BOWLING

Otago Witness, Issue 3853, 17 January 1928, Page 32

BOWLING

BY

JACK.

The fine weather during the past week has been taken full advantage of by the bowling fraternity, and the city and suburban greens have been heavily taxed to accommodate the players. Local players taking part in the big Dominion tournament in Christchurch have had an excellent opportunity for practice. The tourney was opened on Tuesday, but it is yet too early to offer any comment on the games. ' Compared with the previous year, the entries for this season are not nearly so large as the two previous seasons. In fact, they are 125 less than in 1927, and 75 less than in 1926. The number of entries for the past six years are as follow:—

Two factors responsible for the decrease are the fact that the actual number of players in the Auckland district, where the last tournament was held, is 4956, while the number of players in Canterbury is 2104; and that the 1927 tourney was held in Dunedin, while the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition was in progress. The Dunedin Centre’s interclub competition will be resumed on Saturday next. In his criticism of the Southland New Year tournament, “ Skip,” in the Southland Times, says:—“One Dunedin pair made themselves popular during the course of the play. I refer to Higginson and J. W. Smith, of the Dunedin Club. Both players won general favour by the quiet effective work they put in. Why did Smith lose his head at the twentieth head in the Pairs final ? There are times when a skip just must listen to his lead. But I expect that J.W.S. has cussed himself quite enough for his obstinacy, which lost him the match, therefore nuff sed.” In congratulating the Gore Club’s players on their success in the tournament, “Skip” says:—“To win the rink match and the Pairs match was very fine work indeed, and any club might well be proud of the performance. Honestly, I think that the greatest credit should go to Preece. This player led for the winning rink and also the winning pair. All through the meeting his drawing to the jack was a treat to watch. True, he had his wild moments, but they were but transitory; if he happened to get off his game he soon pulled himself together again, and once more settled down to the machine-like accuracy which for the most part marked his play. In the Rink final, too, he was most ably seconded by Tretheway, although the latter was scarcely so regular. At least eight times Tretheway drew beautifully, dead to the jack; indeed, the exhibition of these two players was the outstanding feature of the tournament. The play of Burgess I do not admire at all, but he gets there, and I suppose that is the main thing. Perks has added another to his already long list of successes, and is no doubt well pleased with his work, as most certainly he deserves to be.’’ There was one most amusing incident in a double that Charlie Dykes was skipping (says “ Skip ”). The Southland pair lay comfortably when the opposing skip sent up a fast one; the bowl gathered up the kitty in its course and held it in close contact all the way to the ditch. Charlie didn't see kitty go. and drew sweetly to the head and called out, “ How’s that?” There was no reply, just a grunt of surprise. Again he took his stand on the mat and drew another beauty to the head and called out, How many?” His partner turned down —down, mind—four fingers. Up went the skip in a hurry. Tableau 1 Harry Moses, formerly a brilliant cricketer, and now almost as famous m the world of bowls in Sydney, says that, many No. 3’s are very indefinite in giving instructions to their skips after the head has been altered since the latter went down to the playing end, and not infrequently held up the wrong hand in directing the hand on which the shot should be played—mistakes that are likely to lose the game. Then, again, when the time comes for them to play their bowls they are often found looking f Or their woods in the next rink. That, says the old champion, should not be.

A new Zealand enthusiast stated that he had adduced some remarkable “ facts ” on the amount of energy displayed when playing a game of 25 ends. He calculated that in a rink game the members of each team walked four miles and 352 yards, and heaved up and down the green at dead weight of half a ton. (What these bowlers would say if their wives asked them to lug from the wood heap their share of half a ton of fire fuel on a Saturday afternoon and stock it ready for the ensuing week is something we can express only as X, or the unknown quantity.) In a pairs game a player is estimated to cover two miles. 156 yards, and propels “unA • woo . d while playing the game, whilst in a singles game a plaver would average one mile 89 yards, and thrusts i?iu an « d°"' n the green sward 4cwt 3qr 141 b of bowls.

u ,n i Sp ?, ncc ;. PaUrnn of the New oouth Wales Bowling Association, has made the very generous donation of £l6OO to th e ugly man ” competition, which is being conducted by the various sports bodies in Sydney with a view, to benefiting limbless soldiers. Mr Jim Wall is the bowling club s candidate. Mr Wall n eX i‘. prcside ? t the association, and is well known to New Zealanders. DOMINION TOURNAMENT. THE SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP. , r , , CH RISTCHURCH, January 11. lhe bowling tournament was continued to-day m dull windy weather.. After the completion of 10 rounds in the Singles Championship those remaining in are - — Muston .(Ponsonby), two. lives, five wins. Edwards (Temuka), two lives, four wins. Reid (Lyall Bay), two lives, four wins. 1< erguson (Balmacewau), one life four wins, one loss. Lomas (Kelburn), one life, three wins one- loss. Scott (Caledonian), one life, three wins ©ne loss.

Woolier (Remuera), one life, four wins, one loss. Clarke (Carlton), 1 life, three wins, one loss.

