MORE TOURNAMENTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 35, 11 February 1943, Page 7

MORE TOURNAMENTS

BOWLS IN THE PROVINCE AI7CKLANB PAIRS START MARCH 2. (By TRUNDLER). The Rotorua tournament maintained its reputation of recent years in showing that no "picnic" teams can expect to win—the finalists are always rinks with many victories to their credit. Some of the principal successes of the winning Auckland four were mentioned in the Sports. Edition last Saturday, but the Otahuhu losers also had almost the pick of their club. H. Everitt was seven times club champion during its earlier years, and was runner-up to J. Gardiner as recently as 1938. Gardiner himself lifted the club title live times; while the skip, T. T. Skoglund, was runner-up to A- Murdoch last season, and annexed the Mangere title in 1940, soon after his arrival in Auckland after winning in Wellington and Taranaki. The only beginner in the team was H. W. Hotson, who won the club's first-year championship in J. 938. Only one of the winning four was in the team originally entered, and this happened in many other cases—a natural result of the nominations being sent in several months ago. This invites the suggestion that if the Rotorua Club advised when the programme was going to be closed down, the skips whose entries have been accepted could send word of any alterations required. This would probably save such an anomaly as six of the eight finalists differing from the programme. . . This week there are two large provincial tournaments, 32 rinks competing at Helensville, and 60 rinks at Tauranga (compared with 58 last year). Last year's winners at Tauranga were Austin, G. Callaghan, Powell,. A._Callaghan (Te Aroha), who defeated Holland, Bayley, Whitworth, Bartlett (Tauranga South) in the final, by 20 to 14. Two of the eight rinks who qualified were from Auckland, namely, Whyte, Kennerley, Humphreys, Roberts, and Proud, Hill, Clarke, Hadwin, both entered from Carlton. In the semi-finals Roberts lost to Callaghan, and Hadwin to Bartlett. Final Played in City The 32 teams entered for Helensville are again very representative, each of the sections of 16 containing ten from city and suburban clubs; three from the local club, and three from distant clubs, ranging from Ruawai and Whangarei in the north, to Patumahoe in the south. Last year the finalists were both from the city, so they were allowed .o return and play at their convenience, dhe game resulting: W. J. Pearce, R. Montgomery, S. Purdy, W. A. Lancaster (Carlton) 20, v. J. Preston, C. B. Shine, T. Taylor, C. B. Clarke (Grey Lynn) 15. Next week there will be the annual pairs tournament at Rotorua, 50 teams competing, but this year there are no Carlton entries. Last year's winners, W. Watson and R. S. Higginbotham (Henderson), are defending their title. In the same section are H. A. Robertson and F. Livingstone (Onehunga), who won this event in 1940, and S. E. Harper and H. Sykes (Otahuhu). The latter team won in 1937, and were runners-up to W. Boyce and L. Russell (St. Helier's), in 1941, besides being in the winning rink of 1931, and runners-up in 1939. Another section which is sure to attract attention incluudes Hardie Neil and W. Bremner, who both qualified in the recent rinks, and also L. Balfour and I. Stephenson (Gisborne), runners-up in the Dominion pairs of 1939. Entries close next week for the pairs championship of the Auckland centre, play to commence on March 2. The title-holders are F. O. Carbines and R. S. Higginbotham (Ponsonby), who defeated L. Pitkethley and L. J. Keys (Auckland) in last year's final, by 21 to 11. Fortunately for match committees, the champion of champions tournament will be a week later than usual this season, and will commence on March 23.