Gwen Lawson Northland bowls: Junior pairs and singles produce great contests

Maxine Nicklin (pictured) and partner Skye Renes did well to beat Janine Thurgood and Karina Cooper 16-12 in the women's junior pairs. Photo / File

The Bowls Northland centre junior open singles were played last weekend with three qualifiers in each section.

The men's qualifiers were Dave Smith and Mike Lee (Onerahi), Paul Price (Whangārei) and Keith Stewart (Mangawhai), and Ron Burgin (Kensington) and Scott Morrison (One Tree Point).

In the women's section the qualifiers were Lynn Springett and Suzanne Dean (One Tree Pt), Janene Thurgood and Karina Cooper (Kamo), and Skye Renes and Maxine Nicklin (Onerahi).

The junior pairs were completed at Waipū. Only three female and three male teams made it through to post section play, so only two rounds were needed to find the new champions.

Skye Renes and Maxine Nicklin (Onerahi) defeated Janine Thurgood and Karina Cooper (Kamo) 16-12 in the women's final.

The men's final between Ron Burgin and Scott Morrison (Ken/OTP combined) and Onerahi's Dave Smith and Mike Lee came down to the very last bowl of the last end; Burgin drawing a screamer to pick up two shots to win 16-15.

Congratulations to the winners and well done to all the others who competed.

The Northland representative teams will play Far North at the Kamo greens on Sunday, December 1.

I am sending out an SOS for markers please. Sixteen markers will be required and if you are prepared to help from 10.30am onwards, please contact Gwen ASAP.

The draw is out for the Bowls3Five competition which starts next Wednesday (November 27). Thank you to those clubs who have entered either in the open or 1-5 year divisions.

The draw is completed at 6pm and play starts at 6.30pm. Games take just over an hour and are played in sets. Don't forget to get along and support your teams in this event.

The next centre events are open singles for men and open triples for women to be played on December 7-8. Reminder entries close Thursday, November 28.

Club tournaments

Tomorrow/Sunday: Club championships
Tuesday: Masonic Charity tournament at Kamo
Wednesday: Onerahi AC Triples, Bowls3Five tournament (6.30pm)
Thursday: Ngunguru AC triples
Friday: One Tree Pt AC 2x4x2 pairs
Next Saturday (Nov 30) : Leigh men's triples
Next Sunday (Dec 1): Whangārei MX classic pairs, Northland v Far North at Kamo