Richmond wins Niagara triples

Press, 26 July 1989, Page 37

Richmond wins Niagara triples

Bill Trembath (Richmond W.M.C.) combined well with. Trevor Austin and Murray Brown to win the prestigious Niagara Therapy Arawa Triples at the indoor bowls headquarters on Sunday. In a tight encounter with Garden City’s Kevin Goodgame, Greg Hill, and Bryony Immers, the Richmond team scraped home by 10 points to 9. Trembath made a good start with a five-point lead after two ends, but Goodgame reduced the deficit to be only one down after five ends.

A single, then a three, enabled Trembath to restore his advantage to five. The Garden City trio, however, clawed its way back into the game by winning the next four ends (1-1-2-1). This tied the score at nine-all going into the final end, which seesawed dramatically. Goodgame drew a perfect toucher with his first bowl, only to have Trembath play a very good running bowl to snatch the shot. Goodgame’s attempt to regain the shot just failed, leaving Richmond with the point they needed. All six players in the final played excellent bowls throughout post-section rounds, with Trembath’s team beating Liz McLennan, Janette Lennon, and Ria Austin 8-4 in one semi-final, while the Goodgame threesome had a convincing win over N. Scriggens’ Springston South team by 10-6 in the other. Results:

Quarter-finals: E. McLennan 10, A. Williamson 4; N. Scriggens 4, L. Ashby 2; W. Trembath 7, G. Champion 6;

K. Goodgame 6, J. Vaughan 4. Semi-finals: Trembath 8, McLennan 4; Goodgame 10, Scriggens 6. Final: Trembath 10, Goodgame 9. The consolation event for non-qualifiers was shared by T. Clark, K. Gledhill and B. Mitchell, along with K. Hooper, M. Davis, and K. Davis. • Graham Champion (Avonhead), won the Canterbury indoor bowls champion of champion singles tournament at Kearneys Road on Saturday, when he beat Leo Ashby (Bumside) 9-7 in a closelyfought final. Both players had close encounters of the unwanted kind in their semi-finals. Champion defeated A. Griffin (Kaiapoi) 9-8 on an extra end, with an umpire’s measure deciding the outcome.

Ashby, playing Andrew Curtain (Richmond W.M.C.), looked beaten when he dropped a four on the third end to be five down. However, in a magnificent fightback, the Canterbury selector closed the gap, shot by shot, and grabbed a 7-6 victory. Temperament played a large part in the result. Results: .

Quarter-finals: G. Champion (Avonhead) 7, G. Imms (Albion) 6; A. Griffin (Kaiapoi) 8, M. Anderson (St Pauls) 7; A. Curtain (Richmond W.M.C.) 10, D. Allen (Somerfield) 8; L. Ashby (Burnside) 9, L. Shaw (Woolston W.M.C. Ladies) 8. Semi-finals: Champion 9, Griffen 8; Ashby 7, Curtain 6. Final: Champion 9, Ashby 7.