Bowls: Robinson, Posa take pairs title

Kevin Robinson, a regular at national championships and a steady performer for about 25 years, finally gained a title when he partnered fellow Waikato representative Steve Posa to the pairs crown at Henderson yesterday.

In the final Robinson and Posa were far too strong for Canterbury's Kelvin Scott and Manawatu's Philip Skoglund jnr, winning 16-9 after 16 of the scheduled 18 ends.

But for Robinson, a Tokoroa butcher, the celebration was slightly muted. For at the same time the fancied pair of his partner of six years, Marina Khan, and her elder sister, Jan, from the Beckenham club in Christchurch, were upset on an adjacent rink in the women's final by Northlanders Anne Bateman and Janice McLean, 19-15.

"It spoiled the party a little but we're still going to have one," Robinson said.

Though beaten in the first round of section play by Howick's Kevin Dumper and Bill Brown, Robinson and Posa were always one of the dominant pairs in the tournament, and Posa in particular has placed himself in a strong position to win the award as the championship's most consistent player and also to gain a place in the national squad for the upcoming transtasman tests.

At 35, still young in bowls terms, he performed equally well in the singles, making the semifinals, where he was beaten by Rowan Brassey.

Unfortunately, work commitments mean he will miss the fours, but he was low-key about winning the consistency prize or his international chances.

"If it happens, it happens," he said.

Brassey's shock loss in the singles earlier yesterday means that Posa is the first bowler from the 93-year-old Takapuna club to win a national title.

But his link with either Takapuna or the North Harbour centre is tenuous. He transferred earlier in the year to North Shore and joined Takapuna. But in recent weeks he has played little because he injured a leg and has been in plaster.

In the meantime Posa has moved back to Waikato and the Cambridge club. He said he would retain dual club membership and would play interclub events with Takapuna.

Robinson and Posa won with surprising ease over Scott and Skoglund, who were lucky to survive through a fluky last bowl in the semifinals against Aucklanders Ivan Marsic and Neil Fisher.

Robinson, at 54, has no New Zealand aspirations and will focus instead on Professional Bowls Association events, one of which has won him a trip to Britain.

Of any apparent bias against bowlers of his age at national level, he was diplomatic: "All I'll say about that is Willie Wood [the Scot] beat New Zealand at the world champs last year - and he's 66."

Bateman and McLean produced the second big comeback of yesterday's finals to outdraw the Khans after earlier trailing 1-9.

"We were patient and when you're patient it happens for you," said Bateman, a Northland representative player who has nine centre titles.

"It didn't faze us that we were playing such a strong pair as Jan and Marina. It's just another game."

Unusually at the championships, Bateman and McLean come from the same Whangarei club, Kensington, and one of their main coaches has been the national women's manager of recent years, Anne Muir.

McLean, who has been bowling 12 years, has two centre titles, including the champion-of-champion pairs with Bateman.

Her immaculate draw bowling was a factor in the fightback, which led to a 17-11 lead after 16 ends.

Jan Khan raised hopes of a recovery when on the 17th end she drove the kitty into the ditch for four shots. But on the 18th end McLean retained her drawing edge, leaving the Khans with no excuses.