A Tauranga quartet of indoor bowlers are the toast of the bowling community after clinching the New Zealand Indoor Bowls Mixed Fours National title.
At the 50th annual tournament in Upper Hutt, the Tauranga team of Paul Smith, Mike Phipps, Fiona Wilson and Lorraine Phipps won five of their seven matches to hold off a strong Canterbury side.
The Tauranga Indoor Bowls team of Paul Smith, Mike Phipps, Fiona Wilson and Lorraine Phipps with the national trophy. Photo: Supplied.
For Tauranga Indoor Bowls President and New Zealand representative Wilson and North Island representative Smith it means they finally break through to win their first national indoor bowls titles.
Mike Phipps has seven national titles and his wife Lorraine has two. They have both been in champion mixed fours teams previously in 2006, 2007 and 2010 but with other combinations.
This is the icing on the cake for the four; all members of the successful Tauranga team that recently won the Paterson Trophy, going on to compete at the Inter-District final for the Welch Trophy in September.
Wilson says medals won with the national team are pretty special but this title might hold pride of place as the team has worked extremely hard.
'Yes it was definitely [pleasing] we have been aiming for it for a few years now,” says Wilson.
To reach the national stage the side made it through the Tauranga mixed fours tournament before winning the zonal finals ahead of Waikato, Thames Valley, Poverty Bay and Bay of Plenty.
Losing its first game of the national finals to Canterbury 6-8 the side then settled down into a consistent rhythm, defeating Southland 10-5 and Golden Bay-Motueka 11-5.
Coming up against one of the pre-tournament favourites in North Taranaki, skippered by New Zealand captain Grant L'Ami and narrowly losing 9-10, Tauranga bounced back winning their remaining three matches against Bush Ruahine, Upper Hutt and Roskill and Districts.
Wilson, Phipps and Smith now turn their attention to a 10 day tour of the South Island as part of the North Island representative team, before joining up with Lorraine for the Welch Trophy Finals in September.
0 comments
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.