Clubs to do battle

Bruno Lourie is part of a strong Te Karaka team taking part in the centre interclub competition at the weekend. Picture by Paul Rickard

The last important Bowls Gisborne East Coast centre tournament for 2019 will be played this weekend.

The Bowls New Zealand Division 1 Interclub preliminaries will be held for both men's and women's teams.

Bowls NZ has reintroduced this national event this season. Both the local winning teams will go through to the Zone 3 regional finals to be played in March.

Conditions of play are the same for both events. Singles will be 25 shots up, pairs will be 18 ends and fours, 15 ends. A two-and-a-half-hour time limit will apply for all games.

Play will start at 9am at the two venues.

The men's event will be played at Te Karaka Bowling Club tomorrow and on Sunday, with five of the six centre clubs represented.Tomorrow, three rounds will be played and on Sunday, two rounds.

The favourites for the men's division must be Te Karaka on their home green. Singles player July Williams is in top form. Arthur Baty and Bruno Lourie are in the pairs and Bob McIlroy will skip John Dawson, Lofty Hurrell and Duncan Macpherson in the fours.

The other singles players are Gisborne's Jamey Ferris, Kahutia's Alastair Macpherson, Tolaga Bay's Murray Duncan and Poverty Bay's Steve Berezowski.

The other four pairs teams are Gisborne's Arthur Hawes and Mal Trowell, Kahutia's Joe Wimutu and Willy Murray, Tolaga Bay's Vern Marshall and Mike Atkins, and Poverty Bay's Lex Kennedy and Barrie Denham.

The performance of the fours teams could be the key to success.

Tolaga Bay have Mick Maunder (skip), George Vaotuua, Mike Namana and Anton Tashkoff; Kahutia's Murray Murton skips Bruce Ball, Jock Smith and Harry Green; Poverty Bay's Jon Davies has Peter Walters, Ian Carroll and Jeff Davis in his team; and Gisborne's Charlie Ure skips Ricky Miller, Dave Beattie and Robin Jefferson.

The Division 1 women's event has only four teams and will be completed on Saturday at the Gisborne Bowling Club.

The singles will be keenly contested by Glenys Whiteman (Kahutia), Diane Murray (Te Karaka), Tanya Harrison (Gisborne) and Joy Davis (Poverty Bay).

In the pairs, Kahutia's Marie Wright and Paige Richter, Gisborne's Queenie Takurua and Dayvinia Mills, Poverty Bay's Jan Powell and Erin Sutherland, and Te Karaka's Janie Waititi and Erica Tamanui will provide some exciting play.

The fours will be just as competitive with Te Karaka's Janet Baty skipping new players Hinemoa Morere and Barbara and Andrea Tuhi; Gisborne has Bobbie Beattie (skip), Carol Hawes, Lyn Trueman and Lesley McIntosh; Poverty Bay's skip Betty Herring is joined by Val McGreevy, Kathy Carroll and Diane Christie; and Kahutia's Carol Jukes skips Anita Vaotuua, Cheryl Jenkins and Pat Murton.