SYDENHAM FOUR WINS TITLE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30338, 14 January 1964, Page 12

SYDENHAM FOUR WINS TITLE

Deavoll, Bateman Beat 1963 Pairs Champions (New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, January 13. H. H. Deavoll, of Christchurch, had an outstanding day in Dunedin today, the second last day of the 1964 national bowling championships. In the morning he skipped his Sydenham four to a well-earned win in the final of the championship fours against R. L. McDonald (Onehunga) and in the afternoon he eliminated the reigning pairs champions—J. N. S. Flett and S. W. Jolly, of Dunedin. In the other final today M. R. Buchan, of Te Aroha, won the singles title with a 19-8 win over D. McKenzie (Milton).

Deavoll will play G. P. Ogilvie (Cromwell) in the remaining eleventh round game of the pairs tomorrow. As Ogilvie still has two lives against Deavoll’s one, the draw for the twelfth * round cannot be made until after the outstanding game is concluded.

The survivors are H. E. Fayen (Taumarunui), with two lives, and C. D. McGarry (Carlton), and R. L. McDonald, with one life. Deavoll’s Sydenham four beat McDonald’s highly rated team by 25-23 after an entertaining game on the Kaituna green which lasted almost four hours. Deavoll did not have the polished style of the young Aucklander, but when he drew he was not far from the jack, and when he attempted a drive he usually hit his target. The player of the game was Sydenham’s third, R. D. Barron, who was consistently accurate. The lead, C. T. Bateman, laid the foundations, the second, J. Clarke, pulled off some tricky shots, although not always on the jack, and Barron and Deavoll did the rest. Onehunga Leads Play in the fours final began in sunshine but with a cold south-westerly wind. On the first end Onehunga took the first point but on the next end Deavoll drew beautifully through a gap to level the scores. Barron took one shot and McDonald tried twice to remove the bowl without success. With the end completed Deavoll led 2-1. On the fourth, the Onehunga skip scored a good three after removing a Sydenham bowl with a drawn shot. The next end saw Chil-

1 man, the Onehunga third, attempting to shift a Sydenham “ bowl to gain four but he touched the bowl on the wrong side and scored only one instead of the possible four. Onehunga led at this stage by 5-2. Barron again played two fine bowls to leave the Sydenham four two up. McDonald shifted one of them with .his drive, his second going through a small opening, and 1 Deavoll drew to make the score 4-5. Levelled the Scores On the seventh a well- . judged bowl by Barron gave the Christchurch team the shot and levelled the scores. Onehunga gained two on the —next two ends to lead 7-5. • The tenth end was wide • open and McDonald’s last • shot claimed the point for his J side. This was countered on , the next end by Deavoll when ■ he scored a three to even J the cards. • With the lead laying some • good foundation shots, and ! Barron playing superbly, the • Sydenham four piled on the ' points on the next two ends • to lead by 13-8. • The Onehunga skip was J playing some good shots to • keep Sydenham’s scoring to • the minimum. He came to J light on the fourteenth end • when he trailed the jack • from the centre of a cluster J of Deavoll’s bowls to score • two. After this the Auck- • landers found it hard . to a match Deavoll’s steady bowl- • ing. ’ On the fifteenth end a Deavoll sent down one of the • best shots of the match. J Taking the shot off Onehunga a he sent the jack into the • ditch for four shots, and led *. 17-10. Undisputed Lead a Deavoll then streaked ■ ahead to gain an undisputed I lead. Onehunga tried hard, a On the sixteenth an Auck- ■ land bowl rested on the jack, ' but Barron proved to be just • as good and removed it with • his second shot. Sydenham I added another two shots on • this end. J The next end saw Barron’s a second bowl take the shot on • a measure to give the Christchurch four a 10 point lead. Deavoll added another three » points on the eighteenth

after McDonald had tried to draw the shot with the last bowl but it was a fraction too heavy. The nineteenth end saw Deavoll attempt to kill the head with Onehunga holding three but he was well off the mark. Winning the end McDonald forced a long head. McDonald played an excellent bowl to take the Sydenham Shot and stand two up. The score was 23-15. Rally By Onehunga On the twenty-first McDonald had two touchers to push on to the jack. Chilman knocked one “toucher” into the ditch only inches away from the jack. Barron put in another good shot but McDonald made a running shot to push it out of play. With four ends to go McDonald needed nine points to level the match. His team began to play 100 per cent better and Deavoll began to lag. On the twentysecond end McDonald scored a three after Deavoll scattered the head with a drive. McDonald’s last bowl was a good shot and left the Onehunga team with the target of six to draw. On the next end Onehunga tried to kill the head three times to prevent Deavoll from scoring three. With his last bowl, McDonald changed from driving to drawing and almost held the shot. However, it was still Sydenham’s end with one bowl. On the twenty-fourth end McDonald scored a two. It could have be i a five, but McDonald’s last bowl was astray. Onehunga needed five to draw and killed the head on the first occasion. The next head was well covered, and it was not possible to drive the jack off. However, McDonald held two shots, and by removing one of Deavoll’s there was a chance of drawing even. Chilman made a bid for the shots, but could only make it three.

Recovered in Time Deavoll played equally well in the pairs competition, and with his fours lead, Bateman, beat the reigning champions, Flett and Jolly, in the tenth round. Flett bowled well to take an early 7-3 lead, but by the twelfth end Deavoll had levelled the scores at 9-aU. Flett eased ahead, but again Deavoll recovered, taking the lead on the fifteenth and holding on to win, 17-14. Never in Danger Buchan never looked in danger in the final of the singles competition, taking an early lead, and then skilfully staying ahead until McKenzie conceded the game at 19-8. It was Buchan’s second national title, for in 1957 he skipped the winning four at Auckland. Buchan was able to enter the final with every show of confidence, beating W. D. Scott, of Cromwell, 22-10, in the semi-final. Scott, who had earlier had an excellent win over J. B. Rennie, of Christchurch, played, in his own words, his poorest game in the tournament, and after Buchan had taken a 6-1 lead in four ends, Scott was never again within striking distance, and eventually conceded the game with two ends still to play. McKenzie had a harder time in his semi-final, a game in which the result was in doubt until the twentieth end. McKenzie established an early lead, but 26-year-old J. T T. Webster fought hard, scoring with excellent drives. Entering the twentieth end 13-16 down, Webster was again faced with the necessity for a drive. His attempt failed and with McKenzie

taking two shots, Webster conceded. It was a disappointing defeat for Webster, who had earlier put paid to Christchurch veteran, C. L. A. Spearman, with a 21-11 win. In a play-off for third and fourth in the singles, W. D. Scott had a 17-12 win over Webster. Interesting Clash The eleventh round of the pairs brought on interesting clash between McDonald and W. H. Hampton (Naenae), who took fourth place. Level at the twelfth end, Hampton surged into a 13-7 lead, but a five on the sixteenth followed by a single brought McDonald level again. The score was 16-16 when the last end started. Two good bowls by Hampton’s partner, F. B. Tait, put them two up, but McDonald removed one shot with a precision drive. With his next effort, McDonald drew magnificently to take the shot. Hampton tried unsuccessfully to drive, leaving McDonald a 17-16 winner.