Wellington team members (from left) Angela Signal, Sarah Cooper and Cath Thomson celebrate their Octagonal women's regional lawn bowls tournament victory in Gisborne. Photo / Jessie Davis-Law
Wellington won a rain-affected women’s Octagonal bowls tournament in Gisborne at the weekend, then had more time to celebrate before heading home as their flight was cancelled.
Strong winds in Wellington were the cause.
Second-placed Kāpiti were to play Wellington on Sunday morning, and at 7.30am tournament organisers offered them the opportunity to play on Beetham Lifestyle Village’s artificial surface.
But Kāpiti needed to win three games out of four to overhaul defending Octagonal champions Wellington, and the weather didn’t look co-operative.
“We would have loved to play Wellington – and I’m confident we’d have given them a good go,” Kāpiti selector-coach Pat Taylor said.
“But it had been raining all night and been wet all day Saturday. We had everything washed and dried in the motel but if we’d gone ahead and played it would likely have been called off within half an hour. To get wet and then drive for seven or eight hours home didn’t seem a good idea.”
Taylor was “very happy” with the team performance and looked forward to the national intercentre tournament on Auckland greens in three weeks, when the squad could be bolstered by the return of players unable to play in the Octagonal.
Gisborne had put on a “wonderful tournament”, especially in view of the organisation needed to complete so much of the programme in a wet weekend, she said.
Wellington selector-coach Teresa Crowhurst said tournament organisers did themselves proud.
“It was so well run. Gisborne Bowling Club was spot-on, and so were the Poverty Bay club and Beetham Lifestyle Village when they stepped up on Saturday when play was rained off at Gisborne.
“We got two full days, which was brilliant. I would recommend Gisborne to host anything. They were brilliant hosts.”
Wellington were several players short of their strongest team, Crowhurst said.
The games on Friday and Saturday were the first Wellington senior representative appearances for seven of the 10-member team.
“They called themselves the B team,” she said.
“I said, ‘You are not the B team; you are the Wellington team’.
“They played their hearts out.”
Crowhurst said this was the fourth year in a row that Wellington had won the women’s Octagonal. It could be more, but the original trophy was lost and she didn’t know whose name was the last inscribed on it. Wellington was the only name inscribed on the replacement.
With Whanganui not at the tournament, teams took turns at having the bye. Gisborne-East Coast were to have their bye on Sunday, but as that day’s play was cancelled it meant they had played one game more than everyone else. To take this into account, organisers allocated the other teams two points (of a maximum four) for their bye.
Final points tallies (1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw): Wellington 17.5 points, 122 differential; Kāpiti 15pts, 46 diff; Manawatū 14pts, -54 diff; Gisborne-East Coast 13pts, 39 diff; Wairarapa 13pts, 26 diff; Taranaki 7pts, -56 diff; Hawke’s Bay 4.5pts, -123 diff.
Results –
Round 1
Gisborne 4 Taranaki 0
Singles: Dayvinia Mills defeated Susan Cottam 25-8.
Pairs: Diane Tamanui-Murray (skip) and Marise Raklander d Trish Howard (s) and Alethea Rowlands 23-15.
Triples: Anna Colvin (s), Joanne Wroe and Jackie Horsfall d Rhonda Adams (s), Cindy Gray and Amanda Crehan 16-15.
Fours: Glenda Kapene (s), Jessie Davis-Law, Erica Tamanui-Thompson and Hiria Nepe d Maree Gadsby (s), Irene Taunt, Rita Davey and Judy Crawford 28-6.
Hawke’s Bay 1 Manawatū 3 (Hawke’s Bay scores first)
Singles: 19-25. Pairs: 12-21. Triples: 11-18. Fours: 20-5.
Wairarapa 2 Kāpiti 2 (Wairarapa scores first)
Singles: 20-25. Pairs: 26-11. Triples: 10-26. Fours: 14-13.
Wellington had the bye.
Round 2
Gisborne 1 Wairarapa 3
Singles: D. Mills d Tanya Wheeler 25-16.
Pairs: D. Tamanui-Murray (s), M. Raklander lost to Makaia Campbell (s), Janalle Frew 16-20.
Triples: A. Colvin (s), J. Wroe, J. Horsfall lost to Leonie Gough (s), Dale Lloyd-Stanton, Deidre Walker 6-28.
