Ian Lewis

Taranaki players will be looking to build on the province’s proud history at the New Zealand bowls championships when the event commences in Auckland on January 2.

A total of 17 players will trek north, all with aspirations of some sort, for the singles and pairs competitions. The fours and mixed pairs events will be held in Christchurch in February.

Briar Atkinson presents Taranaki’s best chance of success. She knocked loudly on the door last season, narrowly losing the pairs final with Tannih Potgieter and placing third-equal in the singles.

Atkinson should go close in both disciplines. She will lead in the pairs for Selina Goddard. The same combination will face Australia in the trans-Tasman in late January.

Goddard and Tayla Bruce, who played such a spectacular final two years ago, and reigning champion Leeane Poulson, all current Black Jacks, present the biggest hurdles for Atkinson in the singles. But the field is more open this season with Val Smith, Jo Edwards and Katelyn Inch all absent.

Taranaki will also be represented in the women’s pairs by Bridget Fletcher and Tina Atkinson-Watt, and Trish Howard and Kristin Stampa.

Atkinson-Watt also contests the singles, as does clubmate Amanda Crehan.

Dean Elgar, the winner of the men’s singles in 2017, showed enough form in the Taranaki interclub competition, to suggest that he could challenge again.

He won’t take part in the pairs, but both finalists from the recent Christmas pairs will – victors John Roberts and Craig De Faria, and the runners-up Kaylin Huwyler and Hamish Kape.

Rahotu young guns Nathan Goodin and Camron Horo are also in the field, while John Gray links up with Tauranga’s talented Dan Dickison, the 2021 Open winning skip.

Among the other Taranaki players that will feature are Kevin Gledhill, Bruce Hall and Ross Henderson.

Taranaki rates a good prospect in the disability event, where newly selected international Kurt Smith takes part in the singles and pairs. He combines in the latter with Teri Blackbourn, the winner of the world para pairs title in 2023.

The finals of the disability and women’s singles and the men’s pairs are scheduled for January 5. The disability and women’s pairs and the men’s singles will be concluded on January 9.

Grant Hassall
Courtesy of Sports News Taranaki
https://sportsnewstaranaki.co.nz/news-article?id=1874

We have some events coming up including the Men’s and Women’s Junior Hexagonal. If you would like to be involved and would like to mark some of the games of singles, or are interested in volunteering to mark from time to time, then please get in touch with the Centre Office by email.

Thanks.

I’d like to thank everyone for their time and effort this year, and wish everyone the best of luck with their bowls this season. To let you know, I will be working from home over the School Holidays. If you need to reach the Centre Office please call 027 757 8800 anytime during the week. The office at Paritutu will be open again on Friday the 17th January.

Thanks
Ian Lewis
Executive Officer
Bowls Taranaki

The Draw for The Devon Hotel Taranaki Women’s Open Fours 2025 has been made. We have 88 teams contesting the Women’s event this year, and welcome a new team from Australia and new teams from all across New Zealand. Good luck to all involved.

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The Devon Hotel Taranaki Women’s Open Fours 2025 Draw

Bowls Taranaki and our Open Fours events are proudly sponsored by The Devon Hotel, Midlands Funds Management, Auto City and supported by the Toi Foundation and Venture Taranaki.

If you need to update your team listing please email the Centre Office.

The Draw for the Midlands Funds Management Taranaki Men’s Open Fours 2025 has been made. We have 180 teams contesting the Men’s event this year, and welcome new teams from Australia, California and across New Zealand. Good luck to all involved.

Midlands Funds Management Taranaki Men’s Open Fours 2025 Draw

The Devon Hotel Taranaki Women’s Open Fours 2025 Draw – coming soon

Bowls Taranaki and our Open Fours events are proudly sponsored by Midlands Funds Management, The Devon Hotel, Auto City and supported by the Toi Foundation and Venture Taranaki.

If you need to update your team listing please email the Centre Office.