NOTES ON THE GAMES. CHRISTCHURCH, January 11. With an overcast sky and a fairly high south-west wind, bringing with it occasional drops of rain, 'Which ceased later in the morning, the singles contest in the Dominion bowling championship tournament was continued on five greens today, with the headquarters at the Canterbury green. The wind had some effect on the play, and spoiled some good shots. The Singles Championship is being played on the full two-life system, each player when suffering two defeats automatically dropping out. Three well-known players who were eliminated to-day were Harraway (Dunedin), Walker (Ponsonby), and Carswell (Taieri). Harraway was beaten by the Masterton player, Kerr, 16-11, in the ninth round, and Walker was beaten by- Smellie (Green Island) in the same round, 18-13. Carswell, who won 1, e Singles Championship in 1924, was beaten by J. B. Reid (Lyall Bay) in the eighth round by one point, the scores being 1817. The two West Coasters, Whibley and Mercer, both of whom had survived the first day’s play without a loss, each lost their first two games by considerable margins.

Last year’s singles champion, H. Clarke (Rocky Nook, and now of Carlton), had no difficulty in disposing of F’ Smith, of Kaituna, in the sixth round, having a lead of 12 at the final head. His form was not nearly so good against Tyrrell in the following round, the ex-champion suffering defeat by the remarkable margin of 17 points. He recovered in the eighth round to defeat Smellie (Green Island) 24—12, and scored another victory by beating Woolier, of Remuera, 2015, in the ninth round. Benefield, who was unbeaten on the opening day, won his games against Watson and Best fairly comfortably, but went down to Scott 16 —13. In the last-men-tioned game Scott had the big lead of 12 2on the twelfth head, but on the nineteenth he was only a point ahead—l4—l3. Best was always well behind in his game with Benefield, and the latter led Watson 10—6 on the twelfth head. Watson failed to score after this. One of the best games this morning was between R. Haworth (Canterbury) and M. Routley (Kelburn). The score on the twelfth head was Routley 14, Howarth 4. Howarth then made a remarkable recovery, and in the next nine heads scored 15 in twos and threes, winning by five points. 'Routley, who suffered one less yesterday, is now eliminated. Raphael (Canterbury) was eliminated by J- Higginson (Dunedin). Both men played excellent bowls, Higginson finally winning by 21—20.

Carswell failed badly against Smith, who led from the first head. The score was 12—4 in his favour at the tenth and thereafter the loser steadily got further behind. Carswell was in better form against Renton. Although the score was 12 —9 against him on the fourteenth head he took the lead 14—13 at the seventeenth and Renton did not score -again. Reid led 12—3 against Carswell on the eleventh head, but the latter was leading 15—14 on the seventeenth, and 17 —16 on the Binetcenth A pair to Reid gave him the lead again and he won. A. J Benzie (Linwood) played a closely contested game with J. Dowland (St. Kilda). It was level pegging up to the last two heads. Benzie won by a margin of five points. Dowland is now eliminated. Benzie then met E. F. Daniels (Remuera), a former Christchurch player, and also eliminated him from the competition. In this game Daniels scored only two in the first 12 heads. On the next bead he scored a four, but was unable to pick up the leeway. Benzie played very fine bowls and finished up with a comfortable lead. He was eliminated later by Lomas (Kelburn). J. T. Trayer’s (Mount Eden) bowls were challenged yesterday by R. K. Aitchison (Caledonian), but on being subjected to a test to-day the protest was dismissed.

RINKS CHAMPIONSHIP. CHRISTCHURCH, January 14. The bowling tournament was continued to-day in dull, cool weather, when three more rounds of the Rinks Championship were played, bringing the sectional games to a finish. The Masterton team skipped by J. Kerr came through undefeated, but has not yet met anything of class. The post-sectional play will commence on Monday, each oi the qualifying teams having to be twice defeated before dropping out. According to the rules the .teams winning seven games or over qualify for the post-section play on the two-life system. As section G did not have any team with seven wins, the three given below, each with six wins, will play off after a draw has been made, seven heads to determine the section winner. Altogether, 23 teams should go forward to post-section play. The following won six games and over in their respective sections:— SECTION A.

SECTION I. Christchurch (J. Rennie) ..7 2 Balmacewan (T. Ferguson) 7 2 Phoenix, Oamaru (A. Slater) 6 3 SECTION J. Masterton (J. Kerr) .... 9 0 Fitzroy (T. M'Neill) .... 6 3 SECTION K. Sumner (T. F. Chambers) .. 8 1 Mt. Eden (J. Findlay) .. 7 2 Timaru (R. G. Sampson) ..7 2

SECTION L. United (Dr J. D. Marks) ..8 1 West End (W. Bremner) ..8 1 Canterbury (J. A. Redpath) 7 2 Southland (D. H. Thomson) 6 3

NOTES ON THE FLAY. CHRISTCHURCH, January 14. Light rain fell during Friday night, and to-day was dull, with a considerable drop in the temperature. The greens naturally played a good deal slower, and some surprising reversals of form took place. As the fate of many of the rinks depended on the results of the matches in the three rounds played to-day close interest was in evidence on most of the greens. In numerous cases the issue was decided by a single point. Notwithstading the over-night rain, all the greens were playable at 9 a.m. except New Brighton, where a resumption of play could not be made until an hour later.

