Māori bowlers descend on Gisborne for Aotearoa champs

Kahutia Bowling Club president Anaru Tamanui and his team have been busy preparing for the Aotearoa Māori Bowls national championships being played on greens throughout the district over the weekend. "Everything is beautiful, ready for the arrival of the players today," he said on Thursday. "We are all looking forward to it." Photo / Murray Robertson

The Aotearoa Māori national lawn bowls title goes on the line in Gisborne this weekend, with play starting on Saturday morning at all the district’s bowling greens.

More than 100 four-person teams of bowlers from around Aotearoa have been descending on Gisborne for the titles.

The tournament is based at Kahutia Bowling Club and the greens at the Gisborne, Poverty Bay, Te Karaka and Tolaga Bay clubs will also be used.

Play starts on Saturday with qualifying – five games an hour and a quarter long for each team over the day.

Play continues on Sunday, various divisions are decided by qualifying.

Finals of each division are at Kahutia on Sunday, followed by a prizegiving.

Tournament spokesman Vern Marshall said top Māori players were competing.

“There are some really good teams coming and we’ve got nationally ranked players.

“We won’t have a Gisborne team competing, so the majority of the locals can concentrate on staging the tournament.

“A handful of Gisborne players will be in the various teams.”

Play starts at 9am on Saturday.

“The public are welcome at all the clubs to watch what will be an exciting couple of days competition.”