Lawn Bowls

Semifinalists found at Para Bowls Nationals

The final four have been found in the Para Bowls New Zealand singles championships at Paritutu.

Before the heavens opened at lunchtime on Tuesday, the quarterfinals were successfully completed on the slick Paritutu front green, with the surviving players in the singles, from an original field of 46, being Chen Naude (Putaruru), Peter Horne (Naenae) Adrian Browne (Upper Hutt) and Graham Skellern (Takapuna).

They will square off in the semifinals at Paritutu, starting at 9am on Wednesday morning, with the final scheduled to commence at 2pm.

Naude beat fellow Waikato competitor Geoffrey Carseldine, who qualified top by virtue of his four wins on Monday, 20-10 in the last eight. Naude is bidding to repeat his effort from June when he made the final of the Australian Open.

The redoubtable Horne, MNZM, with more than 40 years top-flight competition under his belt, beat 26-year-old South Otago bowler Reilly Paterson – grandson of the 2011 Dominion pairs finalist, Marilyn – 21-13. Horne got off to a flyer, leading 15-0. But Paterson then plastered the jack and Horne needed to call on his vast experience to escape on a number of heads to get across the line.

Browne, a former accomplished golfer, won through 17-10 over Rod Abbott, while former Taranaki Hearld reporter Graham Skellern ousted Wayne Cowley 21-9.

The afternoon rain meant that the three sectional rounds in the drawn pairs were forced into the Indoor Complex, with shortened matches taking place.

The top two pairs, Paterson/Bernice Tyree and Kerrin Fair/Sally Engi, will square off at 11am on Wednesday for the gold medal. At the same time, the luckless Skellern/Graham Smithies – who like the aforementioned duos also had three wins – will play for bronze against Herbert Lawson/Ralph Woolley.

The annual event concludes on Thursday with a Bowls3five triples competition and dinner.

Order your Taranaki Open Shirts Today!

This year to celebrate and promote the Taranaki Open Fours Men’s and Women’s Events, we are delighted to partner with Game Changer to produce top quality sports shirts for the Taranaki Open. Orders can be placed over the next couple of weeks, so if you like the shirt, get in quick and order yours to wear at this year’s Taranaki Open!

The shirts are similar to any modern sports shirt, coming in Junior, Women’s and Men’s Sizes. A sizing chart is available on the Game Changer website. These shirts also come with a handy inner pocket for scorecards.

Game Changer will be at the event, and shirts will be available to pick up at West End from Sunday the 14th January 2024. Game Changer will be available to help with any orders and answer any questions you have. Purchase your shirt today at GameChanger.co.nz

Paritutu win Metcalfe Real Estate Men’s Centre Fours

Paritutu’s Aidan Zittersteijn has already had plenty of bowls successes in his 24 years of life.

Those prior moments of triumphs, which include a Commonwealth Games bronze medal, have clearly given him the confidence to handle the knife-edge pressure of championship play.

That was proven when he produced three big bowls – “bombs” to the younger generation – when he skipped his team to a nail-biting 13-12 victory in the Metcalfe Real Estate-sponsored men’s centre fours final at Hawera Park on Saturday.

Zittersteijn’s side of Kaylin Huwyler, Nathan Goodin and Camron Horo had a real ding-dong clash in the decider with West End’s Jordan Linn, Dave Wilson, Steve Walker and Craig De Faria.

De Faria’s side edged ahead 10-6 after 12 of the 18 ends and then, two ends later, held the lead 11-8.

But a three, followed by a single to Zittersteijn gave Paritutu a one-shot advantage at the commencement of the penultimate head.

West End held two there before Zittersteijn drew the shot with his last delivery to create a two-point lead playing the final end.

Linn and Wilson promptly drew three good shots and when Horo drove and missed with his second bowl, it appeared Paritutu had hit the panic button.

But Zittersteijn changed tactics and drew a close second shot. De Faria, in reply, pushed off Zittersteijn’s bowl and while he dislodged one of his own counters in the process, held a minimum of two shots.

