The Devon Hotel Taranaki Women’s Open Fours 2026 Draw is out. Good luck to all those involved. Handbooks will be available to pick up on the first day.
Lawn Bowls
The Devon Hotel Taranaki Men’s Open Fours 2026 Draw is out. Good luck to all those involved. This year will see us return to Okato and Urenui Bowling Clubs as well as the best greens in New Plymouth and surrounding clubs.
The Devon Hotel Taranaki Men’s Open Fours 2026 Draw
Grant Hassall .
Paritutu’s reign as the New Zealand men’s interclub bowls champions is over.
They were narrowly beaten on differential in the Taranaki final by host club West End on Sunday.
In the Summerset-sponsored event, both clubs finished with six wins and one draw from nine games, to finish equal on top.
But West End had +29 differential points, as opposed to Paritutu’s +20.
And so, just as they did in 1992, West End ended the run of the previous Paritutu men’s national champion side.
They now advance to the national finals in April.
After competitive efforts, Ōpunake finished with two wins and two draws and New Plymouth with one win and two draws in the finals series.
Paul Howell won twice in the singles for West End, as did John Roberts and Craig De Faria in the pairs. Steve Walker’s four of Steve Temperton, Bruce Colgan and John Garrud had two wins and one draw.
The only combination to win all three on the day was Adam Collins and Darren Goodin in the pairs for Paritutu.
However, Paritutu managed to hold onto the Vospers-sponsored women’s division one title.
Following the last round, which was played at West End on Sunday, Paritutu, with three wins, moved clear of Fitzroy to finish on 29 match points.
Fitzroy managed only one win in the last round to hold onto second place with 25, followed by Tower on 24.
Paritutu’s win was achieved even without world champion Briar Atkinson.
On Sunday, selector Jackie Moeahu ran away with her singles match to set up Paritutu.
The pair was Tina Atkinson-Watt and Heather Johns, while the four included Barbara Batley, Cathy Andrews, Bridget Fletcher and Gale Fache.
Paritutu once again did the double, with it also winning the women’s second division title on 34 points.
Manaia (24 +68) and Lepperton (24 +43) filed the minor placings.
In the other men’s interclub events, West End (15) took the second division from Hawera Park (11), Stratford-Avon (10) and Inglewood (0), while Manaia won the third division.
There, Manaia beat Paritutu in a virtual final 2-1 to finish with 30 points ahead of the 27 Paritutu earned.
There was an appropriate conclusion to the Q Transport-sponsored junior interclub when Lepperton beat Paritutu 14-11 in the final.
Included in the Lepperton side was Fred Quilter, the 2024 Taranaki junior singles victor, who along with wife Tina, the Lepperton president, own Q Transport.
The other members of the Lepperton squad were Chris Ropitini, Nathan Eriwata, Dennis Turner and Elly Kidney, while the Paritutu squad comprised Rhys Hood, Diane Waite, Angela Parr, Pip Milne and Phil Waite.
Meanwhile, the Cross Country Rentals-sponsored mixed pairs will be an all-West End final at a date yet to be determined.
In the semifinals at Stratford-Avon on Saturday, John Garrud and Trish Howard beat Paritutu’s Alex Riddock and Barbara Batley 25-5, while Craig De Faria and Susan Cottam prevailed 17-8 over another West End pair headed by the ageless Lois Ritson.
Grant Hassall
Taranaki’s Briar Atkinson and Camron Horo are world champions.
The duo won the world indoor junior bowls mixed pairs in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland, in the early hours of Friday morning (NZT) and in doing so completed a tremendous championship that was many months in the making.
Both players excelled throughout the week, with Atkinson also taking a silver in the women’s singles and Horo a bronze in the men’s singles.
Horo, a man of few words felt that he had been “carried” by Atkinson but admitted to being “pretty stoked”.
Atkinson, was left a little disappointed after just missing out on the singles, but her achievements will sink in shortly.
While both players were selected by Bowls New Zealand for the event, they largely had to pay their own way and this was achieved through various fundraising efforts in Taranaki during the winter.
Atkinson and Horo gave the biggest thank you possible to the many who contributed with their glittering performances in Ireland.
They were ably managed by New Plymouth’s John Gray, a former Dominion fours winner, who provided the right blend of experience and enjoyment.
In the mixed pairs final, Atkinson and Horo beat Ireland’s Zoe Stratton and Daniel Spratt 7-2 9-0.
Atkinson’s accurate lead bowls gave the Kiwis the edge and Horo was able to convert and consolidate the ends into points.
Since the introduction of the mixed pairs to the event in 2004, it is the first time a New Zealand combination has triumphed.
The pairs involved 16 combinations and the Kiwis finished with six-straight wins.
In fact Atkinson’s only loss all week was in the singles final, where, somewhat unluckily, she went down to Ireland’s Lara Reany 2-6 3-4.
After conceding the first set, Atkinson dominated the play in the second.
