BOWLING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18463, 26 January 1922, Page 9

BOWLING.

By Jack. Consider ins the broken nature of the weather experienced during the tournament the games nave been worked off in a manner which reflects groat credit on the executive. Here and there it was necessary to amend the programme to tit in with the altered conditions, the result being that the final -.stages were readied just a day behind time. This must be considered very satisfactory. , Not a moment appeared to be wasted, ana everything possible was done to expedite the game as much as possible. When it is remembered that the tournament has occupied only one day over a fortnight it seems remarkable that several players who were still in the running should have to default and return homo, it looks as if they had not anticipated meeting with .success, and had therefore not made provision for sufficient leave of absence to enable them to remain in Dunedin until finally _ eliminated from the tournament. A win by default when the tournament is approaching the closing stages is not at all satisfactory. At the time of writing the Rinks and Championships games have been completed, and in each instance _ the Dunedin Centre has supplied the winner, the veteran W. Carswell, of the laion Chib, skipping the winning combination in the rinks contest, and the North-East Valley Club supplying the winner of the Singles in J. Rigby. To the winners of both competitions 1 offer my hearty congratulations and also to the runners-up in each event—tne Ponsonby rink, skipped by Parsons, and P. Carolin who contested the final of tne Singles with J. Rigby. The final game in the Rinks between Carswell and Parsons was too one-sided to toe really interesting. Carswell’s men played like macninos, and their team work was. admirable. M'Kinnon (lead) set a great pace right from the first head. His leading was one of the outstanding features of the game. He struck his length on the first head, and he never lost it. Certainly on occasional heads he was beaten for the idiot, but his bowls were never far away, .and when he did not have a counter he usually had position. The second player' (W. Allan) and the third player (also W. Allan) were also right up to concert pitch, and their accurate drawing and placing of bowls under the shrewd direction of Carswell, who has few equals in building a head, landed the Ponsonby rink in some almost hopeless positions from which Casey, Parsons, ana Co. were quite unable to save tne situation. Carswell himself, as far as actual play was concerned, had very little to do, but that little he generally accomplished well. With Parsons’s rink it was to a certain extent a_ case of the players playing as well os they were allowed to play. The Ponsonby rink was undoubtedly a strong one, a. fact which the northern players demonstrated in several games, notably when they defeated J. Tonkin {North-East Valley) and E. Harraway (Dunedin), but the deadly accuracy and consistency of the Taieri players appeared to 'unnerve them, and, with the game half ■finished, they wore, in a bowling sense, in -i state of collapse. Bishop (Dunedin Club) Jed for the visitors as substitute for Campbell, who was unable to wait to see the connest completed. Bishop was not nearly up to his best form, so that his rival, _ M'Kinnon, absorbed the bulk of the limelight as far ns the leads were concerned. The Auckland second, a comparatively young player, whose fine all-round play was, favoiuubly commented upon in the earlier stages of the tournament, started off well, but the strain was evidently too much for him as he quite lest his touch after a fow heads had been played and went all to pieces in his play. This placed a big responsibility on V. Casey (Ponsonby third). Casey is a fine allround player. He can draw, drive, or play up shots in the most approved fashion, but for once he was found wanting. He was right off in his driving, and on the clay ho could not have hit the proverbial haystack. On a good many occasions he partially retrieved the position by good drawing, but even in this latter department of the game there was considerable room for improvement. With the three men in front of him well beaten, Parsons was faced with a hopeless task, and though be gave a fine exhibition, of drawing Ihis long suit), the positions he had to face ..