Mixed pairs champion of champions the last

LEAD: Poverty Bay Bowling Club’s Joy Davis is lead for skip Dave Hooper in the centre champion of champions junior mixed pairs being played this weekend. Davis performed well in the recent senior women’s singles. Picture by Paul Rickard Picture by Paul Rickard

BOWLS

The last of the season’s centre champion of champions events take place this weekend when the senior and junior mixed pairs will be played at the Poverty Bay Bowling Club.

Play starts at 8.30am tomorrow.

The senior event has attracted a full entry from the centre’s six clubs and promises to be keenly contested.

Ian and Kathy Carroll from the host club are familiar with the carpet surface and this will give them an advantage over their opponents.

Wairoa’s Glenda Kapene and Graham Fitzpatrick must be favoured, too, as both have had a successful champion of champions campaign, Kapene winning the senior women’s singles and Fitzpatrick, the senior triples.

Kahutia’s George Vaotuua is making his debut this season at this level and combines with Lucy Shanks, who is still a junior player and who skipped her fours team to victory in the champion of champions junior women’s fours.

The most experienced team in the event would be Gisborne’s husband and wife team Arthur and Carol Hawes, who always perform well on these occasions.

Adam McIlroy and Sarah Brown, of Te Karaka, are another combination who will pose a threat to opponents, while Tolaga Bay’s Jo Atkins is showing the benefit of returning to competitive play in recent outings . . . she teams up with junior Anton Tashkoff.

This will be the first time the champion of champions junior mixed pairs has been played and the five teams entered should produce an even contest.

Again, the Poverty Bay junior team should rate a good chance. Skip is Dave Hooper and lead is Joy Davis, who did well in the senior women’s singles recently.

Another good prospect is the Kahutia club’s Diane Oates, who won two junior champion of champions titles last season and will skip a team with Allan Parker as lead.

Fresh from success at the junior pairs last weekend, Kay Goldsbury will have the services of one of the most promising leads in the centre, Ron Robertson, who gained valuable experience playing on the artificial surface during the recent Yelverton Shield interclub junior teams event.

If ever Te Karaka husband and wife team Willie and Diane Murray were to have a chance to win a junior champion of champions title, this weekend’s tourney could be it.

Over the past three seasons, they have made finals without success.

This trend continued a fortnight ago, with both of them finishing runners-up in the junior singles for bowlers with less than eight years’ bowls experience.

Also not to be underestimated are Tolaga Bay pair Bessie Eyles, who played well in the junior women’s singles, and Ben Elkington. Last season Elkington was in the winning junior men’s champion of champions pair and last weekend he made the final again.