Kahutia proved unstoppable as the Gisborne East Coast centre women’s open triples champions were decided on the Te Karaka greens.
Numbers were down this year but the 10 teams which competed enjoyed perfect weather.
Poverty Bay Bowling Club had three teams. There were two each from Gisborne, Te Karaka and Tolaga Bay, and one from Kahutia.
The eight teams to qualify for post-section play were (in order) Glenys Whiteman (skip), Dayvinia Mills and Karen Pinn (Kahutia) with three wins and a +35 differential; Queenie Takurua (s), Tanya Harrison and Karen Higgins (Gisborne) with two wins, one draw and +38 diff; Carol Hawes (s), Dianne Phillips and Ginny Sherriff (Gisborne) with two wins and a +29 diff; Diane Murray (s), Erica Thompson and Lyn Hayes (Te Karaka) with two wins and a +44 diff; Kathryn Flaugere (s), Anna Colvin and Jenny Amor (Poverty Bay) with two wins and a +21 diff; Anita Vaotuua (s), Cheryl Jenkins and Jessie Davis-Law (Poverty Bay) with two wins and a +13 diff; Barbara Tuhi (s), Andrea Tuhi and Jacque Broughton (Te Karaka) with one win and a -17 diff; and Lesley Seymour (s), Win Baker and Jean Patterson (Poverty Bay) with one draw and a +4 diff.
In the first round of post-section, Whiteman beat Seymour 24-14 while Flaugere comfortably won against Murray.
Vaotuua led throughout in beating Hawes. Takurua also comfortably defeated Tuhi.
Whiteman and her crew carried their good form into the semifinals to knock out Flaugere 24-8 and book a place in the final.
Takurua held off a comeback by Vaotuua to win 17-10.
The final featured some brilliant bowls but the Whiteman triple was not to be denied and finished in style with four shots on the last end for a 23-11 victory.
It was the fifth consecutive year the title has been won by a Kahutia team – four of those featuring Whiteman.
The champions were presented the Judy Blair Cup by Blair herself, who drove all the way to Te Karaka.
Organisers thanked Blair and tournament sponsor David File Decorators.
