On the mats — Indoor bowls news

TOP TEAM: Gisborne Boys' High School won the team event at the North Island secondary schools indoor bowls pairs and singles competitions for the third year in a row. They are (from left): Matthew Foster, Nathan Trowell, Dylan Foster and Marc Simmons. Pictures by Liam Clayton

FOUR Gisborne Boys' High School students and eight Lytton High School students travelled to Mt Maunganui to contest the North Island secondary schools indoor bowls pairs and singles competitions.

On Day 1, 24 pairs competed. The 12 qualifying pairs included two from Gisborne Boys' High and four from Lytton.

In the last 12, Lytton's Kayla Trowell and Hina Preddey were eliminated by the eventual runners-up from Katikati High School. Lytton's Kalen Derr and Zarneo Baker along with Rachael Rickard and Aiden Hailes also went out in that round.

In the quarterfinals, brothers Matthew and Dylan Foster (Gisborne Boys' High) and Braden Sycamore and Tawhai Moran-Tumene (Lytton) were eliminated.

In the semifinals, Nathan Trowell and Marc Simmons (Gisborne Boys' High) came back from 6-0 down to win 9-8 against Ryan Banks and Nihar Trivedi (Avondale College). Trowell played a screamer with his last bowl to win a place in the final.

In the final against Kasey Marlow and Rose Rayner (Katikati College), Trowell and Simmons made a great start. They were 8-0 up after three ends and never looked in trouble, running away with the nine-end final 12-7. It was a great effort by Simmons, who returned to the game only a week before the event. Trowell was outstanding, drawing them in from everywhere.

On Day 2, the singles were contested by 53 players, with 22 qualifiers for sudden-death playoffs.

Lytton High had seven qualifiers — Zarneo Baker, Kayla Trowell, Rachael Rickard, TJ Taylor-Paea, Aiden Hailes, Braden Sycamore and Hina Preddey. Gisborne Boys' High had three — Matthew Foster, Dylan Foster and Nathan Trowell.

Baker and Rickard were defeated in the last 22, with Dylan Foster, Trowell, Preddey, Sycamore, Hailes and Matthew Foster being put out in the last 16.

Taylor-Paea made the last eight before losing to third placegetter Ryan Banks. It was a great effort by TJ, who played outstanding bowls to be one of Lytton's best performers of the weekend.

Trowell won his semifinal 21-3, but in the final he lost 10-9 to Nial Vincer from Botany Downs College.

Gisborne Boys' High won the team event for the third year in a row, from Lytton High, who did really well with several players getting down to the business end of the comp in each event. Avondale College finished third.

Nathan Trowell is the 2020 centre open singles champion. A deciding end was needed in the final before he defeated his cousin Matthew Foster 10-9.

After two of the nine ends, Trowell led 3-0, but that could have been different if Foster had chosen to take Trowell's shot bowl out for two or three shots.

Foster bounced back, playing a great last bowl on End 3 to pick up three shots to make the score 3-3.

Play ebbed and flowed in the middle stages but Trowell edged ahead and was looking good at 8-5 up going into the final end.

Trowell drew close to the kitty, but Foster delivered a scorcher of a last bowl to nab the kitty, taking it back for three shots and forcing the deciding end.

This was a cliff-hanger. Foster had the shot bowl as the end unfolded, but Trowell had last bowl. Trowell played a weighted shot, wicking off a front bowl to take Foster's bowl away, leaving Trowell's bowl sitting near the kitty for the win.

This was Trowell's 13th centre title. A talented all-round sportsman, he has picked up numerous centre titles throughout the year.