Bowlers vie to be Champions

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

There should be plenty of action on the greens this weekend when the Centre Champion of Champions Fours get under way at 8.30am tomorrow and carry on through to Sunday.

The Tolaga Bay Bowling Club will host the senior and junior men’s sections while the Gisborne Bowling Club will host the women’s events.

The main interest in the senior men will be whether one of the “big three”, namely Gisborne, Te Karaka or Tolaga Bay will prevail or whether the Kahutia, Wairoa and Poverty Bay teams provide some upsets along the way.

On their home green the Tolaga Bay four of Vern Marshall (skip), Chas Henry, Mike Atkins and Ben Brown should have an advantage over their opponents.

However Gisborne’s Jamey Ferris (skip), Steve Goldsbury and Ashli Ferris won the Centre Men’s Open Fours on that green earlier in the season and have the in-form Ricky Miller to bolster their chances.

Te Karaka’s David File (skip), John Dawson, Lofty Hurrell and Duncan Macpherson are well prepared this time, having had two days of competitive bowls at their club triples last weekend.

Facing a big challenge, Poverty Bay’s Mark Bain (skip), Jon Davies, Luke Sanders and Dave Hooper face Te Karaka in their first game while Kahutia’s Ron Law (skip), Wayne Herring, Mo Kapua and Steve Jenkins are up against Tolaga Bay.

Wairoa’s Denis Francois (skip), Brent Smith, Min Johansen and Wayne Goodley have always performed well at Champion of Champions level and will be ready to take on Gisborne.

Unfortunately there are only three clubs represented in the junior men’s event.

However there will be plenty of interest in whether the Kahutia four, skipped by Joe Wimutu with Alan Parker, Frank McLoughlin and Ray Young, can repeat their win from last season.

Up against them in the first game will be Tolaga Bay’s Murray Duncan (skip), Ben Elkington, Anton Tashkoff and John Burema who are always tough competitors on their home green.

The Gisborne team skipped by Nathan Trowell with his father Mal, Peter Gledhill and Jim Wilson will have the bye in the first round.

It will be hard to predict which of the five teams entered in the women’s senior fours event will take the title, as all the teams have the credentials to do well.

On their home green in the first round Gisborne’s Carol Hawes (skip), Lorna Reeve, Anne Day and Lesley McIntosh play Te Karaka’s Sarah Brown (skip), Del Tamanui, Janet Baty and Diane Murray.

After their great battles in the recent Champion of Champions triples, Wairoa’s Glenda Kapene (skip), Donna Smith, Jo Sturmey and Bernie Smiler once again meet Kahutia’s Glenys Whiteman (skip), Francie Adair, Marie Wright and Dayvinia Mills in their first game.

Poverty Bay’s Ora Peipi (skip), Val McGreevy, Diane Christie and June Stichbury have the bye.

Even though there are only three teams too in the junior women, main interest will focus on whether last season’s winners Gisborne, skipped by Ginny Sherriff with Kay Goldsbury, Beverly Davy and Kym Brown, can retain their title. Their first round game against Kahutia’s Lucy Shanks (skip), Cheryl Jenkins, Page Richter and Diane Oates should be good spectator fare.

Wairoa have the bye and Raelene Tangiora (skip), Penny Mitchell, Patsy McRoberts and Hine Whaanga should provide strong opposition when they meet the winner of the Gisborne-Kahutia clash in the second round.

Both the winners of the senior men’s and women’s events will be invited to enter the Bowls NZ National Champion of Champions Fours Finals to be played indoors later in July 2019. The men’s finals will be played at Club Hastings and the women’s at the Frankton Railway Bowling Club in Hamilton.