BOWLING

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10851, 17 March 1921, Page 7

BOWLING

SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP E. J. HILL (WELLINGTON) SUCCESSFUL. YESTERDAY'S FLAY. Yesterday the champion single players of the various bowling club.- met on the Wellington green to determine who should be designated the champion of champions for the season. The fixture is an annual one, and the contestants are composed oS players who have been successful in their respective club competitions. The Wellington Club green, which "as kindly lent for the purpose through the courtesy of the directors, was in ;>erfect Older for play. It was vey keen, and each hand took a considerable amount of bias. Before the commencement of play Ihe bowls were examined by the secretary to the centre (Mr S. H. Underwood), and in ofe instance a contestant’s bowls were found not to be in conformity witli the regulations, and consequently ha was not permitted to play with them. This handicapped the play -r in question to an appreciative extent, but notvihstaru,ing he won his first game by a fairly substantial number of points. Play was on ihe "sudden death” principle, anu thirteen clubs were represented. Results: FIRST ROUND.The game betw-een W. I ruish (Hutt) and J. M. Brack.enridge (Newtown) resulted in the letter winning by six points. l'Vuioh scored a 2 in -the nrst head, but in the next four hie opponent put on six points. A 3 to i ruish in the sixth head made the position more even, but Brackenridge went away again, and ot the conclusion of the eighteenth had a lead of eight points, which Fruish reduced by two in the following two. The last head was not played. 11. Fraser (Victoria) ran away from J. Orr (Johnsonvillol. The game was of an even nature for four heads, after which Fraser went to the front, and eight heads later was ten points in the lead- He was not seriously troubled afterwards, ami won by 26 points to 8, with two heads unplayed. _ R, Ramsav (Hataitai) and B. J. llill (Wellington)' look part in a well contested game. Neither player could get fa? away from the other, and although Hill won with a margin of five points to spare the shots sent down by Ramsay in the three final heads only missed altering the complexion of the game by less than inches. _ Dr Hislop (Petone) had D. E. Dustin (Lyall Bay) as an opponent. Dr Hislop scored on "the first three heads before Dustin, opened his account with a single. With half the game completed Dustin was within three points of his opponent but fell away again, and had a leeway of six to make up when the sixteenth head wan being played. He secured three counters, hut in the next Hr .Hislop put on eight points, and was H in the lead at the conclusion of the nineteenth, when Dustin threw in the “sponge.” R. E. Manley (Eastbourne) opened with a 2 in his game with IV. C. Cooper (Karon), but the ex-president of the centre replied with a 3, which he followed with two successive singles. Manley then made a break, and at the eleventh head the board showed 9 points to each. The game was a particularly interesting and even one till the fourteenth head, in which Cooper added three, and at the eighteenth was 17 to his opponent's .14. With one head to go Manley was a point to the good, and in the final Cooper notched two points and won by 19 to 18. The game between W. F. Ferkins (Island Bay) and C. AVebb (Seatoun) was all in favour of Ferkins, who won by 24 points to 11. M. Routley (Kelburn) drew a bye. SECOND ROUND. H. Fraser (Victoria) met Dr. Hislop (Petone) in the second round and estabfished a substantial lead early in the game. Starting with a 3 he scored on eleven heads to his opponent's one, the tallies "being, when the twelfth head was commenced: Fraser 17, Hislop 1. His» lop then took a turn at the scoring board, but the nearest he could got to Fraser was seven points, and he lost the game by 23 to 13. . \A 7 , F. Ferkins (Island Bay) met his "Waterloo” at the hands of J. M. Brackenridge (Newtown). He showed the way from the start and at the seventh head the scores were equal. Brakenridge then went to the front and never looked back. By scoring 10 points on five heads he ran out a winner on the twentieth by 22 to 9. M. Routley (Kelburn) had 35. J. Hill (Wellington) as an opponent. Routley oould not get within striking distance of Hill after the eighth head had been decided. Hill scored with each of his bowls on the nineth and tenth head and had a lead of seven > pointe on the eleventh, in which Routley scored a. single. In the next Routley got within four of Hill, but the succeeding four ended in favour of the Wellington Club representative, who ran out a winner by 25 points to 13. ... Cooper (Karori) drew a bye in this round. SEMI-FINAL. In the semi-final E. J. Hill (Wellington) played W. C. Cooper (Karori) and J. M. Brackenridge (Newtown) played H. Fraser (Victoria). Hill was “all out” from the start, but in the fir*t two heeds the counting shote were some distanoe a wav from ‘kitty. . At the conclusion of the fourth head Hill had a total of 10, and Cooper had not scored. Cooper got a “look in in three heads bdt was twelve points behind when the twelfth was being played. He only scored on one occasion (a 2) afterwards, and at the conclusion of the eighteenth head was 18 points behind and gave up. The ended : Hill 38, Cooper 9. ' The game between Fraser end Brackenridge was an even one for eight heads, when Brackenridge forged ahead. He scored nine points to his opponent's angle, and there was a difference of nine between the” players on the sixteenth head. Fraser was unable to attract the attention of “kitty” and suffered defeat by 19 to H. THE FINAL. HILL'S BRILLIANT FLAY. Much interest was centred -in the final between J. M. Brackenridge (Newtown) and E. J- Hill (Wellington). The green had become keener with the warm sun, I and Braoknridge, who uses exceptionally heavy bowls, had a hard task set him to keep them from running over the head. Hill drew beautifully right through the contest, and on the day proved himself to be the better exponent of the game. He commenced with a 2 on the opening head and secured a similar number of points in the second. On tho third Hill was lying two counters when Brackenridge, with his last bowl, played a running shot, carried “kitty” and lay three. Hill then gained the ascendancy and piled on the point® for seven consecutive heads. He was 19 to Brackenridge's 3 when half the game had gone by. Brackenridge stuck to his uphill fight,* but it was too difficult a one against an opponent who was playing at the top of his form. The unequal struggle continued till the eighteenth head, at the conclusion of which Hill was 25 and Brackenridge 10. The game ended at this stage as Brackenridge was too far behind to score a sufficient number of points to equal Hall's score. At the conclusion of tho game the winner and runner-up were heartily cheered.