Post-sectional play in the rinks competition will take place on Monday, when the only greens in use will be Sydenham and St. Albans, which are the best greens in the city. The 'after will be the headquarters.

Timaru (J. Moyes) preserved an unbeaten record in the seventh round by defeating North End, Invercargill (J. Hain), by 24—18. The latter led 14—7 on the twelfth head, but thereafter lost ground, Timaru holding the lead (18 —16) on the 17th head. North end drew level on the next, but thereafter did not score, Timaru winning by six points. By scoring a single on the last head Dunedin (J. Hutchison) just snatched the victory from Victoria, Wellington (M'Leod). The score was even on the 11th—8 all. Then M'Leod established a substantial lead, and Dunedin were eight ahead on the 16th, finishing well. Hutchison equalised on tne 20th, and won 18—17.

Timaru lost their first game in the eighth round, when Victoria (M'Leod), who up to this point had had only five wins, defeated them by 22 to 20. At the 12th head Timaru were seven in the lead, and at the 14th were still possessed of that advantage. Victoria then commenced to do better scoring. Pairs and singles brought them up to 20, equal with Timaru. The Wellington rink won with a pair on the last head.

limaru (J. Moyes) also suffered a loss in the ninth round, when Dunedin (J. Hutchison) beat them, 19—9. The losers were behind from the first to the nineteenth head, abandoning the game on the latter.

Christchurch (Dr A. J. Orchard) won a surprise victory ever North End. Invercargill (J. Hain), in the ninth round. Ihe winners were 18—5 ahead on the thirteenth, and the nearest Hain got was two points behind on the nineteenth Blenheim (Dr R. Noble Adams) had six wins to their credit on Friday evening, but their form was not so consistent to-day, and they lost in the first two rounds played. In the seventh they went down to Kelburn (E. K. Lomas) by a fair margin, and in the eighth Caledonian, Dunedin (R. K. Aitchison) scored a victory over them by two points. Adams gained a triumph over Christchurch (W. F. Raphael), however, in the ninth round, winning 21 —16. eighth round Edgeware (W. Eltord) had not lost a game, but they suffered a heavy defeat by Linwood (R. Haworth). Efford led at first, then did not score for five consecutive heads, and was 14 8 to the bad on the fifteenth, lhe score on the seventeenth was 14— 12, and Efford’s total again remained stationary until the end, Haworth adding a pair and three singles to his score. On the Edgeware green the game between Christchurch (J. Ainger) and Dunedin (E. Harraway) was watched with close interest by a large crowd of spectators. The Christchurch rink established an early lead, but lost it on the fifth head. In the sixth they scored a 5, and thereafter were not seriously challenged, running out winners by five points. Playing on the Canterbury green, Maxwell Walker (Auckland) provided an amusing incident, which provoked some of the nearby players to ask humorously if he needed two jacks to play to. Walker had drawn the shot with the kitty in the ditch. To get this he had to go wide and play through the head in the next rink, the players in which were looking after their own bowls, so as to allow a passage for Walker’s bowl to draw wide. So intent were they on lifting the three bowls that they forgot their own jack, which Walker’s bowl hit, thus killing their own head.

Year. Singles. Pairs. Rinks. Total. 1923 186 200 144 530 Auek. 1924 217 208 124 549 Cheh. 1925 144 158 130 432 Well. 1926 256 232 134 622 Dun. 1927 272 230 170 672 Auek. 1928 219 208 120 547 Cheh.

Wins. Losses. Dunedin (J. D. Smith) 8 1 Edgeware (H. J. West) .. 7 2 SECTION B. Seatoun (J. Gilbert) .. .. 7 2 Christchurch (J. Ainger) 6 3 Newtown (J. Pollock) .. .. 6 3 SECTION C. Roslyn (C. E. Tyrrell) . 7 2 Temuka (T. Edwards) . . .. 7 ' 9 SECTION D. Canterbury (W. F. Raphael) 8 1 Blenheim (Dr R. N. Adams) 7 2 United ((St. G. Atkinson) 7 2 Kelburn (E. K. Lomas) .. 7 2 SECTION E. Hataitai (W. Fielding) 8 1 Carlton (H. Clarke) .. .. 6 3 SECTION F. Ponsonby (M. Walker) . 8 1 Timaru (Moyes) 7 2 Linwood (F. Williams) .. 6 3 Dunedin (J. Hutchison) .. 6 3 Canterbury (W. Maynard) 6 3 SECTION G. Greymouth (F. D. Whibley) 6 3 Caledonian (W. Foster) .. 6 3 St. John’s (G. S. Gordon) .. 6 3 SECTION H. Edgewars (W. Efford) .. .. 8 1 Linwood (R. Haworth) ,. 6 3