Mcilroy scoops third singles title

Shannon Mcilroy picked up his third Bowls Nelson centre singles title in four years after a 21-10 win over Gary Watson in Sunday’s final at the Stoke Bowling Club.

Jo Edwards also skipped her United team of Val Smith and Colleen Earl to victory in the women’s centre triples final at the Nelson club, beating Stoke’s Amy Brenton 15-10 in the final.

Mcilroy and Watson were among the 15 qualifiers vying for the title, the first round going mostly to plan after Mcilroy (Stoke) beat Maurice Dodsworth (Richmond) 21-5, James Pugh (Stoke) beat clubmate Jason Clarkson 21-3 and Charlie Edgarton (United) beat Paul Baken (Stoke) 21-17.

Barry Chinnery (Richmond) beat Ian Tyler (Maitai) 21-6, Russell Calder (Stoke) beat Mike Wilson (United) 21-9 and Andrew Curtain (United) beat Chris Alldred (Tahunanui) 21-8. Mcillroy continued his momentum with a 21-16 quarterfinal win over Ron Robb (Stoke), while Watson beat Chinnery 21-17, Edgarton beat Pugh 21-16 and Calder beat Curtain 21-20.

Mcillroy had a tight semifinal match against Edgarton before gaining the upper hand and going on to win 21-16, while Watson always held the upper hand against Calder, winning 21-11.

The final was close for the first 13 ends with the scores tied at 8-all before Mcillroy picked up nine shots on the next three ends to lead Watson 17-8. Mcillroy covered every move Watson made to finally secure the 21-10 win.

The women’s triples involved seven qualifiers, with Marilyn Robertson, Sheena Bennett and Helen Moseley (Stoke) beating the strong team of Marie Watson, Jo Collis and Rhonda Bellis (Stoke) 14-12 in the quarters. Diane Merritt, Lesley Amos and Kath Newth (Stoke) beat Judy Heeman’s United team of Maureen Gibbons and Dianne Hancock 13-12 and Brenton, Barbara Thomason and Lyn Sloper (Stoke) beat Diane Potts, Laurell Mexted and Kristine Greaney 15-9.

Brenton beat Merritt 15-14 in the semis, while Edwards, who had the first round bye, beat Robertson 21-10. Brenton went to an 8-3 lead after seven ends in the final, but the strong Edwards combination fought back to level the score at 10-all after 10 ends before going on to win 15-10.