Kahutia bowler Lucy Shanks (centre).
The Interclub bowls winners have been found — Te Karaka for the men and a combined Kahutia/Wairoa team for the women.
Last Saturday the Gisborne-East Coast Interclub was played at the Gisborne Bowling Club.
Four clubs entered in the men's competition and four teams contested the women's. They are what we call the sevens, as each club has a singles player, a pair and a fours team.
For the past few years the Gisborne club has dominated this tournament in both divisions but this year we have two different champions.
In the men's competition, Gisborne, Poverty Bay, Kahutia and Te Karaka vied for club supremacy. In the women's competition, Gisborne, Poverty Bay, Te Karaka and Kahutia/Wairoa team took part.
In the women's section, Poverty Bay got off to a flyer, winning all three disciplines.
Singles player Joy Davis beat Marie Wright (Kahutia/Wairoa) 25-19, Poverty Bay pair Val McGreevy and Lesley Seymour pipped Gisborne's Queenie Takurua and Dayvinia Mills 21-18 and the PB four of Anita Vaotuua, Cheryl Jenkin, Jan Powell and Erin Sutherland were too strong for Janet Baty, Dianne Murray, Erica Thompson and Barbara Tui (Te Karaka), beating them 19-9.
Others to get a win in the first round were Gisborne singles player Tanya Harrison against Jasmine Merrick (Te Karaka) and the Gisborne four of Carol Hawes, Lyn Trueman, Dianne Phillips and Bobbie Beattie, who scraped home 14-12 against the Kahutia/Wairoa combination of Glenys Whiteman, Glenda Kapene, Paige Richter and Jo Sturmey.
Kahutia/Wairoa pair Donna Smith and Lucy Shanks beat Te Karaka combo Del Tamanui and Alicia Ruru 22-8.
In the second round, Poverty Bay kept themselves in a commanding position by winning both pairs and fours. That left them on 10 game points going into the last round.
Kahutia/Wairoa won both singles and pairs, which put them on six game points.
Gisborne won their singles and fours, which left them on eight game points, and Te Karaka had yet to get going.
But one round can be the difference between make or break. With three clubs still in with a chance, contenders needed things to go their way not only in their own games but also in clashes between the other clubs.
In the singles, Te Karaka beat Poverty Bay. Kahutia/Wairoa beat Poverty Bay in the pairs, Te Karaka in the fours and Gisborne in the singles. This gave Kahutia/Wairoa a clean sweep.
Gisborne beat Te Karaka in the pairs and Poverty Bay in the fours. This meant that Poverty Bay failed to get any match points, which left them on 10.
Gisborne got four match points, so they went ahead of Poverty Bay to 12. Kahutia/Wairoa also finished with 12 points.
Going down to differential, Gisborne ended with plus 34 and Kahutia/Wairoa, plus 63, which gave the interclub title to Kahutia/Wairoa.
Special mention goes to the Gisborne four and Kahutia/Wairoa pair, as they went through the day unbeaten.
It's exciting for spectators when a tournament is so close that three out of four teams are still in with a chance till the last game finishes.
The men's competition also went down to differential. Te Karaka singles player Bob McIlroy, who has been in great form this season, got the better of Gisborne's Jamey Ferris 25-15.
Te Karaka pair July Williams and Arthur Baty dominated their game against Poverty Bay's Lex Kennedy and Jeff Davis, winning 30-7.
Gisborne's Charlie Ure and Robin Jefferson were convincing winners against Kahutia pair Alastair Macpherson and Leighton Shanks, while Kahutia singles player Murray Murton just toppled Poverty Bay's Andrew Ball.
All fours drew against each other in Round 1.
The results were evenly spread in the second round as Gisborne beat Kahutia in the singles; Kahutia beat Te Karaka, and Gisborne beat Poverty Bay in the pairs; and, in the fours, Kahutia (George Vaotuua, Steve Jenkins, Ropata Ruwhiu, Joe Wimutu) beat Poverty Bay (Steve Berezowski, Barry Denham, John Andrews, Peter Walters) and Te Karaka (David File, John Dawson, Brendan McIlroy, Willy Murray) beat Gisborne (Arthur Hawes, Ricky Miller, Dave Beattie, Mark Walker).
Again, three clubs were in with a chance going into the last round. Kahutia and Gisborne had seven match points and Te Karaka had the edge with nine.
Gisborne had a clean sweep in the last round. In one of those games, their pair beat Te Karaka. Te Karaka had wins in the singles and fours, which left Gisborne and Te Karaka locked on 13 match points.
Differentials would determine the victor — Te Karaka had an 84-35 advantage over Gisborne, and so could call themselves Fisken Cup champions.
Special mention goes to Charlie Ure and Robin Jefferson, of Gisborne, and Bob McIlroy, of Te Karaka, who went through their campaigns unbeaten; so, too, did the Te Karaka four.
Poverty Bay's Andrew Ball did well. He is still in his junior years and played in the singles spot against strong opponents. He gave all his opponents a battle, which should boost his confidence for future encounters.
It was good to see five of the six clubs in the region taking part, as this is what makes tournaments.
As I sign off from doing the reports for the centre representative tournaments, I wish everyone a Happy Christmas, an enjoyable New Year and all the best for the rest of the season and future years.
