N.Z. FOUR SIXTH

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29989, 26 November 1962, Page 9

N.Z. FOUR SIXTH

England Wins Gold Medal (Special Crspdt. HZ.P.A.) PERTH. November 25. New Zealand finished sixth in a field of 11 nations in the fours bowling on Saturday. A 25-9 defeat of Fiji in the final round gave the New Zealand team 12 points from 10 games. The gold medal was won by England and there will be a play-off tomorrow between Rhodesia and Scotland to decide the other two medals. They shared second place with 14 points, followed by Australia and Wales level on 13.

The New Zealand teem played extremely well in the last game with the skip, J. Rabone, driving with deadly accuracy. Fiji never looked like notching its fourth win at the series. The bowls manager, Mr C. H. Hain, said that New Zealand had been unlucky to meet in their first three games the teams that were eventually to take the top places. The New Zealand four had failed to strike form in those games but once they did so they played magnificently, he said. The New Zeeland singles and pairs players started with wins when their competitions opened later in the day. T .W. J. Barron (Wallington) beat G. Page (Papua-New Guinea >. 22-8, and R. L. McDonald (Auckland), the skip, and H. H. J. Robson (Waikato) beat Hong Kong, 23-18. Barron won easily after going down four shsta on the first end. The score was 6-3 against him after four ends but once he got the lead he moved steadily ahead, with a maximum of four shots on two ends. The New Zealand singles champion, Barron, relied on a steady draw to pile up points and seldom hod to play fast shots. The New Zealand pair were given a bard battle. The score was level a* 5-5. 15-15 Mad 18-18, with Hong Kong playing tong heads at every opportunity while New Zealand favoured abort heads. A vital three to New Zealand on the 20th end was the break through they needed and they added two more on the last. Both players showed encouraging form, with Robson drawing accurately and McDonald impressive with aR his shot*.