Fours: G. Kapene (s), J. Davis-Law, E. Tamanui-Thompson, H. Nepe lost to Robyn Schischka (s), Stacey Smyth, Tina Steere, Tracey Jacobson 12-15.
Wellington 3 Manawatū 1 (Wellington scores first)
Singles: 25-10. Pairs: 16-10. Triples: 16-20. Fours: 28-4.
Taranaki 4 Hawke’s Bay 0 (Taranaki scores first)
Singles: 25-17. Pairs: 20-14. Triples: 25-9. Fours: 20-8.
Kapiti had the bye.
Round 3
Gisborne 1 Manawatū 3
Singles: D. Mills lost to Tracey Macrae 21-25.
Pairs: D. Tamanui-Murray (s), M. Raklander d Honey Giblet (s), Kirsty Hill 24-11.
Triples: A. Colvin (s), J. Wroe, J. Horsfall lost to Sandy Pettersen (s), Natasha Hume, Justine Gapes 14-17.
Fours: G. Kapene (s), J. Davis-Law, E. Tamanui-Thompson, H. Nepe lost to Ailsa Taylor (s), Carla Roughan, Michele Deaken, Tania Pearson 12-18.
Wellington 4 Taranaki 0 (Wellington scores first)
Singles: 25-18. Pairs: 20-13. Triples: 15-9. Fours: 16-14.
Hawke’s Bay 1 Kāpiti 3 (Hawke’s Bay scores first)
Singles: 20-25. Pairs: 10-21. Triples: 13-21. Fours: 20-4.
Wairarapa had the bye.
Round 4
Gisborne 1 Wellington 3
Singles: D. Mills d Rozanna Muriwai 25-22.
Pairs: D. Tamanui-Murray (s), M. Raklander lost to Kennie Critchlow (s), Karen Ewart 12-19.
Triples: A. Colvin (s), J. Wroe, J. Horsfall lost to Lynette Campbell (s), Cath Thomson, Charvarna Williams 10-23.
Fours: G. Kapene (s), J. Davis-Law, E. Tamanui-Thompson, H. Nepe lost to Angela Signal (s), Sarah Cooper, Vikki Lee Remuera, Pam Mulford 12-15.
Taranaki 1 Wairarapa 3 (Taranaki scores first)
Singles: 16-25. Pairs: 16-22. Triples: 22-4. Fours: 5-18.
Manawatū 2 Kāpiti 2 (Manawatū scores first)
Singles: 25-15. Pairs: 6-28. Triples: 17-15. Fours: 11-19.
Hawke’s Bay had the bye.
Round 5
Gisborne 4 Hawke’s Bay 0
Singles: D. Mills d Julie Constable 24-10.
Pairs: D. Tamanui-Murray (s), M. Raklander d Ruth Spittle (s), Lyn Hunn 20-10.
Triples: A. Colvin (s), J. Wroe, J. Horsfall d Tania Smith (s), Cheryl Simpson, Louise Greeks 15-12.
Fours: G. Kapene (s), J. Davis-Law, E. Tamanui-Thompson, H. Nepe d Dale Rowe (s), Isobel Taylor, Maureen James, Janeen Noble 11-10.
Wellington 2 Wairarapa 2 (Wellington scores first)
Singles: 24-22. Pairs: 16-18. Triples: 14-15. Fours: 12-10.
Taranaki 0 Kāpiti 4 (Taranaki scores first)
Singles: 15-17. Pairs: 16-18. Triples: 13-21. Fours: 11-17.
Manawatu had the bye.
Round 6
Gisborne 2 Kāpiti 2
Singles: D. Mills lost to Marei Bevan 18-23.
Pairs: D. Tamanui-Murray (s), M. Raklander d Audrey Stevenson (s), Jane Selby-Paterson 19-12.
Triples: A. Colvin (s), J. Wroe, J. Horsfall lost to Timeri Sanders (s), Fane Vessey, Carol Rolton 8-11.
Fours: G. Kapene (s), J. Davis-Law, E. Tamanui-Thompson, H. Nepe d Rochelle Stevenson (s), Janet Olliver, Gloria Michael, Robyn Wilkinson 13-9.
Wellington 3.5 Hawke’s Bay 0.5 (Wellington scores first)
Singles: 22-19. Pairs: 26-8. Triples: 14-14. Fours: 25-8.
Manawatū 3 Wairarapa 1 (Manawatū scores first)
Singles: 15-25. Pairs: 19-13. Triples: 13-12. Fours: 12-11.
Taranaki had the bye.