However, Zittersteijn again drew another close second shot and De Faria’s last runner narrowly missed on the inside of the bowl.

It was a meritorious win for the Paritutu side, especially for Huwyler, Goodin and Zittersteijn, it being their third successive win in the event. For Goodin, aged 20, it was even more important, with his gold star being presented for five Taranaki titles. He as also won the last two champion-of-champions fours.

Meanwhile, in the Vospers-sponsored women’s interclub on Saturday, morning rain prevented any play until lunchtime at Stratford-Avon.

Paritutu’s perfect record disappeared against Fitzroy, losing the singles and the fours. But Fitzroy’s good work was in turn undone in the following round, going down 2-1 to Waitara.

Fitzroy, Paritutu and Opunake lead the way with seven wins from four rounds, although the latter two have both had their bye.

In the second division, Tower and Paritutu emerged as section winners and will meet at Paritutu on November 19.

In the Summerset-sponsored men’s interclub on Sunday, Okato, with a number of dual members in tow, upset West End 3-0 to hold 15 points in the black section. Inglewood (11) and West End (10) remain in the hunt for a top-two finish. Paritutu has 16 points in the amber section, ahead of Tower (13) and New Plymouth (10).

Revital Fertilisers Taranaki Men’s Teams

Revital Fertilisers Taranaki look to continue their good form when playing Whanganui on Saturday 11th November. Our Women’s Team will be at Manaia, and our Men’s Team will be playing at Tower. Good luck to all those selected.

Taranaki Seniors:

Darren Goodin (Paritutu), Maurice Symes (Fitzroy), John Roberts (Tower), Aidan Zittersteijn (Paritutu), Kurt Smith (Paritutu), Bruce Colgan (West End), Craig De Faria (West End), Adam Collins (Paritutu), Steve Sabine (Inglewood), Steve Temperton (West End).

Selector: John Garrud

Team Manager: Bruce Hall.

Taranaki Juniors:

Corey Brookes (West End), Brian Pearce (Stratford-Avon), Peter van Dyk (Inglewood), Levi Davis (Opunake), Mike Baldwin (Paritutu), Evan Jones (Fitzroy), Simon Rowe (Fitzroy), Rob Clarke (Manaia), Doug Clark (Manaia), Craig Murray (Oakura).

Selector: John Garrud

Team Manager: Graham Reive.

Usual suspects skip team to decide Metcalfe Real Estate Centre Fours

Grant Hassall

Four familiar faces skip sides that will decide the outcome of the Metcalfe Real Estate Men’s Centre fours bowls competition after two days of play in Hawera over the weekend.

This coming Saturday will see the semi and final games take place at Hawera Park.

Aidan Zittersteijn (Paritutu) will meet Garry Murfitt (West End) in one game, with Craig De Faria (West End) and Dean Elgar (Paritutu) squaring off in the other.

Zittersteijn and teammates Kaylin Huwyler and Nathan Goodin have won the Metcalfe Real Estate-sponsored event the last two seasons. Hamish Kape skipped the team on both of those occasions, but with Kape playing in Nelson this weekend, Zittersteijn has moved to skip, with Camron Horo joining the side at No 3.

They sneaked past clubmate Darren Goodin 17-16 in the last eight. Murfitt has an excellent record in the event, too, having twice won it and he also made the final last year. Teaming with him this time are Steve Temperton, Norm Broughton and Dennis Osborne. Murfitt’s side overcame a 13-0 deficit to beat Paul Howell (Paritutu) 22-16 in the quarterfinals.

In the other quarterfinal games, De Faria beat Neil Earley (Inglewood) 21-13, while Elgar ousted John Garrud (West End) 17-14, having led 10-1 earlier.

De Faria’s side of Jordan Linn, Dave Wilson and Steve Walker is the most decorated quartet remaining, which includes having won the event thrice and the Open twice.

Elgar, now a fulltime member at Paritutu, has a new combination of Daryl Read, Bevan White and Kurt Smith.

On Sunday, defending champions Paritutu got off to a flying start in the Vospers-sponsored women’s division one interclub event at West End.

