THE SPORT OF BOWLING

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1935, Page 11

THE SPORT OF BOWLING

ON AND OFF THE GREEN

SHIELD SEMI-FINAL DECIDED.

NEW PLYMOUTH JUBILEE BOWLING

(By “Running Shot.”)

Apart from the matches at Fitzroy in connection with the John Bennett Memorial Cup and the play-off between West End and Hawera Park at Stratford, no serious bowling games were played last week in Taranaki, and most clubs had to satisfy members with a roll up at home. The conditions were ideal for bowling and the greens were fast and true. Several of the clubs took the opportunity to get off their club competitions as nominations for the divisional singles closed on Monday. A friendly match was also played between Vogeltown and Urenui. West End Reaches Final.

Once again the Avon green, at Stratford proved a happy hunting ground for West End last Saturday, and in the semi-final of the shield competition Hawera Park was eliminated by the margin of nine points. Each club fielded six rinks and the closeness of the scores on all except one game indicated the evenness of the teams. The green, though inclined to be on the heavy side, was smooth and true, and played splendidly. At the commencement of play it was seen that both teams had been used to a much faster green and many of the players were struggling to find their length. West End was the first to settle down, and with good scoring by Douglass and Petty a handy lead was soon established. On the other hand Billing and Boulton were 15 points down between them against Mason and Quin respectively. At the tea adjournment West End led Hawera Park by 20 points, 67-47.

The break, however, proved unsettling to some rinks. Billing overtook Mason on the 16th head, Boulton went from 4 to 14 while Quin remained on 11, and Douglass’ margin against Chadwick was reduced to four. Petty, however, maintained his lead of 19—6 against Hotter, while Bruce and Luscombe were on equal terms against Smith and Goodwin. On the 20th head West End still held a 23-point advantage.

Over the last few heads Hawera Park staged a fine recovery and playing good bowls had West End.. fighting hard to save the day. On the last head of the match they notched 13 points on the six rinks, but failed by nine on the aggregate The scores were (West End mentioned first): Bruce 24 v. Smith 23; Billing 24 v. Mason 26; Petty 26 v. Hotter 16; Boulton 26 v. Quin 25; Douglass 24 v. Chadwick 22; Luscpmbe 20 v. Goodwin 23. Jubilee Tournament.

The New Plymouth club’s jubilee tournament which commences next Monday has drawn 50 entries, this being two more than that which contested the open tournament in the last week in January. Outside centres will be represented by four rinks, one each from Feilding, Pukekohe, Rapanui and Christchurch. Of the Taranaki nominations New Plymouth leads with 11 rinks. Then follow West End, Stratford, Paritutu, with four each, Fitzroy, three, Hawera Park, Avon, Opunake, Waitara, Vogeltown, two each, while Eitham, Pihama, Inglewood, Tariki, Fire Brigade, Cosmopolitan and another will have one rink each. The 50 rinks have been divided into five sections of 10 rinks each. This is very satisfactory as every rink will meet each other in the section. The greens to be used are New Plymouth, West End, Fitzroy, Vogeltown and Paritutu, which, considering the dry spell, are on the whole good. The conditions of play will be exactly the same as adopted for the open event.

On a .close exammation of the rinks in each section it will be seen that the calibre is well below open tournament strength, but at the same time each section carries its strong and weak teams. The New Plymouth, rinks are well below their usual standard, but this is due to the fact that every member of the club who wanted a game in the tournament was given a place in a rink.

Taken on the whole the draw has been exceptionally well handled and its evenness will bring to light not a few surprises at the end of the third day.

John Bennett Memorial Cup. Fitzroy bowlers last Saturday were again busily engaged in the Bennett Memorial Cup matches and the green was filled to capacity. This handsome silver trophy was presented to the club in memory of the late Mr. John Bennett by his family and the committee decided to hold an annual tournament open only to club members and spread over two Saturday afternoons. Six games of ten heads were played and the winning rink to first annex the trophy was Gillespie, Russell, Lyall and McCarty, who topped the list with five wins and one loss. The games were enjoyed immensely by all members, and at the conclusion of play the committee was congratulated on arranging such a successful competition.

New Plymouth’s Jubilee. The official opening of the New Plymouth Bowling Club’s jubilee which is to commemorate 50 years of bowling in New Plymouth takes place to-mor-row. Proceedings will commence with speeches by the Mayor (Mr. E. R. C. Gilmour), Mr. S. G. Smith (Minister of Education), Mr. J. McLeod, M.L.C. and the president of the club (Mr. Franklin White). After the opening ceremony has been completed the greens will be occupied by players representing an official rink from each club in Taranaki. Clubs from outside the Taranaki Centre will also be represented. Given a fine afternoon, the arrangements made should prove a fitting commencement to what undoubtedly will be the bowling event of the year.

Mason West End Champion. The West, End singles champion for 1935 is P. Mason. He defeated P. Douglass in the final by 22—11 during the week-end. To those who had watched the progress of the singles championship at West End, the result of the final was somewhat unexpected, for Douglass has been right at the top of his form and a close contest was fully expected. P. Mason, however, proved himself the better of the two and he repeatedly beat Douglass on the draw, to win very comfortably with a head or two to spare. Douglass was much below his usual form. In the semi-finals P. Mason defeated J. Lobb after a close game 13—16, and P. Douglass beat K. Lippiatt 18—9.

Fitzroy Singles Champion. By defeating J. Pavitt, runner-up foi the last two years, by 21—16, R. H. Coombes won the Fitzroy club’s 'singles championship after a good game. The competition was played in two sections, and in section B E. Harvey, the' former champion, and Coombes tied With an equal number of wins. In the play-off Coombes won 21—16. In the final between Pavitt and Coombes the latter played the better bowls in the isarly stages and on the 7th head led 10,-3. He increased this to 15—5 on the 10 th. Pavitt then threw long heads and I?y steady play reduced the difference to

15—13. The 19th head saw Cqombes collect a four. Pavitt retaliated with a three on the next, but a two to Coombes on the 21st gave him the game and the championship.

Manaia’s Challenge Fails. During last week-end Vogeltown, the new holder of the Diggers’ Cup, repulsed a challenge from Manaia, 23—12. The Manaia rink comprised W. Bourke, V. Badland, C. R. Watts and W. McDonald, while Vogeltown was represented by J. Bennett, B. Wheeler, C. K. Robinson and C. Gemhpefer. The game was very even until the tea adjournment, but from then the winners had much their own way and were never seriously troubled. Three more challenges have already been received and are from West End, Paritutu and New Plymouth.

Much Surprised Player. Of the 48 players on the Avon green last Saturday perhaps none, whether they won or lost, were as much surprised as one of West End’s skips. The game was at a critical stage and on this particular head the West End skip was making a great effort to wrest a bowl for four. His first had just failed and stepping on to the mat for his second shot he took careful and deliberate aim. On delivering his bowl, however, he was amazed to see it run away in the opposite direction across the neighbouring rink. He had delivered a wrong bias bowl. His opponent took advantage of this misdemeanour by scoring a good three.