There were mixed results for the Wairarapa men’s and women’s representative bowls teams at the Tararua Quadrangular tournament hosted by Kāpiti Coast on Sunday.
The men were third behind winners Manawatū in the four-team competition, with five wins and one draw, while the women were fourth, picking up three wins and a draw.
The triple of Scott MacKenzie, Richard Anderson and Hayden Frew was the best performed of the men’s combinations, with wins over Manawatū [19–7] and Kāpiti [19–10].
The experienced pair of Ian Monaghan and Mark O’Brien started with a 17–17 draw with Kāpiti, followed by a 20–9 defeat of Manawatū.
In the singles, Mathew Day notched a 21–13 win over Kāpiti, while the four of Garry Muriwai, Clint Carroll, Ross Gillett and Gavin Hamlyn’s only points came from a tight 20–19 victory over Wellington.
The four of Robyn Schischka, Janalle Frew, Maryanne Ashworth and Leah MacKenzie were the stars for the women, notching two wins over Wellington [19–9] and Kāpiti [24–8], while the triple of Lil Renata, Makaia Campbell and Rozanna Muriwai beat Wellington 17–13 and drew 13–13 with Kāpiti.
Women’s selector Tanya Wheeler was reading little into the results, with some long-term players unavailable this year.
“I’ve really had to make some changes and try some things out, so again, it was a bit of trial and error this weekend,” Wheeler said.
“It was a good time for me to have a look at other players in different positions who haven’t played before, with the Octagonal tournament [in Whanganui] at the end of next week.”
In conjunction with the senior quadrangular, a two-round tournament for bowlers with one to eight years experience was held in Levin.
The men edged Kāpiti on shots differential, having had two wins to the pair of Steve Geange and Andy Gardiner, over Kāpiti [22–11] and Manawatū [13–12].
The women tied with Kāpiti on three wins but finished fourth on shots differential. All three wins came in the second round.
Jill McLean won her singles 21–12 over Kāpiti, the triple of Megan Gray, Deidre Walker and Tessa Stokes edged Wellington 16–14 and the four of Stacey Smyth, Angela Rose, Kiri Lander and Claire Jacobson beat Kāpiti 17–12.
