Zittersteijn bowls through competition

It was a big weekend for Spotswood College’s Aidan Zittersteijn who can now call himself the New Zealand Secondary Schools Indoor Bowls open singles champion.

Zittersteijn went undefeated at the event in Wellington on Sunday, collected eight wins and a draw on his way to the title.

In collecting the silverware, the 17-year-old bested 72 other bowlers from around the country entered in the event.

In the final, Zittersteijn defeated Lytton High School’s two-time champion Leighton Shanks 11-4, getting revenge for their 2014 final which saw Shanks come out on top.

Spotswood College’s Ryan Vincent also qualified for the top 16 at the event but was eliminated by David Ellis of Timaru Boys’ High School 10-2 in his first post-section game to finish in ninth equal.

In the plate division, Inglewood High School’s Foden Petersen was beaten in the final 13-3 by Katie-Rae Botica from Wellington’s Villa Maria College.

Zittersteijn’s national championship win followed on from his North Island Secondary Schools singles title won in July.

The result came on the back of what was a full on Saturday for the 17-year-old, who finished as runner-up in the New Zealand Junior Singles championship on Saturday morning and helped the North Island defeat the South Island in the inter- island under-18 saturday night.

After winning the North Taranaki qualifying event in June, Zittersteijn was one of 24 finalists from throughout New Zealand assembled for this year’s national junior singles championship.

Zittersteijn won the event last year undefeated and was hoping to defend his title but, after winning six consecutive games, he was bested in a close final 10-9 to 2014 winner Jonty Horwell from Otago. clash on