Bowls: Long wait finally over for Reynolds and team

The Ohope Bowling Club's mixed fours won the Bay of Plenty Indoor Bowls Centre's Mixed Fours title on the weekend: Tony Reynolds (left), Gil Reynolds, Gary Hunt and Marge Taare.

After 35 years trying Ohope Bowling Club's mixed four, skipped by Tony Reynolds, won the Bay of Plenty Indoor Bowls Centre's mixed fours title last weekend.

The championships were played in the Ngongotaha Hall where Reynolds combined with Gary Hunt, Marge Taare and his mother Gil Reynolds to take home the title.

In his acceptance speech he said that it had taken him 35 years to win that particular trophy. It was Reynolds' and teammate Gary Hunt's 13th career title, Taare's 11th and his mother Gil's eighth.

The Ngongotaha Bowling Club's triples team PK Tamehana (left), Mere Eden and Mina Paul won their 25th centre title last week.

In the final, over nine, ends they defeated Owhata Bowling Club's Derek Owen, Gina Owen, Matthew Farquhar and Delwyn Hughes 8-7.

The semifinals saw Reynolds defeat Owhata's James Schuster, Gavin Rennie, Karen Te Tamaki and Christina Kingi 13-1 while Owen beat last year's champions Paul Guest, Maureen Harris, Elaine Howard and Stu Carney, from Ohope, 9-5.

Reynolds and team now go forward to compete in the North Island Eastern Zone finals of the New Zealand Mixed Fours at Whakatane on Saturday, July 2. The winner of the zone goes forward to the national finals at Lower Hutt on July 23.

In the outdoor bowls scene, Mina Paul from the Ngongotaha Bowling Club, won her 25th centre title when her team, skipped by Mere Eden, along with PK Tamehana beat Arawa's Jan McLeay, Suzanne Meek and Zena McLellan in a nail-biting final 13-9 at the Whakatane Bowling Club last week.

The Bowls Bay of Plenty women's three bowls triples attracted 18 teams entered and 10 qualified for post-section play.