CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Taranaki Daily News, 13 March 1933, Page 11

CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

PROVINCIAL BOWLING SINGLES

W. HARRIS, STRATFORD, WINNER. KEEN CONTEST ON FAST GREEN. u L* From the northern, southern, western and central divisions came on Saturday to Stratford the four leading singles bowlers of Taranaki to decide the provincial champion of champions on the Stratford club’s green. The eliminations occupied a full day before W. Harris, Stratford club, emerged the winner. Harris has figured in champion of champions contests on other occasions and his victory was popular with the gallery of spectators. He thoroughly deserved his honour. He did not have the fortune of the bye, but by consistent, clever and accurate bowling he won, and won easily, each of his four matches. The green was fast and true and the. sun shone hotly, making conditions ideal for bowling. There was practically no wind. All these things suited Harris. He was thoroughly at home and at any length experienced no difficulty in finding the jack. Moreover, he played an enterprising game, never hesitating when the situation warranted to come fast into a head, even though it was his last bowl. '

The'. rumer-up, A. Martin, New Plymouth • Club, also played very accurate bowls *at the competition, but ,on the day was unable to place a great deal of reliance upon his drawing or yard-on shots. Consequently he confined his attention to steady drawing, and very deadly it was when the length suited him. The players engaged were A. Martin, New Plymouth, . winner of the northern division; H. S. Maslin, Hawera, winner of the southern division; J. Wilson, Opunake, winner of the western division; W. Harris, Stratford, winner of the cen*tral division. Messrs. A. H. R. Amess and F. Julian, representing the executive of the Taranaki Centre, were umpires. At the conclusion of the competition Mr. Amess on behalf of the centre presented the coveted trophy to Harris, extending congratulations to both winner and runner-up. Harris received an ovation from the spectators. HOW THEY PLAYED. Harris made no race of his first game, running up his 21 points while Martin scored only 7. In fact he reached 17 before his opponent had more than a couple on the board. That Was on the 12th head, - and,-j the-'. game went only to 16 heads.- On the 14th Martin, under , the : impression that a pair to Harris had finished the'• game, shook hands and the players retired from the green. A few minutes later Martin realised that the - game was not yet won or lost and when the position was explained to the umpire, by mutual agreement the game was resumed; Martin collected a single off the 15th head, but in the next head Harris “died on the jack” leaving a shot bowl which Martin could not remove. A more interesting game was provided by Maslin and Wilson. It was remarkably even up to the 12th head, but then Maslin went ahead 16 to Wilson’s 10 on the 19th head. The game actually went to 27 heads, Wilson staging a good recovery to reach within four points of his opponent on the 23rd head. Maslin then drew the last shot and on the next head lay the necessary two when Wilson perfectly drew a toucher. . On the 27th head Maslin secured the pair he had been struggling for during the last four heads, though the second bowl was only just in, a measure being necessary to decide the point. Neither Harris nor Maslin drew so accurately in the second roufid, but as the scores mounted interest deepened, especially as Harris was playing a more enterprising game, frequently risking all on a run and getting away with a point or two. Maslin with a four on- the first head could not have started better, but Harris won three out of the next four heads and the players were five-all. Maslin then went ahead with a 2 and a 3, but stayed on the score of 10 for the following five heads while Harris increased his taljy to 15. ' This was cn the 13th head. Three more heads all went to Maslin and the score then was 15 to 14 in Harris’ favour. Maslin did not score again and in four more heads Harris secured his 21 points. Because of the evenness of the scores over three-quarters of the game and because of the accurate drawing, the tussle of the one-lifers, Martin and Wilson, provided a great game for the spectators. After ten heads the score was only 9-all, and after five more each side of the board bore the number 12. Two more heads and they were 13-all. Singles to each and the record stood at 14-all on the 19th head. From this point onward Martin took the game into his own hands and with a three and two pairs reached his 21 points to Win. The third round, or semi-final, saw Harris at the top of his form. He made things so hard for Maslin that the southern champion could score only six points the while Harris collected his 21. The game lasted only 15 heads, but Harris exhibition was delightful. THE FINAL CONTEST. Strangely enough, the final proved to be another game wherein Harris’ superiority detracted from the interest. He played on a definite policy of running into the head during the early stages whenever his opponent lay in a winning position. Thus within the first eight heads he moved the shot and adjacent bowls several times and burned the head, twice. Harris then settled down to draw and the umpire had chalked 14 beneath his name to Martin’s 5 on the 14th head. Martin then won a single and threw a very short head which neither man could play. Martin secured the shot a couple of feet away but a full length string had to be unwound to measure Harris’ bowl for second.. With tournament length heads again Harris made a couple of singles while Martin increased' his score to 7 (Harris 16). On the 19th head Harris was one up and he then went on to finish the game and win the provincial championship by drawing and retaining four beauties. The details are:— First Round. Harris 21 beat Martin 7.

Second Round. Harris 21 beat Maslin 14. Martin 21 beat Wilson 14. Wilson eliminated. Third Round. Harris 21 heat Maslin 6. Martin a bye. Maslin eliminated. Final. Harris 7.