The master and the apprentice took the honours at the Bowls Wairarapa Men’s Open Pairs at the Masterton Bowling Club on Sunday.
The master Ian Monaghan added a 73rd Wairarapa centre title and 14th Wairarapa open pairs title to his bulging trophy cabinet, while for the apprentice Corrie James, it was his maiden open centre championship in his first year of bowling.
The partnership came about when Monaghan was impressed when he saw James practising on the Masterton greens, and he approached him about forming a combination for club competitions and the centre championship.
The pair clicked immediately, resulting in Sunday’s 15–12 final victory over Martinborough’s Neville Smith and Featherston’s Steve Chapman.
However, getting to the final proved to be more of a battle, with the Masterton pair having to overcome a stern challenge from Martinborough clubmates Gavin Hamlyn and Mark O’Brien in the quarterfinals, only hitting the front on the penultimate end.
“We were two down, and I ran the jack and put it into the ditch and sat next to it. Corrie had the back bowl, and I drew two bowls to get four, and that put us 15–14 in front, and then we got one shot in the last end,” Monaghan said.
Monaghan and James then dispatched Jimmy Scott and Peter Ireland 19–7 in the semifinals to progress to the decider.
Smith and Chapman defeated Phil Skoglund and Garry Muriwai 15–13 in the quarterfinals and Dean Hands and Steve Willis 20–4 in the semifinals.
Lansdowne’s Diane Haswell and Masterton’s Helen Baker triumphed in the Women’s Open Pairs, beating the Martinborough duo Leah Mackenzie and Tanya Wheeler 20–15 in a closely fought final.
Haswell and Baker progressed to the final with a 21–17 semifinal victory over Dale Lloyd-Stanton and Elva Simonsen, while Mackenzie and Wheeler defeated Dorothy Christensen and Robyn Schischka 18–10 in the first round of post-section play, and Rebecca Hamlyn and Rozanna Muriwai 13–10 in the semifinals.
