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).