BOWLS PAPANUI FOUR WINS EASTER TOURNAMENT

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27633, 14 April 1955, Page 3

BOWLS PAPANUI FOUR WINS EASTER TOURNAMENT

The Papanui four, skipped by G. H. Cowles, won the final of the Christchurch Bowling Centre’s Easter tournament when it beat Christchurch on the Barrington green yesterday morning. Cowles . and Watkins, the Christchurch skip, are not new to big bowls. Cowles has won the champion of champion pairs, and Watkins was the skip of the winning pair in the Centennial tournament.

The Papanui four had the distinction of not losing one game in this tournament. It won all eight games in the section play, and after drawing a bye in the first round carried on to win the next four games in the postsection play. Conditions were overcast throughout the game yesterday, but the green was running very true. It was a little heavier than on the previous days. The large crowd which watched the final was treated to some excellent bowling, and showed appreciation by prolonged applause for good shots, of which there were many. A. Macdonald, the Christchurch lead, was a little steadier than C. Smith (Papanui), but R. Bond and C. H. Manning, Papanui’s number two and three, overshadowed their opposite numbers. C. Brown and A. Duff. Cowles, the Papanui skip, played excellent bowls, and A. Watkins, leader of the Christchurch four, could be considered a little unlucky, particularly on two heads when his shots, both good ones, cost his team five points. Papanui opened with two singles on the first two heads, but Christchurch brought the score level with a two on the third. . A single and a three on the next two heads to Papanui gave them a lead 6-2 on the fifth end. Two singles to Christchurch on the next two reduced Papanui’s lead. A three to Papanui on the eighth end gave them a lead of 9-4, which was reduced when Christchurch scored two on the

next. A single on the tenth to Pananui left them 10-6 up. Fighting back, Christchurch took two on each of the next two ends to bring the score level, 10-all. A single to each on the next two ends left them again ’level, 11-11. At this stage Papanui started to forge ahead a little, and with a three and a two they took the lead 16-11 on the sixteenth. The seventeenth head was disastrous for Christchurch. They were lying four shots when Watkins was about to play his last bowl. In trying to draw a fifth shot he turned in a Papanui bowl for second shot. This cost Christchurch three shots at a very vital stage of the game, and with only four heads to go they were down 16-12.

A two and a three on the next two heads to Papanui gave them a 19-12 lead, and Christchurch now needed to score seven on the next two heads to tie. This was a formidable task against a four who were drawing very accurately. On the next head Papanui were lying two shots, when Watkins had his last bowl to play. A draw would have gained nothing, so Watkins decided to go for the kitty, and again luck was against him. He touched it and only shifted it, which gave Papanui four shots instead of two. The game finished at 23-12, with one head left unplayed.

This tournament brings to a conclusion bowling for the 1954-55 season. The result was:—C. Smith, R. Bond, C. H. Manning, and G. H. Cowles (Papanui) 23, A. Macdonald, C. Brown, A. Duff, and A. Watkins (Christchurch) 12. WOOLSTON WOMEN’S CLUB Results of the championship games of the Woolston Women’s Bowling Club were:—junior singles, Mrs Thompson; championship singles, Mrs L. McKenzie; champion pairs, Mesdames R. Ballantine and L. McKenzie; championship fours, Mesdames O. Cockroft, M. Oakley, E. Crossan, L. McKenzie.