BIG ENTRY FOR OPEN PAIRS

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32209, 30 January 1970, Page 15

BIG ENTRY FOR OPEN PAIRS

More than 700 bowlers will compete tomorrow in the initial rounds of the Christchurch Bowling Centre’s 1970 open pairs championship.

Play will be on the automatic two-life system and the teams to come through tomorrow’s four rounds with at least one life intact will qualify for play on the following Saturday. For tomorrow’s rounds the 368 teams which entered the tournament will be accommodated on 23 greens throughout the city, with the headquarters at Cashmere.

It is unfortunate that because of representative committments, seven of Christchurch’s leading bowlers have

had to withdraw. The group includes last year’s winning skip, W. R. Flemming jun. (St Albans) and the pairs champions at the recent Dominion tournament, W. R. Wilkinson and H. Hartley, also both St Albans.

W. J. Cole, who last year led for Fleming, has changed clubs and will skip a Christchurch team, with W. Graham as his lead.

W. J. Cogswell and F. A. Hughes, the 1968 champions, are playing again together for St Albans, and another formidable combination could be A. Tall and C. Cox (Barrington), who last year won the champion-of-champions pairs title. S. Lawson (Burwood), who with G. Suckling was runnerup to Fleming last year, is another forced out because of Sunday’s representative match. The two were intending to play together again this year.

' P. F. Meier (South Brighton), a runner-up in 1968, and B. W. Sinclair (St Albans) are others who have had to drop out. Sinclair was to have led. for T. J. Edmonds and they would have formed one of the more favoured combinations.