Paritutu won all six games to assume pole position in the seven-team competition, opening with a clean-sweep over cross-city rivals West End.

Briar Atkinson won 21-11 over West End’s Trish Howard. The Paritutu pair of Amanda Crehan and Bridget Fletcher followed suit, as did Gale Fache’s four of Kileigh Barber, Tina Atkinson-Watt and Alesha Quay, although Fache’s four needed a single on the last end to edge West End’s Viv Hall 13-12.

Paritutu backed that up with three easy wins over Stratford-Avon, while West End partly bounced back to take two games off Fitzroy, which ended the day in second place on four wins.

Howard, after trailing 20-16, pipped Rhonda Adams 21-20, while Hall nosed Maree Gadsby 19-18 in the fours.

Two pairs combinations ended the day with two wins – Judy Crawford and Vickie Kelly (Fitzroy) and Yvonne Cann and Brenda Rowe (Waitara).

Meanwhile, Atkinson’s promotion on the national stage will continue over the coming weeks. She teams up with Maurice Symes in a new event, the Twilight Bowls League, where eight invited pairs will compete over six weeks on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in Auckland.

The event will be televised on Sky and involves a variety of bowlers in an endeavour to appeal to the public of the opportunities in bowls for various ages, families and the disabled.

Taranaki folk will also get a first-hand opportunity to see the disabled in action when Paritutu hosts the national para championships for four days from Monday, November 6.

Revital Fertilisers Taranaki Teams Announced

Revital Fertilisers Taranaki look to continue their good form when playing Whanganui on Saturday 11th November. Our Women’s Team will be at Manaia, and our Men’s Team will be playing at Tower. Good luck to all those selected.

Senior Women: Alesha Quay (Paritutu), Amanda Crehan (Paritutu), Bridget Fletcher (Paritutu), Chris Commane (Opunake), Esther Ward-Campbell (Opunake), Gale Fache (Paritutu), Jackie Moeahu (Paritutu), Leanne Halls (West End), Tina Atkinson-Watt (Paritutu) and Trish Howard (West End)

Junior Women: Alethea Rowlands (Tower), Gloria Wolfe (Waitara), Irene Taunt (Manaia), Janet Ravji (Stratford-Avon), Judy Crawford (Fitzroy), Linda Kape (Okato), Rita Davey (Opunake), Shelley Baldwin (Paritutu), Shelley Clark (Manaia), Sheryll Taylor (Stratford-Avon).

Senior Men: tbc

Junior Men: tbc

Rugby World Cup Final

Bowls Taranaki have announced that the Metcalfe Real Estate Men’s Centre Fours and Vospers Women’s Interclub will start on Sunday at 12 noon to allow everyone the chance to watch the Rugby World Cup Final in the morning, before preparing, and travelling to play.

All other days scheduled will start at 9am.

Thank You.

Revital Fertilisers Taranaki Under-8s trial – cancelled

Due to the persistent rain overnight in Stratford, and with more predicted, today’s under-8s trial at Stratford-Avon is cancelled. The selectors will be considering their options and may reschedule this event for a latter date.

Achievements for Taranaki Bowlers

Grant Hassall

Taranaki bowlers are riding high with a number of achievements in recent days.

At the Bowls New Zealand annual meeting on Saturday, Paritutu’s Briar Atkinson was named as the country’s Emerging Player of the year.

Atkinson’s award follows her success representing the NZ Under-26 side and winning the national champion-of-champions singles in July.

The new season promises much for her, too. In November she will attend the Hong Kong international event, having been invited by Black Jack Selina Goddard. The duo will combine in the pairs.

Following the success of the women’s side at the World Championships earlier in the month, Atkinson may struggle to break into the top-five senior side for February’s trans-Tasman. But she should be a shoe-in for the development team.

National coach Michael Kernaghan said that Atkinson is a “huge talent”.

“She’s very receptive, she listens well and she takes on board new ideas. She’s a real open book.  And what’s really great, she’s keen as mustard.”

Meanwhile, in Invercargill during the weekend, two Taranaki entries succeeded in the NZ Professional Bowls Association finals.

