Champ of Champs Pairs Final

Women's Pairs Final: St Heliers 20 – 11 Glen Eden

“It was going to be a bit of a daunting task being Skip”, said Paula Kempthorne from St Heliers.  Paula’s normal Pairs partner Sue Curran had surgery on her hand and was substituted with Catherine Bien. 

“Catherine and I know each other well, but we still had to adjust our play and find our playing tempo.  Of course, the knock-out format meant the first game was crucial.” 

Paula and Catherine were up against Judy Raill and Lyn Lopez from Glen Eden in the Finals. 

At the end of the 7th, Judy and Lyn are down 1-9.  Glen Eden’s Tournament Manager, Sharon Stewart commented, “Catherine and Paula are on today, those first couple of heads were so tight. It’s an amazing match already.”  Sharon adds, “Incremental one-pointers against you and then dropping a four doesn’t get you ahead.”

From there Glen Eden started to add points to the scoreboard, by the end of the 12^th it was 7-10.  St Heliers hit back with a 2, 3 & another 2, they are ahead, 17-10 at the end of the 16^th to eventually take the championship title, 21-11. 

Paula remarked, "Each match had its challenges, so there were some ‘here we go’ moments.  The scores didn’t reflect the competitiveness and closeness of matches – they could have gone either way. Overall, we really enjoyed the weekend, we’ve played against many of these bowlers so there is great sportsmanship amongst everyone."

It was a brilliant match, congratulations St Heliers, and well done Glen Eden!

Men's Pairs Final: Pt Chevalier 17 – 13 Epsom

Epsom’s duo of Mark Connor and David West (fondly known at their club as Cocka and Westie) were a bit of an unknown combo compared to some of the other Pairs’ teams competing over the weekend. In the Round of 32, they won knock-out matches against St Heliers, Ellerslie, Te Atatu, and Bridge Park to take their place in the Finals.

Bryce Mackie from Ellerslie commented on their Round of 16 match against Epsom “We had a pretty good start.  Epsom picked up four in the 6^th which had us level-pegging until we scored five in the 11^th.  From there Epsom kept us on a tight leash, and we scored our last point in the 13^th”.  Bryce’s teammate James Gavin went on to say, “Their skip Mark played some telling conversion shots.  The game turned for Epsom when they scored four in the 16^th – it was a great match.”

Pt Chevalier’s Steve Hoeft and Nick Thompson are a familiar team on the green.  They are known for their versatility to play in either position depending on who their opponents are. 

Their road to the Final and to victory was paved with wins against Kohimarama, Glen Eden, Auckland Bowling Club, and Henderson.

Epsom started strong they had the Pirates on the back foot right from the start. Steve and Nick were down 1-6 after four, and 3-9 after seven.  From there they began to claw their way back into the game. 6-9 after the 9^th, 10-12 after the 10^th.  It was level at 12 each after the 14^th then Pt Chevalier nudged ahead to take the win 17-13. 

What a finals match – congratulations and yeehar Pirates!  Well done Epsom it was a great competitive battle.

Steve Hoeft remarked ‘’All our games over the weekend were very tight.  The Final required a lot of concentration, especially having to come from a deficit to win 17-13.”  Nick Thompson said, “The crowd support in the Final was amazing, there was plenty of encouragement for both teams.”

While the finalists were the stars on the day, hats off to Remuera, Ponsonby, Maraetai, and St George, we don’t get to see you much but we’re so glad you participated in the championship, and we look forward to your participation at future events.

1-5 Year Men's Singles Final

Steve Fisher, Royal Oak 22 – 19 Stephen Campbell, Pt Chevalier

And what a cracking Finals match, in what was ultimately an exciting neck-and-neck scoring game that could have gone either way. 

Reigning title holder Stephen Campbell from Pt Chevalier was looking forward to a good Finals match against Royal Oak’s Steve Fisher.  Campbell jokingly said, “This Final has been a long time coming, qualifying was last September.”

He also thought it was great to be able to play alongside the Champ of Champs Pairs Finals. 

Both Steves are second-year bowlers and have bowling skills worthy of being 1-5 Year representatives for the past two seasons. 

It was tight scoring through the early stages of the match and by the end of the 7^th it was six a piece, by the end of the 10^th Fisher having scored two consecutive 3s, was ahead 12-8.  Fisher kept his nose in front, at the end of the 16^th he was up 16-11.  Campbell came back scoring three 2s in a row and is now in front 17-16.  The battle further intensifies, and it’s point for point, 17-17, 18-18, 19-19.

With the score tied again at 19-19, Fisher is one shot down on the head, with his last bowl moved the shot bowl to take victory and become the new titleholder, 22-19.  Wow, what a match!

Congratulations Steve Fisher and what a commendable effort from Stephen Campbell – you both had us on tenterhooks right to the last bowl.

In the trophy presentation, Steve paid tribute to his biggest supporters, his family.  A very proud Robyn Fisher said “The highlight of the game was Steven winning and playing the last bowl to win.  It was very good to watch.”

Champ of Champs Triples

Wishing everyone the best of luck for this weekend's Triples.

Due to the forecast on Saturday, we have actioned the wet weather plan which means all games will now be played undercover.  The only green change will be the Men’s side of the draw playing at St Heliers on Saturday, which will now play at Remuera.

Use this link to check updated draws, results & event info.

We will be broadcasting matches on Sunday, so keep an eye on our events page and Facebook page for details.  

What a complex!

We were in Wellington for a couple of days this week, so we the train out to Naenae and had a chat with their Manager - what an amazing complex.

--Noeline Sadgrove