Bowls entries drop slightly

Press, 9 November 1985, Page 80

Bowls entries drop slightly

Entries for the national bowls championships in Christchurch next month are slightly down on the last Christchurch tournament, four years ago. However, they are much better than the president of the New Zealand Bowling Association, Bill Cole, had expected. ? ‘They are well above the figure that I had predicted and given the costs involved in spending two weeks away from home I think the outside entry is more than satisfactory,” said Mr Cole. The singles entry is 1296 (down 16 on four years ago), the pairs have attracted 1024 teams (down 56) and the fours 538 (a drop of 30

teams). The breakdowns for the entries are:—

Singles: Canterbury 653, other South Island centre 384, North Island 257, overseas 2. Pairs: Canterbury 591, other South Island centres 283, North Island a overseas 1. Fours: Canury 332, other South Island centres 134, North Island 71, overseas 1.

The two bowlers from overseas are a father and son combination from Adelaide. The father, Errol Bungey, is a prominent Australian player. He will be joined by his son, Drew, in the pairs and they will have two Christchurch bowlers, Jeff Lenz, of Burnside and

Tony Thomas, of Brighton, as their fours partners. The most dramatic drop in North Island entries is from Wellington bowlers; Their entries from 1981-82 have slumped from 60 to 40 in the singles, 42 to 25 in the pairs and 22 to 12 in the fours. There is not one entry from the new Kapiti centre, just north of Wellington. Auckland entries, on the other hand, have risen slightly, the singles by six to 87, the pairs by two to 50 and at 23 teams the fours remain unchanged. Mr Cole said that the generosity of Christchurch

people, both bowlers and non-bowlers, in making houses available for rent to visiting parties was, perhaps, one reason why the totals had not fallen away too heavily. “It makes a trip far more attractive when a house at modest rental can be obtained and we have had no trouble in finding houses in Christchurch for the required period,” he said. The tournament will begin with the opening ceremony on December 27 and play will start the next day. ■ The singles and pairs will be completed first and then the fours, with the final set down for January 13.