It is not considered a sport for youth in Whanganui, so many readers may not appreciate the distinction between the "young" Bowls Wanganui centre champions and the surprise from a "veteran" getting up to claim the crown.
But in any sport, if you can win a title by defeating oppositionwho are 20 years your junior then it is a significant achievement.
Last weekend's centre Champion of Champion finals, where the various champions from Whanganui's different bowls clubs meet to decide overall supremacy, provided the rare sight in the fours competition to have not one but two octogenarian winners.
The fours were played at Wanganui East Bowling Club and Graham Adams, 82, got to share the men's title with his Wanganui East teammates, while Shirley Bates, who turned 80 in February, was victorious with her Durie Hill foursome.
Usually, the centre titles are the property of the players who fill up the Bowls Wanganui representative teams, so Adams said a couple of veteran seniors like himself and Bates getting a Champion of Champions crown was very rare.
They beat a very strong Wanganui Bowling Club team 15-7 in the final.
"It was well contested, several ends of very tight bowls," Adams said.
Bates' win was likewise a personal surprise, although Durie Hill were very strong and defeated Aramaho 22-6 in the final.
"I've won plenty of trophies at our club, and then gone down to the centre and never won one, so I think it's my year," Bates said.
Bates has had a lot to be thankful for in 2016 with the occasion of her 80th, getting to hold her first great grandchild, and her son will be getting married later this year. She along with husband Ken are now the oldest members at Durie Hill Bowling Club.
