BOWLS TOURNEY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 90, 10 January 1935, Page 11

BOWLS TOURNEY

Championship Pairs Commenced KEENNESS OF GREENS , Accurate Drawing Made Difficult By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, January 9. The pairs championship of the tournament conducted, by the New Zealand Bowling Association was commenced this morning. The 278 pairs of entrants were divided into 46 sections, and four games of 21 heads were completed out of the five to be staged in the section rounds. The fifth game will Ik? finalised, in the morning, and the ties will then be played. Following the completion of the ties, play will proceed until the green winners at the various clubs are found. ./ Conditions proved tricky for play today. The greens were faster than bad been experienced since the commencement of the tourney. Coupled with the extra keenness of the greens, a strong wind blew, making accurate drawing extremely difficult. Leads regarded as accurate drawing-players were sometimes very wide of their objective. Hence the play looked scrappy, and not at all in keeping with the closelydrawn heads expected in a championship tourney. Winners of Four Games. The following pairs recorded four wins each:—lsrael and 11. Smith, Auckland; Williams and Campbell, Auckland; Barriball and Wright, Waiuku; Stewart and Currie, West End, Timaru; Clark and Foy, Hawera; Harris and Harris, St. Johns; Taylor and Dunstan, Waihi; Bennett and Newman, Thames; Loveridge and Pilkington, Hamilton; Sheehy and Douglas, West End, New Plymouth; McDougall and Burton, Epsom; Donald and Purdy, Auckland; Wellings and McWhanueJl, Hataitai; Somers I and Parsons. Ponsonby; Austin and "Wilkinson, Cromwell; Fraser and Vivian, Mount Eden; Wetterilt and Duncan, Carlton; Crawshaw and Price, St. Heliers; Robinson and Fruish. Hamilton; Bull and Murray, Hawera; Blackham and Manning, West End. Timaru; Stohr and Fraser, Carlton; Little and De Launay, Carlton. Greens Holding. The first game commenced with the greens holding after the rain during the previous night. A strong breeze Quickly dried the greens and made conditions extremely tricky for the contestants. Many noted leads, who were regarded as the finest exponents of the drawing department, looked hopelessly astray under the awkward conditions. This was particularly noticeable in the drawing of Loveridge, R. N. Pilkington’s lead. His drawing contrasted very vividly with that of four years ago, when Loveridge simply smothered the jack with bowls in the final game, head after head. Nevertheless the Hamilton skip was ready for the emergency, and instead of playing the green he dexterously played bowls —that is, he worked his opponent’s short bowls close to the jack. It may be said with accuracy that it was clever handling of a difficult set of conditions, and the veteran champion of many tourneys showed his brilliance as a masterful bowler.

Consistent Drawing. Frost and Hosking. of Carlton, were 1 to 15 against Atkins and Madsen, of Sydenham. They thereafter recovered and the final count was 19 to 17. The Carlton pair had .scored 18 points, while their opponents made 2. It was a remarkable performance, in which the winners gave a fine exhibition of consistent drawing. At the Auckland green, Robertson, the lead for Kelly, of Balmoral, collapsed just before the commencement of play. Kelly had to forfeit liis first game, but a substitute afterward filled the vacancy. Dee and Dee, of Nelson, put up a score of 30-22 against Dunningham and Hooper, of Epsom. The Epsom pair led right up to the 17th head, when the Nelson pair got a five. Thereafter the brothers piled on points. Oates and Stewart, Matamata, put up a fine score against Lane and Walker. Both drew splendidly and ran out the winners by 30 to 8. O'Gorman and Parkhouse, of Wel-

lington, did not begin well. They were beaten by Higgenbotham, 26 to 16, and Claridge. of CaledoniaA, 34 to 13. Parkhouse, the singles champion of 1933, was not happy. He faced head after head shots down. In trying to retrieve he was outdrawn. He mixed his game by driving, lost his draw touch, and was thereby outclassed. On the other hand, when the Wellington pair were shots up, Claridge cut counters out of the heads. Section Leaders. 'The. following are the leaders in the various sections at the conclusion of the four rounds of section play decided today:— Section A: Smith, 4 wins; McGonagle, 3 wins. Section Al: Bartlett, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section B: Johnston, Culpin, Elliott, 3 wise, 1 loss. Section Bl: Campbell, 4 wins. Section C: Millen, Benefield, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section Cl: Huyton, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section D: Wright, 4 wins; Engebretsen, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section DI: Currie, 4 wins; Moors, Paterson, 3 wine, 1 loss. Section E: Foy, 4 wins; Mingins, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section El: Buxton, Baker, Lett, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section F: Harris, 4 wins; Ingram, 3 winw, 1 loss. Section Fl: Dunstan, 4 wine; Maud, Clarke, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section G: Tongue, Dee, 3 wine, 1 loss. Section Gl: Newman, 4 wins. Section II: Pilkington, 4 wins. Section Hl: Douglass, 4 wins; Franks, Layzell, 3 wins, 1 lose. Section I: Hosking, Powell, 3 wines, 1 lose. Section II: Francis. 3 wins, 1 loss. Section J: Burton, Purdy, 4 wins. Section JI: Whittle, Hawken, Livingstone, 3 wins, 1 lose. Section K: Russell, Mason, McMaster, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section KI: Osmond, Mackie, Matlar, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section L: , Ritchie, McCarthy, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section LI: Short, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section M: Thomas, Buchan, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section Ml: MeWhannell, 4 wins. Section, N: Randall, Gifford, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section Nl: Neil, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section 0: Lorain, Harrison, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section Ol: Fookes, Bainridge. 3 wins, 1 loss. Section P: Parsons, Wilkinson, 4 wins. Section Pl: Vivian, 4 wins; Whitten, Vella, 3 wins, 1

