Dale Rowe … won the Wairarapa women’s open pairs title with Helen Baker. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
BOWLS
CHRIS COGDALE
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The 2019 Wairarapa women’s open pairs champions each added another pairs title to their trophy cabinets on Sunday, but on opposite sides of the Tararua Range.
While Featherston’s Dale Rowe was winning the Wairarapa Open title at Carrington, her 2019 partner Olivia Mancer partnered her mother Fiona to win the Manawatu Open Pairs at Hokowhitu, Palmerston North.
Rowe combined with Martinborough’s Helen Baker to beat Featherston clubmates Tanya Wheeler and Janalle Frew in the semifinals and set up the final against former Carterton bowler Robyn Schischka, now from Johnston Park, Feilding, and Masterton’s Dorothy Christensen.
For Fiona Mancer, winning a title with 16-year-old Olivia for the first time was incredible.
“It was such a special moment to win something like that with your kid,” she said.
Making the victory even more meritorious, the Mancers’ opponents were three-time world championship and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sharon Sims, and Manawatu representative Jessie Davis-Laws.
“We were totally 100 per cent the underdogs,” Fiona said.
The Mancers won the first end, lost the second and third ends, but dropped only one point, and afterwards built on their lead to win 15-8, and Fiona gave much of the credit to Olivia for the victory.
“Livvie just drew like an absolute beast. The worst end she left me on the head was two down, and every other time we either had shot or good positional bowls, so she set it up nicely, and I just had to play the shots and convert it.”
Fiona, who plays out of Palmerston North but retains her Masterton membership, and Olivia, who plays out Featherston, made the final, after qualifying and quarterfinals and semifinals in mid-December.
The Wairarapa men’s open title went west, with the Paraparaumu Beach father and son combination Marcel and Reece Hakkens beating Martinborough’s Gary Muriwai and Stokes Valley’s Bill Brunenberg in the final at Featherston.
The Hakkens qualified for the decider with wins over the Featherston duo of Scott Mackenzie and Hayden Frew in the first round of post-section play before beating another Featherston combo of Doug and Rob Bennett in the quarterfinal and defending champions Mathew Day and Lester Dee [both Masterton] in the semifinals.
Muriwai and Brunenberg’s route to the final included a win over Bruce Howe [Featherston] and John Harman [Eketahuna] in the quarterfinals, followed by a semifinal win over Martinborough’s Scott Roddick and Carrington’s Gavin Hamlyn.
