Gwen Lawson's bowls column: Plenty of action this weekend

Two events are being held by the Northland Bowls Centre this weekend.

This weekend there are plenty of bowls to watch as the Centre holds two events, with the Centre Interclub Sevens for women and the Centre 1-5 Year Junior Singles for men.

Eighteen singles players will take part and section play on Saturday will be held at Bowls
Whangārei and at Onerahi greens.

Players taking part at Whangārei are: R File, R Walters, S Mantle, W Sellars. J Scrivener, A Westlake, S Judson, E Conaghan, J Dawson, J Cole, J Parker, G Wilson.

At Onerahi will be: G Brooks, R McKinnon, M Murray, N McArten, N Third, G Baker.
Post-section on Sunday will be at Kensington.

The latest reporting time is 8.15am. Please remember we are in the red light under the Covid traffic light system so bring your mask, be double-vaccinated and your vaccination pass must be presented or you will not be able to play or watch.

Meanwhile, the women will be playing their Interclub Sevens competition at Onerahi also.

Three rounds will be played and the latest reporting time is 8.15am. They will play singles, pairs and fours. On Sunday, play will be at the Kensington Club. The same Covid conditions apply both days.

Clubs competing are Mangawhai, Hikurangi, Kamo, Waipū, Kensington and Onerahi. The winner of this event will represent Northland in the NZ finals in Wellington in April.

Wednesday, January 19 will see the recommencement of the Bowls3Five competition.

Twelve teams are taking part and the venue for this event is Kensington, starting at 6pm.

The same rules apply for all bowls tournaments as all clubs in our area are registered for double-vaccination.

Congratulations to Canterbury player Tayla Bruce, who took out the national singles last week by defeating her pairs partner in the final.

The final was played on her home patch and although the match was close until the 13th end, she won going away. Well done also to Diane Strawbridge of Kensington, who had another successful attempt at the national singles and pairs, qualifying also in the pairs with Karina Cooper.

In the men's national pairs, the winners were Andrew Kelly and Seamus Curtain of Wellington, who took out the event over the composite team of Gary Lawson and Tony Grantham. All players are well known in bowling circles, so the best came to the fore on this occasion.

The next national event is the national fours and mixed pairs for both men and women, with entries closing on February 1 and the events to be played in Taranaki from February 24 to March 3.

The Northland women's rep squad to meet the Far North, Auckland and Counties at Mangawhai have just been announced by the selector. This will be played on January 23. The squad is made up of Patricia Murray, Diane Strawbridge, Karina Cooper, Leanne Stewart, Sue Wightman, Wendy Sarjeant, Diane Klomp and Dawn Owens. Good luck to you all.

Next week sees players from Northland competing in the Taranaki Men's Open tournament, while close to home on Tuesday it's the Kamo Classic MX Fours.

Events this coming week:

Wednesday - Leigh AC Triples; Bowls3Five at Kensington 6pm

Thursday - Kensington Men's Pairs

Friday - Whangārei AC Triples 5.30pm

Saturday - Club Championships.