Bowls: Kensington four pipped in quarters

Results from the New Zealand Club Championships show that the Kensington men's fours team skipped by Gordon Bond qualified at this event in Hamilton by winning their section.

They then met Gary Lawson's strong Eastbourne team in the quarter-finals.

Kensington trailed at 14-4 but fought back to actually hold the win on the final end, only for Lawson to dead draw the shot for the win.

The overall winner in the men's competition was North Harbour (Browns Bay) which included a former Northland player in Kerry Chapman.

The Whangarei combination playing in the men's triples event just missed out on qualifying.

Centre Junior Singles finals were completed on Saturday at Mangawhai greens and in the men's event, Jason Webb.

(Arapohue) took out the title from Murray Heaton (Mangawhai).

In the women's section Chrissy Budge (Kensington) reversed the result in section play when she defeated Savanna Lauder (Hikurangi) in the final. This game finished in the dark.

Champion of Champion Singles were also played last Saturday at Mangawhai and John Dunn (Onerahi) earned his 40th Centre title when he defeated Ned Yovich (Kamo) in a tight final.

In the women's section the title was taken out by singles specialist Sue Wightman (Mangawhai women) when she defeated another Northland representative, Maureen Parker (Kensington), in the final.

Champion of Champions Triples were then played on Sunday with the weather cold and windy for most of the day. Unfortunately the rain came down when the finals were being played and made conditions even more difficult.

In the men's section the strong combination from Maungaturoto skipped by Kevin Robinson were successful for the second year when they defeated Brian Hagger's Leigh team in the final.

In the women's section success went to the Kensington team skipped by Pat Warth who defeated Ngunguru skipped by Mary Brewster in the final. This was a gold bar for her 10th title for Pat Warth.

This Saturday sees the Northern Region 1-5 Year Interclub finals being played at the Hikurangi green. Play starts at 9am. Northland will be represented by a Kensington/Ngunguru combination.

Teams entered are Opononi (Far North), Mairangi Bay (North Harbour), Mangere (Auckland), and Papakura (Counties/Manukau).

Northland Centre tournaments for the coming week are: Sunday, May 8 - Kensington 1-10 AC Triples
Tuesday, May 10 - Hikurangi AC Triples
Wednesday, May 11 - Maungaturoto AC Triples
Saturday, May 14 - Champion of Champion Pairs ( transferred to Mangawhai)
Sunday, May 15 - Champion of Champion Fours (transferred to Mangawhai).