Special challenge for local rep teams

KEEN EYE: Ian Porteous competes for Wanganui Blue in the fours at the Wanganui East Bowling Club on Saturday.

By Staff Reporter
THE Bowls Wanganui representative teams will get a rare chance for an inter-provincial challenge outside of their regular regional tournaments after accepting an invitation to play in Wellington this weekend.
A men's team and two women's squads will take on centre teams from Marlborough, Christchurch and the hosts Wellington at the Naenae Bowling Club in Lower Hutt.
"This has been an opportunity to give our representative players an extra opportunity to test their abilities against strong competition that is not normally available until teams get to play the intercentre fixture," said men's manager Mike Morgan.
"It is also a forerunner to the annual Hexagonal tournament that is held in Palmerston North on February 20-21."
The teams consist of seven players in singles, pairs and fours formats.
Singles will be decided by the first to win 25 ends, while pairs go to 21 and the fours to 18.
Each centre will have an A and a B squad, while Wellington are fielding an extra team in the men's draw. There will be two rounds on Saturday and the third on Sunday.