Bowls: Second BOP wins bowls open

Grant Hassall

 For the second time in a week, the Tauranga club has won the Taranaki Open fours title.

Following the success of Dan Dickison’s team in the men’s event the previous Sunday, a side skipped by Marilyn Constantine took out the women’s title on Sunday.

Constantine combined with Mary Campbell, Carolyn Tasker and Mina Paul to become the 73rd holders of The Devon Hotel-sponsored competition.

The quartet deserved their 28-20 victory in the final, played at Paritutu, over defending titleholder, Sue Hodges (Omokoroa).

Hodges was playing with Karen Pickering, Rachelle Morrison and Char Beckett.

Even though in, in the final analysis, eight points appeared a comfortable victory, there was still plenty of tense moments.

This was never more so than on the 23rd end of the final.

Constantine was leading 23-19 at that time. But when she stepped onto the mat to deliver the last bowl of the end, she was four down. She successfully drew into the counting bowls, reducing the count to one and therefore largely preserving the advantage.

Campbell and Tasker, exemplifying teamwork, both drew shots on the next end, a two giving the Tauranga side a five-shot buffer playing the last end. Again, Campbell and Tasker laid the foundation, to secure the end, the game, the title.

All four members of the winning side contributed as they overcame a 7-1 deficit early, when Beckett had done a lot of damage against them.

Hodges’ side were never really out of the contest, even though they trailed throughout the middle stages of the final.

They levelled at 14-all after 18 ends, before, on a loose head, they dropped a six.

Ultimately, that end was equally as important as the 23rd.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Hodges defeated Judy Campbell, Larisa King, Sue Rossiter and Lynn Clifford (Mercury Bay) 34-11, while Constantine, after taking a six on the penultimate head, won a last-end thriller 23-22 over Bev Rogers, Val Mathews, Kathryn McGaughey and Adele French (Thames Coast).

The prize for the best performed Taranaki side went to Paritutu’s Amanda Crehan, Marlene McArthur, Bridget Fletcher and Gale Fache. They bowed out 24-21 to Clifford on Friday evening.

Meanwhile, in the Midlands Funds Management Open fours-pairs event, Paritutu’s Kileigh Barber and Cathy Andrews held on to beat Fitzroy’s Judy Crawford and Rhonda Adams 20-18 inf the final.

Crawford and Adams led the final 10-3 and then 15-11 after 13 ends. But Barber and Andrews took the next five ends to wrestle the advantage.

Sharing third-equal was Bev Bromfield (West End) and her sister Lyn Bowcock (Taradale), and the West End duo of Noeline Goldsworthy and Susan Cottam. Thirteen combinations, from a field of 32, qualified in the pairs.