But Reany was able to scramble, especially on the penultimate head, when she drew the shot with her last bowl when one down on the board and three down on the head. Atkinson had beaten Reany in section play on a tiebreaker.
Horo, after sneaking into the quarterfinals following three wins and two losses, was nosed out in the men’s singles semifinals 7-3 3-8 1-4 by classy Australian Joseph Clarke, the eventual champion.
They went into the last end of the tiebreaker at 1-1 and Horo slid by on the wide side with his attempts at trailing the jack.
Atkinson showed early promise at Lepperton after her late grandfather, Danny Watt, introduced her to bowls.
That talent has developed significantly now, as she divides her club bowls between Paritutu and Oakura.
A full international player, Atkinson took part in the trans-Tasman last season and is unquestionably one of the finest players in the world today.
It was former NZ coach John Murtagh who said after seeing Atkinson as a 15-year-old: “I have seen the second coming of Jo Edwards.” How true Murtagh was.
It has been a remarkable rise for Horo, an apprentice plumber from Rahotu.
He appears set for a big haul of Taranaki titles in the years ahead. But as illustrated by his victory with Paritutu in the NZ interclub in April and his outstanding showing this past week, surely his goals must have risen.
He has every chance of also becoming a full international – and a very good one at that.
Thanks to Sports News Taranaki: https://sportsnewstaranaki.co.nz/news-article?id=1996
Please see the following information for the next days play in the Cross Country Rentals Mixed Pairs.
Cross Country Rentals Mixed Pairs – Saturday 6th December Information
We currently have a vacancy and are looking for expressions of interest to fill the role of Manager for our Men’s Development Side (Under 8’s).
Team Manager – Men’s Development Side
We’re inviting expressions of interest for the role of Team Manager with our Men’s Development side. This is a rewarding opportunity to play a key part in supporting our players and coaches as they prepare for the upcoming Junior Hexagonal Tournament.
As Team Manager, you’ll:
- Help coordinate and oversee the Development side’s activities
- Work closely with the coach/selector to ensure smooth team operations
- Assist with logistics such as training schedules, match preparation, and player welfare
- Be a point of contact for players, staff, and the wider community
We’re looking for someone who:
- Is organized and approachable
- Communicates well and enjoys working with people
- Has an interest in supporting player development and team culture, and
- Wants to contribute to the success and enjoyment of the Development program
If you’re keen to be involved and support our players on their journey, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact the Centre Office on 0277578800 or by email.
Our current management team is
Men’s Selector: John Gray
Men’s Manager: Kevan Sellers
Development Coach/Selector: Kevin Gledhill
Please note that State Highway 3 will be closed in the lead up to The Devon Hotel Taranaki Men’s Open Fours.
For more information please check NZTA: https://nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh3-mangapepeke-culvert-replacement
For teams taking the scenic route via SH43 (Through Stratford and The Forgotten Highway) to New Plymouth expect some extra travel time.
From Bay of Plenty/Rotorua – allow 1hr extra
From Auckland – allow 1hr 50min extra
(Travel times according to Google)
Please see the following list of teams entered in The Devon Hotel Taranaki Women’s Open Fours for 2025-26
The Devon Hotel Taranaki Women’s Open Fours Team List 2025-26
We are looking for a couple of teams to fill a section, if you would still like to enter or have yet to get your team in, please contact the Centre Office.
For any changes to team line-ups, or spelling corrections, please email the Centre Office at taranakibowls@xtra.co.nz
Please see the following list of teams entered in The Devon Hotel Taranaki Men’s Open Fours for 205-26
The Devon Hotel Taranaki Men’s Open Fours Team List 2025-26
We are looking for a couple of teams to fill a section, if you would still like to enter or have yet to get your team in, please contact the Centre Office.
For any changes to team line-ups, or spelling corrections, please email the Centre Office at taranakibowls@xtra.co.nz
New Zealand made a solid start to the BlackJacks’ World Cup campaign which began with a bronze medal for the Para Mixed Pair team of Teri Blackbourn (Hamilton) and Kurt Smith (New Plymouth).
Competing at the 2025 Lawn Bowls World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Blackbourn and Smith were impressive throughout the qualifying stages, adapting well to the carpeted playing surface to win four of their five qualification matches and finish top of their pool.
In their semi-final the pair took on a strong Australian side. The match was all tied up early, with Australia just pulling away to claim the first set 3-2, before they closed out the match 8-3 in the second set.
“It was a well fought match. They just got away from us in that first set and we tried to reset in the second but they were too good,” said Smith.
“It’s great to be around so many nations and I’ve loved playing with Teri — she’s a weapon and I’m super lucky to have her as a teammate. We’ve had quite a bit of success together and having someone like that with so much experience has been great for me.”
The semi-final loss saw the pair finish with a bronze medal.
Blackbourn also opened her singles campaign overnight, with a convincing 15-1, 16-1 win over her Irish opponent.