•ere such that he could make little impression on them. He battled hard to prevent disaster, and he and his men took their de'feat in the line sporting spirit that indicates true sportsmen. The actual play calls for little description, as the issue was early placed almost beyond doubt. Carswell led by 9 to 0 after four heads bad been played. Parsons then got a single, which Taieri responded to with a four. Ponsonby then added two singles, Taieri replying with a two, three, and one. and making the score 20 —3 when 11 heads had been played. Parsons’s men could only score on three more heads—a single each on the 12th and 17th, and a three on the 16th, while the Taieri men added a throe, two, two, and three. Parsons resigned when three heads remained to be played. Carswell’s rink on the official programme reads father peculiarly, as follows: —, —, —, Carswell. In winning the Dominion Singles Championship J. Rigby, of the North-East Valley Club, has achieved a very high honour, but one which 1 am sure those who followed his play during the course of the tourney will agree was thoroughly deserved. His first game resulted in a loss to him, so he was placed with his back to the wall, so to speak, right from the outset. He met J. Ben,tloy (Dunedin) in the first game and lost by the odd point, but after that ho never looked back, though he had some very hard fights in the 13 games which he had to play before he won the coveted honour. Among the players he _ defeated wore Lowery (Auckland), D. Smith (Caledonian), B. TretheWay (Caversham), Kerr and Perry (Masterton)—the last-named when he had two lives —W. Allan (Taieri), and P. Carol in (St. Kilda). In the game against Kerr hothad a close shave. When Rigby had a bowl to go Kerr lay game, and the position rendered it very 'difficult to draw the shot, but Rigby, with an accurate drive, got the jack into the ditch and put the issue beyond doubt. P. Carolin surprised many by his fine showing, and his position as runner-up in the. Championship Singles is not in any way due to luck, but to merit of his play. Carolin played a splendid drawing game throughout, which he varied with running shots and drives to suit the occasion. Though he was beaten by Rigby in the final he was by no means disgraced, as his all-round play was of a high order. In the final Carolin opened with a single, which he followed with a well-earned three in the second. Rigby then found his length, and some very fine heads followed, in which each player was roundly applauded for accurate drawing. Rigby forged ahead and led by 8 points to 4 when six heads had been completed. In the seventh head Carolin drew one to within three inches from the jack, which Rigby failed to beat. The eighth end was a wide one, in which Rigby got a single. In the next end Carolin’s first bowl was placed 18in to the side of the jack and lay shot. Rigby, with his second, just beat his opponent’s counter, but Carolin, with a perfect trail with his last bowl, made two, bringing the scores to 9—7 in favour of Rigby, The next head saw another two posted against Rigby’s name, but Carolin was not out of the picture and a single and a three to him made the score 11 all at the ond of the 12th head. The next live ends were fatal to Carolin and decided the result of the game, Rigby securing two, three, one, one, and one in succession and making the scores 19—11 with three heads to play. Each player scored a brace) leaving Rigby winner by 21—13 with one head unplayed. Speaking at the smoke concert given to the bowlers at the Early Settlers’ Hall lust evening Mr W. Coffman, vice-presi-dent of the Dominion •of New ' Zeeland Bowling Association, said that he would like to acknowledge the hospitality they had received during their visit. He went on humorously to give an illustration of this hospitality. As they know, on one of the days _ set down for playing the weather was very cold. _ A visiting player had gone into ttie pavilion, whore he saw an elderly Scotchman with a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other. The visitor remarked that it wae a cold day. “By George it is,” replied the elderly gentleman, “but this is the stuff for it. Hero’s luck.” I have received from the secretary of the Oamaru Easter Tournament Executive a copy of the programme for the Easter tournament. There is no alteration so far as the competitions are concerned but rule 4 has been slightly altered. Previously in case of a tie, seven heads were played and this entailed a loss of time. Easter being late this year every minute counts, so the committee hopes to improve matters by the alteration. Entries are coming in freely even now, and among those who have Minified their intention of being present are the following:—A. M. Ayling, W. Watson, J M’Natty, A. J. Service (Invercargill); Dr Shore and Campbell (Cromwell), M Kerrow (Wyndham), Thom (Matan ra ),, Harrsway Barnes, Smellie, Seelye, Crawford, Bentley, Coull, Dr Harrison, Williams (Dunedin): Crawford (Port Chalmers), Dewar (2) Porter, O’Hagan (Timaru), and Amgor iNcw Brighton. U man 48 naks

enter it is the intention to use the Pnkeuri Green and this will bo more satisfactory than going to Waimafce. The president and members of the Taieri Club will entertain the champion rink at a smoke concert, in the Coronation Hall, at Mosgiol, on Saturday night.