BOWLING.

Evening Star, Issue 14036, 17 April 1909, Page 10

BOWLING.

THE INVERCARGILL TOURNAMENT. A RETROSPECT. [From Ohr Special Correspondent.] Once again the weather has misbehaved and did as much as it could towards making the annual gathering uncomfortable. However, the Executive were alert and resourceful, and net owm had weather was able to spoil altogether the enjoyment of the players, i lie le Uornri Green certainly was ;n such a had ton-ln i.-o on Friday and .Monday ’hat orlv Mark iTpl-v hinwelf would have iornd it rcs'ibl-e to pivstnve a smiling imp. At the oltß'' crams, csnceialiy the Southland, an hour’s incouvcnier.ee on Monday was ail that players suffered. r i he toramiitee nave been most unluckv. for tuey just missed sonic lovely weather. There has been beautiful calm sunshiny weather ever since Monday mornimr, and frosts and cast winds indicate that this will keep up for a few days. “Why didn't Faster fall a day or two later!” is the question running from lip to lip as bowlers in Invercargill meet on the street. However, it’s no use groaning. For a good many years we had lovely Easter weather, and now, also for a good many years, w< have had a taste of evil fortune, but it is up to ns to have a bit of luck next lime, so I think all suggestions as to changing the time for holding the tournament will be disregarded, and we shall ask the outside players to give us another chance. The generous support given by the Pt. Hilda Club has been much appreciated by the Invercargill players, and it is more than probable that they will raise a team to repay the visit during nest season, for St. Hilda players have made themselves very popular, and none mere so that the gonial vice-president of the N.Z.B.A. Mr Callaway was in very happy vein when speaking at the smoke concert, and his will always be a welcome face. When the section matches were completed it was scon that rinks of very moderate ability had come out on top. this is frequently the case when heavy greens are the older of the day. A glance over the list by the cognoscenti was followed by the verdictMTntrye of Taieri, Darton of Lawrence, or Rennie of Southland will get first place, but they did not takq account of M'Natty’s Southland team. Just in order to have some Easter amusement, M Hawkins (a novice). R. Galbraith (the old-time footballer), and W. Stead approached J. M‘Natty (who has heretofore played in Leggat’s rink) and asked him to take them in tow, and so admirably did they perform that after winning their section they, without cere ir.ony, dumped out MTntyre (the favorite), then demolished the Lawrence team (second tavorite), and—well, that was enough. They were exhausted by such notable efforts, and simply collapsed in the game against R. H. Scott (of Roslyn). This Roslyn team played a sound game right through, and in the final were placing so well that it would have been a treat had they been matched against one of the best rinks. Hanna led with great accuracy ail through. Long heads, short heads, heads of medium length—all came alike to him ; and he certainly went a long way towards making the game easy for his partners. On occasion Scott was called on, and rarely found 'wanting. As in the case of Hanna, it seemed to be his day out, and no kind of shot, draw, drive, or trail came amiss. I have been at many tournaments, and have seen a good many finals, but never in my experience have there'been two better exhibitions of single-handed play than in the two games Carswell v. Mackie and Carswell v. Ayling. Each of the three players was out to win. and all the knowledge and skill that thev possessed came into play. Both of the Taieri players were in their best form, and the large number of spectators lining the banks were delighted with the exhibition. Then, in the final, when Arthur Ayling. playing with great coolness, skill, and judgment against Carswell at his best, was 6 points up with only two ends to go, the satisfaction of Koutidanders was complete. I don’t know how many new hats Ayling had in prospect, but then he failed. ‘Whether his coolness deserted him in those last two heads and he lost his judgment I cannot tel!; but in any case he played the wrong shot on two critical occasions, and Carswell seized his advantage and won the game. The Pairs Match was responsible for som-o very fine games, and it was a very large crowd that gathered to see Allan and Carswell play off against Wallace and Hain. I'he opening heads produced some very fine play, and an exciting game seemed to be coming, but, Hain fell away in the midgame, with the result that ‘Taieri got a lead of Id—7. Here again, however, was demonstrated the old saying that “ a game is never won till it is lost,” and the "thirteenth head saw the North End pair 1 point up, and they eventually won bv 2 points. lam a great admirer of the Taieri play; the skill of quite a number—Carswell, (MTntyre, Mackio, Tail, Allan, and others—is undeniable; but their inquests over the heads are tedious, and oftentimes unnecessary. When Carswell mot (Mackie the number of times that each player ran up to examine the head when no alteration had been made by the Last bowl thrown was very considerable. And the wav in which Mackie proceeded from the mat to inspect the position was little short of exasperating. He could not have gone more slowly had he been stepping to the strains of the Dead March. Of course, I am well aware that it is essential to take in all the possibilities, and it is perhaps because the Taieri players seem to lose ‘sight of none of these that they are so uniformly successful; but it seems to me that +hev” carry their consultations just too far. ” This apart, however, they are splendid bowlers and real good sports. There is no more popular figure on an Invercargill bowling green than Carswell, and, indeed, his clubmates_ MTntyre, Allan, and Christie are held in slightly lesser estimation only because of their slight inferiority in skill to the champion, for, as regards sportsmanship, 'all rank even. The tournament was a financial success, and ought to put the Southland Centre on a sound footing. Mr R. E. Taylor, the secretary, performed his duties with unfailing tact and goed humor. A large contingent of local bowlers saw the last of the visitors off by the second express on Tuesday, and if promises count for anything there will be an equally large entry nest year.