1600 Bowlers For N.Z. Championships

Northern Advocate, 9 January 1948, Page 4

1600 Bowlers For N.Z. Championships

DUNEDIN. Fri. (P.A.)—The largest gathering of bowlers ever assembled in the Dominion will take part in the New Zealand championship tournament, which will begin in Dunedin on Monday.

In spite of the infantile paralysis epidemic in the North, there have been very few defections, and entries are a record. It is expected that there will be about 1600 players taking part. Every one of the 22 centres in New Zealand is represented in the entry, which includes the names of most of the prominent competitors and previous prize-winners. At the closing date there were 880 entries for the singles, 680 for the pairs and 344 for the fours. This total of 1904 entries exceeded the previous record entry of 1866 at Christchurch in 1946 by 61. and is far in excess of entries received when the tournament was last held in Dunedin in 1944, even though the entry of 1276 at that time was a Dominion record. QUARTER FROM N.I. About one-quarter of the players are from the North Island, and the entry includes six teams of fours from British Columbia. 12 pairs and 21 singles.

The Canadian bowlers, who are on a goodwill visit to the Dominion, will arrive in Dunedin at the week-end, and will be tendered a civic reception by the Mayor (Mr D. C. Cameron) on Monday morning. Those playing in the singles will have their first games on Monday afternoon. The opening ceremony will take place at 8 a.m. on Monday, and will be performed by the president of the association (Mr J. J. Davies, of Dunedin).