BOWLING.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 424, 24 May 1902, Page 3

BOWLING.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES. At tho bowling green yesterday the championship singles competition was concluded. In tho semi-final Massey and Sidebottom wero pitted against one another, whilst T. Adair met Gaudin. The former match attracted a good deal of attention. From tho first head Sidebottom got the hang of tho green, and playing with great confidence he soon established a good lead of Massoy. About the seventeenth head Massey got in four, which brought him nearer to his opponent, but Sidebottom towards the end of the gamo again drew away and won comfortably by 23 points to 15. The game between Adair and Gaudin was for the first 13 of the 21 heads remarkably keen, and as Adair had 9 to his opponent's 8 it was generally expected that a close finish would be witnessed. At the 14th head Gaudin got in four, and having the best of the remaining seven heads, ultimately won by 22 to 11. The score is hardly a true indication of the play, for Adair experienced very hard luck towards the close of the. game, and on the form shown should have been much elgser to his opponent. '' The final between Sidebottom and Gaudin was played at three o’clock in the afternoon in the presence of a goodly gathering of bowlers. For a championship contest the play was disappointing, Sidebottom being as much off in the afternoon as he was brilliant in the morning. Gaudin scored two on the first head, and Sidebottom three on the second head, and one on the fourth. The latter then fell away, allowing Gaudin to get 16 to his 4. In four heads Sidebottom carried his score to 12, when his opponent again moved forward, having 21 to 12 on the eighteenth head. In the nineteenth head Sidebottom scored a single, and the next head ending in favor of Gaudin, the latter for tho third year in succession, won the competition, by 22 points to 13. Sidebottom has been runner-up in the singles for the last two years.

The following particulars in regard to the table game of bowls will be read with interest by all players:—The new game of table bowls was played in public at the Alexandra Palace, London, on Saturday, February 15th, and was very favorably received. It was invented by Mr H. J. Toit, a Scotsman. The table used is 15 feet long, and the bows, considerably smaller than billiard balls, are made exactly like those used on a bowling green, and with as perfect a bias. Instead of bowling with the hand, however, there is a very neat contrivance by whioh the woods are shot down a slope, the angle of which can be altered at will. The jaok is made of ivory, and is about the size of an ordinary marble. The bowl travels at exactly the same pace down the table as it would on tho green, and an equal amount of skill is required. “It is three years since the idea occurred to me,” Mr Tait remarked to a newspaper man. “My wife and children started playing the game on the dining-room table one winter, and from that the game of Table Bowls developed. It met with such success in Scotland that my friends persuaded me to bring it to London. The cost at present for a table, with fittings and apparatus complete, is 4112-that is to say for a fullsized table ; but the game can be played equally well on a smaller and less expensive surface.’ The table is made in three detachable pieces, with a covering of green baize, but the fittings and apparatus are sold separately for an ordinary table at T 4 4s. The game can be played by as many as eight persons at a time, or by four or two players only; and ladies can play just as easily as men. Tbe Imperial Bowling Association have.taken up the invention, and it is anticipated that tho enthusiastic bowler will be able to play the game right through the winter. The North London Amateur Bowling Club, who have just acquired new grounds at Fitzroy Park, Highgate, are considering the advisability of settiug up tables for the new game, and it is not unlikely that many other dubs will follow suit. In regard to the above, a local player has a game in view which many bowlers consider is even one better than the game mentioned. Ho intends to give it a trial in a few weeks’ time, when wc shall furnish our readers with full particulars.