West End’s John Roberts and Craig De Faria claimed the NZ world pairs title. With it comes an invitation to the world indoor pairs, that is scheduled to be held in England in early January. Roberts and De Faria are yet to make up their minds about venturing north for the world event, which was first held in 1986. In six of the first seven years of the event, the legendary Englishmen David Bryant and Tony Allcock won the title.

In the national final, Roberts and De Faria won in straight sets over Wellington’s Richard Corry and Ian McLeod 8-7, 8-3.

Paritutu’s Aidan Zittersteijn then took out the final of the United Kingdom singles event. That qualifies him for the UK singles in Newcastle in March 2024.

In the final Zittersteijn ousted Logan Clark (Auckland) 12-3, 4-9, 2-1.

Zittersteijn has also been selected for the NZ PBA side which is scheduled to meet its Australian counter-parts during the season.

It remains a busy time for the Paritutu greenkeeper. He has only just returned from the world championships, where his Cook Island four made the quarterfinals, being surrendering a healthy lead to lose to Scotland. Scotland in turn lost the final to Australia.

Bowls New Zealand Emerging Player of the Year – Briar Atkinson


The province of Taranaki can take credit for sharing many of its sons and daughters throughout New Zealand stage.  And indeed, throughout the world.

People like Peter Snell, Richard Faull, Peter Buck and Toss Woollaston were all born and bred in the ‘Naki.  As was an overabundance of rugby talent: Carl Hayman, Kieran Crowley, Graham Mourie, and of course the seemingly never-ending supply of Barretts feeding the All Blacks.

It’s the same in our bowls community.  Many great bowlers have emerged from Taranaki: Brian Baldwin; John Murtagh; Val McEldowney; and Pearl Dymond to name but a very, very few.

And a new name has emerged who looks set to add to that richness of bowling talent from Taranaki: Briar Atkinson.  And so refreshing has her emergence been, that she has been named Bowls New Zealand’s Emerging Player of the Year in 2023.

At 19 years old, Briar already has a centre Gold Star.  She’s probably the youngest Gold Star holder ever in the Taranaki Centre.  Perhaps the youngest in any centre in New Zealand ever.

Playing out of the Paritutu Bowling Club in New Plymouth, Briar has also put her hand up on the national scene this last season.

In the Champion of Champion Singles in Hastings in July, beating Nicole Toomey, a dual bronze medallist from last year’s Commonwealth Games, 21-13 in the final.  She was just the third Taranaki woman to win the women’s title (Grace Gillespie 1961, Pearl Dymond 1969).

In the Digicel Oceania Challenge at Blockhouse Bay in Auckland earlier this year, Briar and teammate Caitlin Thomson played in the New Zealand Under 26 team and won the Pairs.  Briar also represented the Under 26’s in the Singles, but came up against a tougher draw which saw her out of the medals.

It’s a real treat for the bowls community to enjoy the emergence of such a brilliant young woman.

“She’s a young woman with huge talent,” says Bowls New Zealand’s Head Coach, Mike Kernaghan.  “And she’s well coached by Maurice Symes.”

“She’s very receptive, she listens well and she takes on board new ideas. She’s a real open book.  And what’s really great, she’s keen as mustard.”

Briar was introduced to the game by her mum, Tina Atkinson-Watt, who’s also a dab hand at the gentile game at Paritutu, and plays with Briar when things get serious.  These days, the teenage Briar has even been handed over the skips mantle.

Briar’s been described as a Blackjack-in-waiting.  And despite the talent in the current Women’s Blackjacks, she’s already lining up to be selected.

There’s plenty of time.  When you’re only 19, you’ve got a heck of a lot of bowling ahead of you to show your mettle.

She’s already won Taranaki’s Women’s Player of the Year in 2023.

And with all these accolades, she has forced the hand of the selection panel to be awarded the Bowls New Zealand Women’s Emerging Player of the Year.

Congratulations Briar.

Bowls New Zealand, 18th September, 2023.
https://bowlsnewzealand.co.nz/news/emerging-player-of-the-year-briar-atkinson/