Wilkie wins bowls in colours

Press, 11 March 1985, Page 3

Wilkie wins bowls in colours

PA Auckland Matamata’s Elsie Wilkie swept to a worthy win in an ■innovative women’s international singles bowls tournament at Epsom on Saturday. In a one-sided final of the Honda Civic competition, she beat her clubmate, Jenny Simpson, 7-1, 7-2. It was Wilkie who in the 1970 s did much to publicise the women’s game by winning the world title in 1973 and again in 1977 and then beat the men’s national singles champion of the time, Ivan Kostanich, in a special television challenge match. Epsom’s tournament was a breakthrough for women’s bowls. Coloured clothing was used for the first time anywhere in the world and games were played under the sets system. Although some of the competitors expressed some reservations about the colours they wore from a fashion point of view, the experiment was a success. With the coloured discs on the bowls matching the player’s outfits, games were far easier for the spectators to follow and the three-day tournament attracted good galleries — better than similar men’s competitions have drawn in Auckland. Wilkie started the final

with an advantage over Simpson, the 1982 Commonwealth Games silver medallist. Both semi-finals were held on the same rink. Simpson beat another clubmate, Rhoda Ryan, the singles bronze medallist at the recent world championships, 7-4, 5-7, 7-4, and then had to wait nearly two hours before the final. Wilkie downed an Auckland player, Keitha George, 7-6, 7-6, in a close match and after a short break was back on the green for the final. She made the most of her advantage, scoring four shots on the first end and wrapping up the first set in just five ends. In the swirling wind which made conditions awkward over all three days, Wilkie was always in command. On the first two ends of the second set she held four shots, only for Simpson to pull out a fine saving shot with her last bowl to cut the scoring down to singles. Although Simpson levelled the score at 2-2, Wilkie kept the pressure on and won the set in just six ends, with a three to finish, and take what was one of the easiest wins of the three days.