BOWLING NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21068, 30 December 1931, Page 13

BOWLING NOTES.

DOMINION CHAMPIONSHIP. HEAVY SOUTH ISLAND ENTRY. CHANCES OF AUCKLAND PLAYERS BY SKIT. The official programme of the 19th annual championship tournament, which commences in fihristchurch on January 11. is to hand, and, as usual, is replete with the necessary information for competitors. A slight mistake is noticed regarding the rinks division, which this time is being conducted on the two games a day system. Although the right information is shown at the top of each section, yet the draw underneath gives three games a day. Evidently the error crept in by copying last year's programme, when the tourney was held in Auckland and three games a day were played. The Auckland provincial entry is a small one. In the rinks there are three teams from local clubs and one from Frankton Junction. In tho pairs Auckland supplies five teams and I*rankton Junction one, while in the singles there are 12 local competitors and one from Prankton Junction. Although the tournament lias a New Zealand status it could well be termed a South Island event, for out of the 102 teams competing in the rinks championship over 80 of them arc from South Island clubs and thus it is largely a Southern affair. Good Greens Available. The three Auckland rinks in charge of Brainier, West End, Findlay, Mount Eden, and Walker, Auckland, arc all good combinations, and should do well on the fine greens which are to be found jn Cliristchurch. Bretnncr is in section A and the skip who won the f cvent twice previously will no doubt mako a bold endeavour to win a third time. The Christchurch greens arc particularly adaptable to the West End skip's play and lie is ably seconded by such players as C. E. Hardley, number three, and Needham, number two. His lead, Thomass, is tho least experienced man in the team and may suffer on that account when such strong* opposition in his particular department is met with. This section is not an easy one, the names of several tried and successful skips being noted. Tonkin, North East \ alley, Adess, St. Kilda, Dunedin, Redpath, Canterbury, and the family team from Stiat.ford, consisting of all Skoglunds, are all dangerous, and there may be others whose calibre, is' not as yet well known here. Findlay, who counts the services of J. H. Colt hurst, West End, as number three, is in section B. Hie Mount Eden skip invariablv gives a good account of himself in the big tourneys away from home. His lead is that experienced player 'J'. Nairn, while he has a solid drawing player in Turner in the number two position. It only remains for the three and skip to combine well to make a fairly solid team. The opposition in this section includes such well-known skips as West, Edgeware, Ferguson, Balmacewan, McWhannell, ' Hataitai. and Sandston, Christchurch. Combination Expected. Walker is in section F and, on paper, his team, consisting of Macky, Keys and de Launay, reads well. De Launay has been successfully associated before with Walker, so there should be no difficulty on the score of combination. Both Macky and Keys are successful men in their own particular club, but may want for moie outside experience. Walker's section also is a good one, such skips as Pollock, Newtown, Goldstone, Opawa, Buck. Imperial, and the ex-Carlton player, F. Laurenson, now of Linwood, appearing in it. There is one thing about this section and that is the four greens—Beckenham, Sumner, St. Albans and Canterbury—are all firstclass and convincing • grounds. The Frankton Junction team is in charge of Martin, with the ex-Carlton player G Frost as third. It is in the same section as G. Deare's last year s winning team. The ex-Rawhiti, but now Matai player, G. Piper, also is in the section. The Auckland competitors in the pairs are Turner, Findlay, Mount Eden; Bremner, C. Hardley, West. End; McDougall, Macky, Auckland; Thomass, Needham, West End; W. Hardley, Colthurst, West End. The local players in the singles arc Brcmner, Colthurst, C. Hardley, W. Hardley, and Thomass, West End; Caughley, Remuera; dc Launay, Carlton; Findlay, Mount Eden; Keys, McDougall, Macky and Walker, Auckland. Auckland Centre Tournsy. During tho qualifying stages of the Auckland Centre's annual Christmas tourney the conditions were ideal, and an excellent holiday,was enjoyed by tho competitors, who numbered about 250. The sudden change in tho character of the greens had most of tho players puzzled, and especially was this so on tho first day, when the almost glassy-like surface, with a tricky wind, had a disconcerting effect and called for the best judgment. An innovation which no doubt was welcomo to many bowlers in the tournament was tho non-collection of tho usual shilling for tho green caretakers. Not that tho players begrudgo sonio extra recompense for these officials, but it had been felt for some time past that the amount of tho entry should cover the player's total expense. The centre officials arc to be commended on tho action taken on this occasion, and it is to be hoped that the custom which has prevailed for so long a period will not be revived. By courtesy of tho centre secretary a copy of the new rules has been made available to the writer. The books and wall-sheets for the pavilions ol clubs have been distributed to the clubs, and bowlers will have ari opportunity of studying them. To obtain the best impression would be by comparing the old and similar rule with the new regulation. This procedure, however, would involve a fair amount of annotation to cover the whole ground, but by dealing only with the ones which are most used a good idea could be readily obtained. BOXING RING. SUCCESSES OF HARRY JOHNS. Harry Johns, of Auckland, holder of the light-weight boxing championship of New Zealand, is compiling for himself a very creditable record. His latest victory, over Archie Hughes, at Westport on Boxing Night, was especially pleasing to the Aucklniuler's large army of supporters, as the pair had each won a decision previously. Johns has had eight matches since he turned professional After gaining his present title from Hector Leckie lie lost to Tommy Donovan, but retained the championship on a weight technicality. Whitlow, the American, and Hughes, were then defeated in turn, and Johns next boxed a draw with Thomas, another American. Hughes gained the decision when he met the champion in a return match which, however, was not for tho title. Since then Johns has accounted for Johnny Leckie and Ilughes again, so that of his eight bouts he has won five and lost two, the remaining one ending in n draw. A rather unusual feature of Johns' contests is that all have been won or lost on points. Artie Hay, former triple New Zealand champion, is to make a reappearance at Napier, when he will meet Billy Sullivan late in January.