On the mats

MEDALLISTS: Dylan Foster (left) and Nathan Trowell with their indoor bowls medals from the AIMS Games. Picture by Liam Clayton

Gisborne Intermediate School’s Nathan Trowell and Dylan Foster were unstoppable when they won the Anchor AIMS Games pairs indoor bowls event in Tauranga.

They defeated Shweta Mann and Iyolarna Waru from Holy Cross School (Papatoetoe) 7-1 7-2 to win the gold medal.

Cousins Trowell and Foster showed they had learned well playing regular bowls in Poverty Bay East Coast centre tournaments.

In an event contested by 148 teams, they defeated Northcross Intermediate’s Dominic Teensma and Luca Harris 10-0 4-2 in the last eight before defeating Mt Maunganui’s Angus Goodwin and Simon Wagstaff 2-3 4-2 5-2 in the semifinal.

Other Gisborne teams to qualify were all from Ilminster Intermediate School. Anna Akuhata-Brown/Rata Jamieson reached the last eight teams; Joel Akuhata-Brown/Oliver Gillies reached the last 16; Sian Williams/Braden Sycamore and Piata Hammond/Zharia March reached the last 32; and Wade Brunt/Fiona Rangiuaia reached the last 47.

Before winning the pairs, Nathan Trowell won the silver medal in the Anchor AIMS Games singles event. He lost the final 6-1 5-5 to Niall Vincer from Somerville Intermediate (Auckland).

Trowell was sitting pretty on the fourth end of the first set, holding four shots, before Vincer played the shot of the week to push Trowell’s bowls away. Vincer picked up the kitty for two shots — a six-point turnaround.

The singles event was contested by 309 players. In the last eight, Trowell defeated Katherine Brzozowski (Holy Cross Papatoetoe) 7-4 2-4 6-5 before downing Cody Buck (Highlands Intermediate, New Plymouth) 4-7 6-1 6-5.

Other bowlers to do well from Gisborne were Ilminster Intermediate School’s Sion Williams, last eight; Oliver Gillies, last 16; Anna Akuhata-Brown and Zharia Marsh, last 32; Wade Brunt, Fiona Rangiuaia and Tutoro Brown-Rangihuna, last 64; and Rata Jamieson, Branden Sycamore and Joel Akuhata-Brown, last 109.

Gisborne Intermediate’s Dylan Foster also qualified and made it down to the last 32.

David Lynn and Lois Lamont played well to place fourth in the New Zealand Mixed Pairs in Upper Hutt.

The top Bay mixed pairing started the finals by defeating Ashburton and North Wellington, then losing their third game,to Southland.

They picked up their game to defeat Golden Bay/Motueka in Game 4.

Dropping four shots on the first end of Game 5 was costly, and they lost to Wairarapa.

They defeated Auckland in Game 6, and at that stage four teams — including Lynn/Lamont — could have won the New Zealand title.

Their last game was against North Taranaki, skipped by multiple New Zealand titleholder Grant Liami. North Taranaki were too strong, dashing the Bay’s hopes of a national title.

Just a week before, Lynn and Lamont had teamed up with Tauranga’s Keith Setter and Laurie Roberts to win the Whakatane Open Fours.

Bryan Pulley won the Bunnings Friday night singles with four wins and one draw from his five games. To win the event, he defeated Warren Edlin 10-8, Hina Preddey 10-5 and Coralie Campbell-Whitehead 8-2. Then he came up against Malcolm Trowell, who had already won two singles titles in 2017.

It was a see-saw game. Trowell led 6-5 going into the last end but Pulley, with the last bowl of the game, drew the jack for two shots and the win.

Pulley drew his last game against young Matthew Foster, but with other players’ games going to Pulley’s advantage, a draw was all he needed to win his 63rd centre title.

He has won this event twice before, in 2005 and 2008.

Trowell was runner-up on this occasion, with four wins.