jeing a champion of the Onehunga Club, ,he new Dominion champion had also seen champion of the Papatoetoe Club, )f which he himself was a past president, )ut probably only two people in the room incw that he was also a past president )f the Whitiora Club, in Hamilton, the list elub which Frank had joined, and ,hat it had been his pleasure to take hiiri ,o the first tournament in which he ha<J !ver competed. That would be about 920, in the annual tournament of the South Auckland Centre, the rink being: jivingstone, S. McMaster, It. Grigg, Parker-Hill. He did not for a moment the new champion as a pupil, but le knew that both Whitiora and Papaoetoe were gratified at the great success >f their former member. A splendid variety of entertainment was nterspersed between the toasts, and the >rganisers were congratulated on the iharactcr of the social as a fitting honour o their only Dominion champion. N.A. CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS. The champion of champions single competition of the North Auckland Bowliug Centre waa played ou the Portland Bowling Club's green on Saturday, when champions representing seven clubs, took part. The winner was J. Clark (Whangarei), who won the title for the second year in succession.