Section Q: Munro, 3 wins, 1 lo?« Section QI: Duncan, 4 wins; Gilbert,_ 3 wins, 1 loss. Section R: Hosking,. Jenkin, Christoffel, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section R 1: Price, 4 wins; Williams, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section 8: Young, Bourke, Davey, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section SI: Jury, Hutchison, McComish, 3 wins. 1 loss. Section T: Fruisb. 4 wins. Section T 1: Hardley, Lobb, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section U: Murray. 4 wins. Section U 1: Manning, Fraser, 4 wins. Section V: Cairns, Gay, McFarlane. 3 wins, 1 loss. Section VI: Thomp-

son, Beer, Hole, 3 wins. 1 loss. Section W: Colthurst, Twentyman, 3 wins, 1 loss. Section Wl: de Launay, 4 wins; McMahon, 3 wins, 1 loss. COOLER WEATHER Welcomed by Older Players Dominion Special Service. Auckland, January 9. The cooler weather to-day was welcomed by the older bowlers engaged in the pairs championship. It was obvious toward the close of singles play yesterday that the veterans were feeling the intense heat, while the younger players were not so much affected. There was a breeze this morning which freshened in the afternoon. Some heavy showers of rain fell during the night. To-day’s programme was a very heavy one. No less than 278 pairs had entered compared with 180 last year at Dunedin. Entrants were divided into 46 sections, and play took place ou the following club greens: Auckland, Remuera, Mount Eden, Epsom, Rocky Nook, Ponsonby, West End, Balmoral, Grey Lynn, Mount Albert, Waitemata, Ellerslie, Hillsborough, Onehunga, Hallyburton-Johnstone, St. Heliers, Papatoetoe, and Te Papa. An innovation in this competition so far as Auckland is concerned is the use of three bowls each instead of the usual four. Besides assisting materially in reducing the time element, the change is introduced to promote a more careful and studious interpretation of the game on the part of contestants. It was found that with the use of four bowls the practice of many skips, and even some leads, was to “waste” a bowl by driving a speculator into the closely-drawn heads when the lie was unfavourable, trusting to the next three bowls to recover the position if the luck ran against the redistribution of the head. More Dexterous Drawing. With three bowls each that element of chance is minimised. Moreover, it was observed that the use of three bowls compelled a more dexterous drawing of position and shot bowls. Opinions expressed by competitors in Dunedin last year were that the change was popular, and tended decidedly to enhance the pairs game. ! The holders of the pairs championship, J. McPherson and J. Veitch (West Harbour, Dunedin), are not defending their title. The champions of 1931, when the tourney was last held in Auckland, H. G. Loveridge and R, N. Pilkington (Hamilton), were playing to-day. A. Brackebush and Maxwell Walker (Auckland), the winners in 1927, were in action on the Remuera green. Walker has been out of form lately, while Brackebush did not play for some time, but is now regaining his form. In view of the number of sections, and the fact that many greens are a considerable distance from the city, the complete results of games played today were not in the hands of the officials until a late hour. Wellington is well represented with some strong pairs. Orsborn and Ingram (Wellington) played at West End, Wrigley and Josephson (Hataitai) at Auckland, Johnson and Johnson (Petone) at Ellerslie, Wellings and McWhannell (Hataitai) at Remuera, Gauntlet and Wells (Lyall Bay) at Grey Lynn, Neilson and Gilbert (Karori) at Onehunga, Chapman and de Tourettes (Tborndon) at Ponsonby, Newson and. Brackenridge

(Lyall Bay) at Mount Albert, Kerr and Taylor (Island Bay) at Te Papapa, and Hansen and Hale (Island Bay) at Devonport. Wellington Pair’s Success. With play scattered throughout the city and outer suburbs, it was impossible to follow individual performances to-day. Loveridge and Pilkington went through to-day without defeat. One Wellington pair had four, wins, Wellings and McWhannell (Hataital), who defeated Dyson and Hollows, 20 — 14; beat Taylor and Truscott, 20—17; beat Stocker and Bryan, 22—16; and beat Cooper and McAlister, 20—19. Much interest was centred in the play of the Auckland Club pair, Maxwell Walker and Brackebush. They lost their first two games, however, and all chance of winning. W. Franks, formerly of Featherston, and well-known for many years at all tournaments, effectively introduced himself to Auckland by scoring 34 to 18 against a pair from Kaikohe, his total of 52 points being a record for the tournament. It was eclipsed in the next round, however, when Stohr and Fraser (Carlton) defeated Warren and Smith (St. Heliers), 33—25, a total of 58. Many uneven games were played in some instances. Great recoveries were made from’positions well down on the board.