Indoor bowls swept by N.Z.

Press, 22 May 1978, Page 28

Indoor bowls swept by N.Z.

PA Wellington New Zealand scored its expected landslide victory over Australia in the indoor bowls test at the Chinese sports centre in Wellington on Saturday. The host country triumphed 24-6 to win back the Henselite Trophy, which it had lost by a 16-14 margin at Newcastle in 1976. New Zealand’s success was made even sweeter by its capturing eight of the 10 Australasian titles at stake. The visitors’ only success came in the women’s singles and pairs.

Audrev Dryden, holder of four Australian titles, was a commanding figure in the singles, defeating Horowhenua’s Frances Galloway, 22-11, 25-17, 25-13. But the match of the day was provided by the pairs, where Clarice Power (New South Wales) and Nina Honey (Victoria) clashed with ‘ Dawn Adams (King Country) and Sylvia Bishop (Auckland). Power and Honey, champions in the 1976 test, won the morning session,

20-12, Adams and Bishop took the afternoon round, 25-13, then the Australians triumphed in the evening match, 20-17, after a monumental battle. While the men could not quite match that for drama, Paul Richards (South Australia) and Rod Fleming (Auckland) had a battle royal in the singles. Fleming seemed set for a whitewash success when he scraped home, 17-16, then walloped his young rival, 19-15. But Richards, Australian champion in 1976 and 1977, had other ideas and scored a handsome 19-15 win in the evening session. The Lion Breweriessponsored tour has been disastrous for Australia. In 14 North Island provincial matches before the test it won only once, by a narrow margin over ManawatuHorowhenua. The visitors failed to adjust to the shorter and thinner mats in New Zealand — a problem New Zealand will have to cope with in reverse when it defends the Henselite Trophy next year in Australia, probably in Adelaide.