BOWLING

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8355, 15 February 1913, Page 15

BOWLING

(By Sir Francis.) The final round of the pennant compeiition lakes place to-day. No one will be sorry when tne matenes are over. Luless something ratner unforeseen occurs it looks as though the section winners will be Newtown and Victoria. Ihe farmer's place is assured, but there is a possib.Jny of a tio in Section £>. To urmg tliiS about Fetone will have to beat Victoria, and Te Jtliwi do likewise to Hataitai. Victoria is putting the foui strongest rinks poss'Joie into the held, anti oetone's task will be a difficult oue. In Section A of the pennants this afternoon Newtown should win against Kelturne, Vv elliugton will .meet Hurt m what shoulu prove an even game, while Thorndoa will play Karon. Thorndon so far has not won a match, rvhile Karon has had one success. The game between the two should thus bo an even one. JohiLstmviilo has dropped out of the pennant owing to the games completely upsetting their arrangements for friendly interclub matches. , . , Nome Boll's Wellington clqfb rink, which won tho N.B.A. championship at Auckland, was to have gone south last a ght to play the winners of the N.Z.B.A. championship. The match was to take place on tho Christchurch Club’s splendid green to-uay, and oemg Uio first maten to decide tne championship of the Dominion should cause very great interest indeed. Tne Rotorua tournament will commence on Monday, and as usual it has attracted a large entry from tho Auckland province. I have not heard of any Vvellington players going up. although last year Thomson’s Vvellington Club rink did very well. As everybody is on holiday bent at Rotorua this tournament is about tho most enjoyable one of the season, and it is rather surprising it is Hot bettor patronised by southerners. Tne Palmerston North Club is holding a rink tournament on March 21st, eutries for which close on March 18th. A pairs competition will take place on March 22nd and 24th. For an evenly contested game the following will take some'beating. On Wednesday a Te Hiwi team, skipped by Orion ton Smith, went to Karori and played a local rink, with \V. Cooper at the helm. It was a case of singles on nearly every head, the teams tied eight times in the game, and finished up level on the 21st head with a score of 13 all, which is os low a scoring game as a have heard of for some time. In playing an extra head Te niwi bagged a four. HELPFUL HINTS. 1. Never bo afraid to take the green. There is no charge for it. 2. Always be up, "Never up, never in." If you are short pretend you played for a block, even iff no one believes you. 3. Never refuse to play No. 2. A good Slayer in this position wins more games lan ho loses, and can make or mar a game. He can also tell tho skip how it should have been done. 4. The skip should never show his team how much green they take. He may think he is helping, but he is really causing profanity5. T'uo skip who makes his team flay on tho blocked hand and keeps the open one for himself, so as to get credit for drawing tho shot, deserves all he gets and generally gets it. 6. The skip who walks up after every bowl to seo the head pays his No. 3 a high compliment. Tho latter should reciprocate by taking a stroll round the green. There is not enough exercise in howls. ~ , , . 7. A skip should never grumble at his men. They can the more easily forgive him when be fails himself, as be so often does. Tho team has generally most cause for complaint. . 8. After a match has been- won the skip should always toko tull credit to himself for scoring tho victory. When the game is lost he should blame his team. This means that a skip may hold his job for six months, while the team is chopped to pieces, it is also the reason for somo of our present skips. So much interest was taken in the oompetMon for players over sixty-live years of ago that it is to bo hoped it will |>o made an annual aliair. it was not a 'little curious to find the two oldest players in the competition, Messrs Freeman and Lockie. hghting out the hnal. These two bowlers, who are each almost eighty years of age, showed some good play, despite a difficult cross wind. Success went to tho VV ellingtou man by tho narrow margin Of three points. In a game of this kind the final should unuoubtedly be played upon some other green than the one to which auy of the competitors belong. Without in the least wisiiing to minimise tho merit of -bookie's skill it was readily apparent that he had a big advantage in playing on a green to which he has been accustomed for Many years, while his opponent had never played on it before. The condition of tne Thorndon green, of which club Freeman is a member, is so entirely different to that at Wellington that the surprising thing was the Thorndon veteran did so well, but half the game had gone before ho had properly gauged the green. The match should have taken place at Victoria or Newtown. In the Taranaki Association’s tournament tho semi-finals were won by Stratford against West End, and A. K. Smart’s and O. N. Firth’s rinks of the New Plymouth Club. The final was between Stratford (George smart skip) and Now Plymouth (A. K. Smart skip), and the latter won by 29 to 14. The winners took the lead early in the game. This rink had gone through the tournament with nine wins and one defeat, and G. Smart’s rink had seven wins and three losses. The special prize for tho rink having the fewest points scored against it was won by West End (G. N. Johnson skip). '