Weekend wins put Paritutu back on top

Paritutu are back on top of Taranaki men’s interclub bowls.

The city club secured the Bill Smee Trophy for the fifth time in six years after scoring two wins from three games in the final round, which was played at Stratford-Avon on Sunday morning. That took Paritutu to 40 match points to emerge as a clear winner.

Tower picked up three wins against the previously secondplaced West End Blue to take second prize in the TSB Realtysponsored competition. It finished with 36, while West End White and West End Blue ended on 35 apiece. Ha¯ wera Park were placed 10th and have been relegated for next season.

The winning Paritutu team comprised Aidan Zittersteijn, who continues to grow in confidence, in the singles, while the pair of Don Christensen and Darren Goodin impressed, dropping only one game during the nine rounds.

Ian Andrews’ four included Mike Walsh, Neville Elliott and Rodger Hassall.

In other action from the weekend, Ha¯wera Park’s Kristin Stampa picked up her third Taranaki mixed pairs title on her home green on Saturday.

Stampa, who recently made the quarterfinals of the Victorian open singles in Australia, was teamed in the Cross Country Rentals-sponsored event with West End’s Grant Hassall.

The composite combination defeated Don Christensen (Paritutu) and Cheryll Sharrock (New Plymouth) 18-1 in the final.

In the semifinals, Stampa edged out Paritutu’s Barbara Batley and Darren Goodin 18-15, while Christensen defeated Fitzroy’s Ian and Rhonda Adams, the husband and wife pair to go the furthest, 17-13.

Meanwhile, entries have closed for the 2019 men’s Taranaki open fours at 168 teams, an increase of 12 on the past season. Local entries are down six sides, but that has been offset by a surge in visitor numbers.