Fletcher wins first centre title
Kay Fletcher has finally won her first Nelson centre title after helping Johnny Persico’s Wakapuaka team to victory in the Nelson champions of champions fours indoor bowls final on Saturday.
Along with Fred Persico and Shirley Deerness, Fletcher and Persico comfortably beat Suburban’s Max Bennett, Vonnie Turipa, Ces Davies and Fay Johnson 13-4 in the final at the Warnes Indoor Bowls Stadium.
The win also capped off a great season for Johnny Persico who has now won 11 centre titles after winning his second centre gold star the previous week in the triples.
It was his third centre title this year after previously winning the singles. Fred Persico has now won 18 centre titles and Deerness three.
Defending champions from the last two years, Stoke’s Mike and Kaleb Johnston who had two new players with them this year in Domenic Palumbo and Diane Grooby, couldn’t make it a threepeat, losing their two lives to teams from the Star and Suburban clubs.
Wakapuaka never looked like losing, winning all their games comfortably. Bennett’s Suburban team beat Philippa Hoult’s Star team of Leona Ellis, Joyce Caldwell and Judy Marris 12-8, to put them into the final against Persico.
Suburban had only one life left so had to beat two-lifers Wakapuaka twice, but Wakapuaka were too strong.
Deerness and her team of Daniel Marsh and Tony Hodgson had previously remained unbeaten, finishing with three wins and a draw, to win Wednesday’s Honest Lawyer Nelson triples with lady skip title. Geraldine Fisher, Dale Burrell and Helen Jennings were second with three wins and 20 ends, and Kay Fletcher, husband Brian Fletcher and Les Sillifant were third with three wins and 18 ends.
Meanwhile, Nelson is set to host the New Zealand Henselite champion of champion singles final starting at the Warnes Indoor Bowls Stadium on Saturday.
Thirty four regional winners from around New Zealand, including Nelson’s Johnny Persico and Golden Bay- Motueka’s Greg Edwards, will compete.
Upper Hutt Valley’s Ashley Diamond heads a very strong field this year, with Diamond a current New Zealand representative. He won this event in 2015, and has also won the national singles title in 2014 and 2016 and holds a national championship gold star for five titles.
Otago’s Daniel French also won this event in 2014, while Counties’ Matthew Ellis was runner-up in 2006 and 2007.
The youngest player in the field is North Taranaki’s Aidan Zittersteijn at just 17 years old who comes in fresh from successfully defending his New Zealand secondary schools singles title two weeks ago. He also won the New Zealand junior singles in 2015.
Persico won the Nelson Centre champion of champion singles back in June. Persico has had a great season winning three Nelson Centre titles, gaining his second Centre gold star.
He won the national triples championship in Taupo in June and played two in the South Island men’s fours team that toured the North Island and played a test match against the North Island last month.