The Midlands Funds Management Taranaki Men’s Open Fours entries have come in, we are currently looking for a couple more teams to fill a section. If you are interested in playing please contact the Centre Office on 0277578800. If you need to update your team listing, or check spelling before the Draw is published please email the Centre Office at taranakibowls@xtra.co.nz

Midlands Funds Management Taranaki Men’s Open Fours 2025 – Team List

The Devon Hotel Women’s Open Fours entries close on Wednesday the 20th of November. We are accepting entries and if you are interested in playing please contact the Centre Office on 0277578800. If you need to update your team listing, or check spelling before a Draw is published please email the Centre Office at taranakibowls@xtra.co.nz

The Devon Hotel Taranaki Women’s Open Fours 2025 – Entries as of 18th November.

Entries close this weekend (16th, 17th November) for the Midlands Funds Management Taranaki Men’s Open Fours. We will keep entries open over the weekend, and we are looking for a few more teams to fill up a section. If you are still interested in entering contact the Centre Office on 0277578800 or fill out the entry form online.

Thank You.

All Interclub venues are the same as scheduled for this weekends play.
Summerset Men’s Division 1 – Paritutu, Hawera Park
Summerset Men’s Division 2 – West End
Summerset Men’s Division 3 – Paritutu

Vospers Women’s Division 1 – West End
Vospers Women’s Division 2 – Paritutu

Q-Transport Junior Interclub – Waitara, New Plymouth and Stratford-Avon.

Grant Hassall

The Taranaki senior women’s representative bowls side upstaged its male counterparts when it comfortably beat Whanganui at the Tower club on Saturday.

The side put on an encouraging performance in tough, blustery conditions, to overcome the visitors 8-4 in games played. But at Manaia it was the opposite where a strong Whanganui team ousted the senior Taranaki men by the same scoreline.

The women won three games from four in both of the first two rounds. Trish Howard, before being transferred into the team disciplines after lunch, posted an excellent 21-19 win over Dianne Patterson in the opening singles rubber.

Chris Commane, after being part of Maree Gadsby’s winning triple in the first round, won both singles games in the afternoon to finish the day with a perfect record.

She was not alone, with Rita Davey also achieving the feat.

Val Symes spent the day skipping the day the pair, initially with Judy Crawford and then Lesley Te Awa, and returned two wins from three.

Howard, Maree Gadsby and Alesha Quay also tasted victory twice.

The men opened brightly winning three games over Whanganui. That included Darren Goodin beating Gavin Scrivener 21-14, Bruce Colgan and Craig De Faria getting up 15-13 over Lance Tasker and Hamish Kape, and John Gray’s quartet running away 20-9 over Peter Belliss.

But only one game from eight was won thereafter – Colgan and Steve Walker in the last round of pairs.

It meant that Colgan was the only Taranaki player to win two matches on the day.

The under-eights events saw the Taranaki women prevail by an astonishing 11-1 matches. Taranaki’s superior points difference saw them win the under-eights men after both provinces finished on six wins apiece.

Meanwhile, the weather conditions on Sunday caused havoc in the majority of interclub events being played. The Summerset-sponsored men’s division one, playing at West End, managed to navigate three rounds in the drizzle.

New Plymouth, with six wins from nine, holds a slender lead in the black section from both Tower and Fitzroy, who each had five wins and one draw.

Reliable singles player Kelly Hill won all three games for New Plymouth, an effort repeated by Manaia’s promising Jason Peters and Paritutu’s Dean Elgar.

Paritutu head the amber section with eight wins and one draw, while Rahotu and West End have five wins each.

Two further rounds will be played this Sunday, with the top two teams out of each section qualifying.

Article courtesy of Sports News Taranaki
https://sportsnewstaranaki.co.nz/news-article?id=1846&fbclid=IwY2xjawGgob9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHesdab6k7-ItGDAk2iOaLUPjELXE2QbOTEhrgED3Qb0faFoEzMxYiLWLWw_aem_ljMuSciGfu4QPeGgAdBL8Q

There has been a change of venue for Q-Transport Junior Interclub.

Section B & C for Q-Transport Junior Interclub next Sunday 17^th November has been transferred from Vogeltown BC to New Plymouth Bowling Club.
Section A remains at Waitara.

Please make sure players are aware of the change of venue.