Top Qualifiers Fare Badly In Post-section Bowling

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31329, 28 March 1967, Page 15

Top Qualifiers Fare Badly In Post-section Bowling

As so often happens, section play was not the best guide when postsection play began in the Christchurch Bowling Centre’s Easter fours tournament yesterday.

Three teams, Smee (Fendalton), Yugovich (Beckenham), and Cogswell (St. Albans) were the only teams to qualify with eight wins from the eight matches played in section play.

But after the first round of post-section play only the consistent St. Albans team was left to fight out the remaining rounds. Smee’s team fought right to the end. Playing Edmonds (St Albans) they had a chance to win on the last end after the bell had rung. At that stage they were down 12-14. W. A. Hadlee, who led superbly in the earlier games, put his first bowl in the ditch. He recovered with his second bowl, but at the change-over the Fendalton team was two down on the head. The Fendalton number three, C. S. Peate, took a cheerful view of proceedings.

He told his skip: “Trail the kitty back here and we will get two shots.” A spectator wryly remarked: “Such a simple shot—almost elementary.” Smee, however, pushed his bowl across the head and almost before it had stopped rolling the Fendalton players were shaking hands with the opposition. After his impressive wins in-the section play. Yugovich was expected to progress in the same convincing manner but he met his match in the sound play of Colville (St. Albans). At one stage Yugovich was 6-6 but Colville, with his team playing steadily, drew ahead to win 19-11.

C. Rowe (Opawa) had his problems in the earlier rounds but his team, the first time they have played together,

was in superb form against Mclntosh (St Albans). Rowe, guiding his team well, played some excellent draw shots and was always capable of adding the vital points on close heads. The consistent T. Dixon (South Brighton) who had his moments of stress by having to win two games in the morning to qualify, beat decisively the experienced R. Pirrie (Dallington). Pirrie, a noted driver, had few chances to explode the head because the Brighton team’s drawing kept the Dallington team trying to match the shot

On the No. 2 green the unflappable K. R. Smith beat the Canterbury stalwart, J. Turpin, 22-12. A sudden burst of scoring by Smith when his team took 15 points on five consecutive ends gave Smith a 22-7 lead after 14 ends, but Turpin rallied over the last few ends to narrow the margin.

Smith, who has not shown his best form this season, played excellently. He denied Turpin points with his saving shots and added many points with his delicate draw shots; the übiquitous R. Hayes, Smith’s partner in the open pairs championship last year, was an admirable number two.

Tense Game

One of the tensest matches at Canterbury was the game between Cogswell (St. Albans) and Hanger (Spreydon). Cogswell, who is enjoying a very good season, was tested fully and spectators clustered around the teams as they played the last few ends. The vital force for St Albans was the cheerful W. R. Wilkinson. His mastery of the drive took St Albans out of trouble at a vital stage when they were five down on the head and he came to the rescue again on the last end

when the came fate threatened. K. R. Smith (Christchurch) 22, J. Turpin (Canterbury) 12; Ditfort (R.S.A.) 14, Bateman (Sydenham) 13; Edmonds (St. Albans) 16, Smee (Fendalton) 12; CogsweM (St. Albans) 19, Hanger (Spreydon) 13; Bennett (Fendalton) 20, Fletcher (Canterbury) 5; Colville (St. Albans) 19, Yugovich (Beckenham) 11; Weaver (Rakaia) 24, Trenberth (Christchurch) 5: Rowe (Opawa) 26, Mclntosh (St. Albans) 4; Dixon (South Brighton) 22, Pirrie (Dallington) 13: Newton (Dallington) 19, White (Linwood) 6.