Bay double for Tauranga South

The Tauranga South club gained a notable double by winning the Bay of Plenty men's and women's open triples last Sunday.
And it can cap off a successful week when its men's team challenges for the national division two inter-club title in Wellington tomorrow and Friday - a championship they won, with an unbeaten run, in 2008.
After many favoured teams fell in the cut-throat qualifying of the men's triples at the Gate Pa club, Tauranga South's Simon Poppleton, Ben Thurston and Ian Hawke came through in fine fashion.
In the semi-finals, the team trailed Gate Pa's Robbie Aitken, Steve Hughes and Jarrod Riley 0-5 but then won nine of the next 10 ends to lead 16-6, and finally win 17-10.
In the final, they stunned Matua's Bill Brown, Harry Burggraaf and Mike Boyce. It wasn't that the Matua side dropped their form; the South bowlers played immaculately to wrap up the match 18-1 after 12 of the 16 ends were completed.
Hawke, a former centre singles champion, drew several touches off the front, and if he wasn't there then Thurston, a former Bay rep returning to his best form, made sure he got the shot.
If that wasn't enough the skip Poppleton, a leading indoor bowler, certainly tidied up. Matua held four shots on the sixth end, poised to draw closer at 5-7, and Poppleton drew a toucher with his last bowl to extend the lead 8-1.
On the 11th end Poppleton drove the kitty into the ditch for two shots - and the Matua resistance was over.
The Tauranga South's women's triple of Janet Alexander, Margaret Adams and Karen Clarke was also in dominating form.
They beat two Taupo teams, skipped by Bay rep Wendy Green and former Bay selector Liz Wilton, in the post-section play, and then a strong Rotorua combination of Mina Paul, Mere Eden and Josie Meroiti 16-6 in the final.
After leading 8-2 and 9-5, South collected a match-winning break with two singles and a four between the 12-14th ends to lead Paul 16-5. Clarke won her first Bay title after moving from Counties last year.
The experienced Tauranga South men's inter-club team will face strong competition from Whangarei's Kensington, New Plymouth's West End and Palmerston North in the final at the Hutt club. The other two finalists are Karoro from the West Coast and Awamao of North Otago.
It will be very difficult to repeat the unbeaten run of three years ago - and there are four survivors from that team, Peter Clark, Robbie Frelan, John Bush and Malcolm Kidd. Frelan goes into the singles spot after winning the centre championship, and Dennis Duncan moves to lead in the four with Cameron Riddington, Bush and Clark. Kidd is now leading the pair, with John Simons skipping.
Meanwhile, the Gate Pa side of Robbie Aitken, Trevor Powell, Steve Hughes and Mark Hendry, representing Tauranga Citizens Club, had an emotional victory in the 38th Chartered Clubs New Zealand Fours at Whangarei.
During the event, their skip Brian Hubert - a former Bay representative - was admitted to hospital with a stroke and Hughes, who was packing up to come home after missing qualifying, came in as a replacement.
They played for Hubert and won the final against Paul Hickey (Howick) 20-17.
A total of 168 teams entered the tournament, from as far south as Oamaru.
Hubert, who has been one of the Bay's best bowlers for 20 years, is now recovering in Tauranga Hospital after being transferred from Whangarei.
Bay of Plenty Open Triples: Men: First round: M. Hammond (Composite) bt R. Sim (Composite) 15-11, R. Aitken (Gate Pa) bt G. Caie (Omanu) 16-15, M. Beckett (Whakatane) bt R. Galloway (Tauranga South) 24-3, S. Poppleton (South) bt J. Simons (South) 15-7, T. Twigg (Gate Pa) bt G. Hooper (Katikati) 18-16.
Quarter-finals: W. Brown (Matua) bt D. Duncan (South) 12-9, Hammond bt S. Beel (Mount Maunganui) 15-14, Aitken bt Beckett 16-10, Poppleton bt Twigg 14-11. Semi-finals: Brown bt Hammond 18-13, Poppleton bt Aitken 17-10. Final: Poppleton bt Brown 18-1.
Women: Last eight: L. Witton (Taupo) bt J. Willis (Matua) 14-11, J. Alexander (South) bt W. Green (Taupo) 14-12, D. Hawke (South) bt L. Grafas (Te Puke) 16-9, M. Paul bt B. Fitzgerald (Mount) 19-13. Semi-finals: Alexander bt Witton 20-11, Paul bt Hawke 27-6. Final: Alexander bt Paul 16-6.