Bowls: Winners found after Bowls Taranaki finals weekend

Grant Hassall

Jackie Moeahu (Paritutu and Oakura) and Bruce Colgan (West End) were the big winners from Bowls Taranaki’s finals weekend with both players achieving milestones after each won three titles.

Moeahu won champion-of-champions titles in triples, fours and singles, all on Sunday, and in doing so, lifted her overall tally to 10 Taranaki titles. Colgan, after winning the champion-of-champions triples and fours (team pictured) on Sunday, added the open triples on Monday to achieve gold star status for five titles.

There was also double title success during the weekend for Dean Elgar – to give him five for the season, a record in the men’s ranks, and equal to that of June Ward and Briar Atkinson – Darren Scott, Grant Hassall and Tina Atkinson-Watt. The latter two also got their gold stars.

All three of Moeahu’s triumphs were close-run affairs.

Leading for Atkinson, with Atkinson-Watt in the middle, Moeahu’s first win came in the triples 19-12 over Tower’s Alethea Rowlands, Hazel Schwartfeger and Irene Taunt, with threes on the last two ends inflating the margin.

Moeahu led in the fours with Alesha Quay, Bridget Fletcher and Atkinson-Watt skipping. They led Okato’s Sandra Boardman, Ellice Hona, Dianne Watts and Linda Kape 11-4. But playing the last end, the difference was just one, Atkinson-Watt’s Paritutu quartet prevailing 13-10.

In the singles, Moeahu, playing for Oakura, came from 19-12 down to pip New Plymouth’s Margy Carey 21-20. Carey had earlier annexed the pairs with skip Elaine Hodge. They beat Stratford-Avon’s Toni Watson and Pauline Davy 13-11, after the scores had been even playing the last end.

Colgan’s champion triples victory came with Hassall and Scott when they beat Waitara’s Bill Rona, Nigel Newton and Cliff Rona 17-8. Then came the fours, with Cody Hall, Scott and skip Paul Howell, beating Tower’s Brendan Anderson, Graham Baxter, Grant Anderson and Mark Anderson 14-9.

And the final win, the open triples, on Monday, was with Hassall and the irrepressible Craig De Faria when they edged West End clubmates Steve Temperton, Bruce Hall and John Garrud 19-17, with Colgan drawing the winning shot on the last end.

Elgar’s brilliant season concluded when he and Kevan Sellers backed up their Christmas pairs victory by beating New Plymouth’s Peter and Bart Robertson 22-12, and then, by grabbing a three on the last end, denied the latter 21-20 in an outstanding singles decider.

The Abraham’s women’s open triples was a closely-fought affair, with a three on the penultimate end proving decisive as Val McEldowney, Val Symes and Anne Brophy (New Plymouth) edged Lorraine Heal, Leanne Halls and Trish Howard (West End) 16-14.

Manaia’s Paul Midgley became the first to do the Crehan first year singles and champion-of-champions junior singles double in the same year. He beat Eldon Peters (New Plymouth) 21-11 in the former event and then came from behind to deny Shae Fleming (Rahotu) 21-19 in the junior competition, illustrating the national indoor gold star holder has a big future in the outdoor game.

Fleming had earlier, with Joel Chard, secured a second-straight victory in the Hugh Moss junior pairs, after they beat Lepperton’s Colleen Hodges and Craig Metcalfe 24-3 in the final.

Soon after, though, Hodges, playing under the Stratford-Avon banner, claimed the women’s junior singles 21-13 from Taunt.