Paritutu come from behind to claim title

Paritutu have come from behind to win the Taranaki women’s bowls division one interclub title.

After O¯ pu¯ nake had led the field into the final two rounds on Sunday, Paritutu levelled after winning five games from six and took the overall honours on differential.

Both clubs finished the Vospers-sponsored event on 26 points, but from the seven rounds, Paritutu accumulated 31 net shots compared to O¯ pu¯ nake’s 12.

A change in the player order worked a treat for Paritutu, which has twice previously won the New Zealand title, in 2005 and 2016.

Cathy Andrews moved to the singles, winning both her games, as did the mother-and-daughter pair of Barbara Batley and Bridget Fletcher.

Heather Johns’ four of Berys Norgate, Val Keightley and Gloria Shaw ended the event with six wins, as did O¯ pu¯ nake singles player Chris Commane.

Meanwhile, West End took out the second division, finishing with

34 points, three clear of secondplaced Fitzroy. With the victory, West End will be promoted into division one next season.

❚ Inglewood were the surprise leaders after the first three rounds were completed in the TSB Realtysponsored men’s division one interclub for the Bill Smee Trophy at Vogeltown on Sunday.

They have 16 points after winning eight matches from nine, while West End Blue (14) and Paritutu (12) round out the top three in the 10-team competition.

Brothers Gerry and Danny O’Sullivan and Eric Foreman all picked up three wins for the leaders, with the singles and pairs duties split between the trio.

World champion-of-champions runner-up Dean Elgar posted three wins for West End Blue, as did its four of Norm Broughton, Bruce Lilley, John Garrud and John Sexton.

Paritutu, the champion of the past four years, continued to get great service from Darren Goodin in the singles, after he posted three wins.

❚ Tuesday is the second day’s play in the 54th Bacardi Cup men’s fours event at Fitzroy, with the finals scheduled to be held early on Wednesday afternoon.

The tournament requires at least two members per side to have had a specific involvement in the hospitality sector and has drawn

28 teams from New Zealand. Included in the field is the Taieri terror, Charlie Burrell, who has remarkably played in all 53 prior tournaments, and Francis Monopoli (Nelson) who skipped the winning team 12 months ago.

Four past New Zealand representatives – Ken Walker, Richard Collett, Glenn McDonald and Neville Hill – are also taking part along with another noted sporting identity, Alex Wyllie.