Junior pairs glory to Gisborne

Junior men’s champ of champs pair Geoff Pinn and skip Andew Ball. Pictures supplied

Gisborne Bowling Club combinations won the women’s and men’s junior champion of champions pairs titles contested on the Kahutia Bowling Club greens.

Karen Pinn (skip) and Adrienne Torrie beat Tolaga Bay pair Delores Woodcock (s) and Jacqueline Horsfall 23-10 in the junior women’s final.

Andrew Ball (s) and Geoff Pinn (husband of Karen) beat Te Karaka pair Marty Hayes (s) and Bub Smith 21-8 in the junior men’s final.

Both winning pairs had both of their lives intact at the end of the tournament.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, though.

Against Poverty Bay’s Anna Colvin (s) and Norma Miller in Round 1, Pinn and Torrie were 6-0 down after four ends.

But Pinn and Torrie won the next end by three shots and steadily accumulated shots until they won the game 21-7.

Woodcock and Horsfall beat a Te Karaka pair skipped by Lyn Hayes 13-12 .

In Round 2, Te Karaka beat Poverty Bay 15-14, which meant Colvin and Miller had lost both lives and did not qualify for the next round.

Pinn and Torrie had a good game in the rain and beat Woodcock and Horsfall 19-12.

While Gisborne had the bye in the third round, Te Karaka and Tolaga Bay battled it out on the green. The more experienced Woodcock and Horsfall comfortably won the game 22 – 7.

The next day, two-lifers Pinn and Torrie faced one-lifers Woodcock and Horsfall in the potential final. On the 16th end, the Gisborne pair took three shots to lead 23-10 with two ends to play. At that stage, the teams shook hands and Pinn and Torrie took the junior women’s champion of champions pairs title in Torrie’s final year as a junior.

In the junior men’s first round, Ball and Pinn comfortably beat Poverty Bay’s Dawson Owen (s) and Jack Clark 22-8, while Hayes and Smith beat Tolaga Bay’s Hone Burema (s) and Keith Tamanui.

Burema and Tamanui lost to Owen and Clark in the second round, thereby losing their second life, while Ball and Pinn beat Hayes and Smith 21-9.

While Ball and Pinn had the bye in the third round, Hayes and Smith beat Owen and Clark.

The next day, two-lifers Ball and Pinn faced one-lifers Hayes and Smith in the potential final. Ball and Pinn comfortably won the game 21-8 to claim the champion of champions junior men’s pairs title.