9.00 Centre Yr. 1 & 2 singles section play. Good luck to Matt Lewis and Annette Scully.
Well done to Matt who qualified.
Annette won her first game and was leading in her second but retired feeling unwell.
Quite a few defaults noted, from the hot temperatures possibly?
P. McKinnel, P. Phair, N. Johnstone & J. McKinnel B. Morel, C. Buchanan, D. Baker & T. Smith S. Jury Jane, R. Hooper, F. Frew & J. Wyatt K. Rowlands, G. Porter, S. Cooke & N. Tamati
Saturday Interclub Round 1 10 – 1 – 26
Women’s Premier Sevens
Div. 1 EP1 v Kaiapoi Riverside
Pairs: T. Woodham 16 – 7 K. Rowlands 20 – 14 Triples: P. Phair 12 – 15
Div. 2 EP2 v Woodend
Pairs: J. Wyatt 10 – 17 P. Nicholson 21 – 13 Triples: J. McKinnel 15 – 11
Men’s 3×3
Div. 1 EP1 v Woolston Park
P. McKinnel 26 – 10 R. Hooper 21 – 12 K. Nicholson 28 – 8
Div. 2 EP2 v Woodend
P. D. Smith 17 – 22 G. McClurg 10 – 33 B. McIntosh 15 – 21
Div. 3 EP3 v Sumner
S. Cook 27 – 15 K. Mason 11 – 28 J. Wagner 21 – 14
Div. 4 EP4 v Belfast. EP4 won by default
AC8s
EP v Barrington United
Fours: P. Trevella 26 – 11 Pairs: P. Felton 18 – 17 J. Brown 6 – 20
Good luck to Nathan Glasson, Jonathan Flint and Kelvin Scott who are participating in the prestigious Stu Buttar Burnside Pairs.
The Story of the Nationals.
Jan. 2 – Jan. 9
EP was a host club and a special thanks go to all the volunteers who assisted with everything. Well done to to Steve Street and Don. Baker for their efforts in producing such good greens.
Well done to the club members who participated and special congratulations to all wh0 qualified for post section.
And the finals, to have four club members in the finals is just awesome.
1 – 1 – 26
As with any time the nationals are played in Christchurch many of EP members took the opportunity to partake.
Good luck everyone.
Well done to those who qualified for post section.
Men’s Singles: C. Waldron l w l l l G. Lawson l w w w w l G. Porter w l l w w w K. Scott w w w w L. Pascoe w w w w w w S. Brown w l l w w w S. Bowden w w l w w S. Jury Jane w l w l l C. Wood w l w l l l
Women’s Pairs: EP Teams: B. Morel & A. Scully l l w l l K. Rowlands & N. Tamati w w w w P. Phair & F. Frew l w w w w
Composite Teams: J. Wyatt w l l w l l C. Buchanan w w w w w M. Boyd w w w w w T. Woodham w w w l w J. Main w l w l w l J. Shirley w w w w
4 – 1 – 26
Congratulations to the players who have got through to post section.
EP can feel proud that fifteen club members made it through to post section. Great effort!
Women’s pairs:
Burnside: L. O’Callaghan & C. Buchanan L S. Keith & T. Woodham W W W
Bowls Papanui: M. Boyd & K. Edwards W W W P. Phair & F. Frew L
Elmwood Park: K. Rowlands & N. Tamati L B. Stevens & J. Shirley W L
Men’s singles:
Woodend: S. Bowden L Bowls Hornby: S. Brown W L Woolston Park: L. Pascoe L
Belfast: K. Scott W W L Burnside: G. Lawson W W L G. Porter L
Around the greens.
5 – 1 – 26
Good luck on finals day to Tania and Mandy as both have reached the semi finals in the women’s pairs.
Kim and Nylla at EP. Post section pairs.
5 – 1 – 26
Wow!!! Both Tania and Mandy have made it through to the women’s pairs final. Two EP players from four is a pretty good ratio. At the end of the day EP will have one national champion and one runner up! Awesome.
Final: S. Keith & T. Woodham 13 v M. Boyd & K. Edwards 18
Two EP members shared the limelight as they fought for the National pairs title.
It was a closely fought match and after 14 ends it was 12 – 12 and it could have gone either way but a three to Mandy on the 13th end gave them a break that kept them ahead.
Congratulations Kirsten and Mandy, a good win.
Good luck to all those members participating in the Nationals today.
Women’s Singles: J. Wyatt W L W W W J. Main L L L K. Rowlands W W L L W W M. Boyd W W W W N. Fukuhara L L L W N. Tamati L L W L T. Woodham L L W W
Men’s Pairs: EP Teams: B. Burke & S. Bowden W L W W L W C. Wood & C. Waldron W L W L L D. Vujcich & N. Johnstone L W W L W W G. Porter & S. Jury Jane L W L W W W G. McClurg & M. Lewis L W W L L
Composite Teams: T. Pascoe W W L W W G. Lawson has W W W W W L. Pascoe W W W W W P. McKinnel W W L W W S. Brown W W L L L A. Kelly W W W W W K. Scott W W W W W B. Coyle W W W L W
7 – 1 – 26Well done to those who made it through to post section.
Women’s singles: Sumner: J. Wyatt L Morrison Ave: M. Boyd W W W W K. Rowlands W L
Men’s pairs: Bowls Hornby; L. Pascoe & J. Hill W W W W A. Diamond & K. Scott W L M. Kreft & B. Coyle W W Bowls Papanui: D. Vujcich & N. Johnstone L P. McKinnel & G. Hassell W L B. McNish & T. Pascoe W W L EP: B. Burke & S. Bowden L Belfast: T. Grantham & G. Lawson W W W W K. Darby & A. Kelly W L. Papanui Club: G. Porter & S. Jury Jane W L
Three club members will advance into finals day.
Mandy Boyd will face the well-performed Blackjack Katelyn Inch in the singles semi final while the two pairs teams of Lance Pascoe & Jamie Hill and Tony Grantham & Gary Lawson are into the quarter final and may well meet in the semi final. New club member Brian Coyle was defeated by the Pascoe team in round 4. Brian came from Southland and holds several Southland titles. He is available for interclub and should prove to be a real asset.
Mandy Boyd defeated Katelyn Inch to advance to the final. Down 8 – 13 she then won seven ends in a row to go 19 – 13 to finally win 21 – 14.
Tony Grantham & Gary Lawson won their quarter final 17 – 16, the penultimate end being 16 – 16. The same scenario with Lance Pascoe & Jamie Hill, they won 14 – 13 from a 13 – 13 second last end. Two games down to the wire. These two now meet in the semi final, the upside is that EP will have one team in he final. What a game that should be, bragging rights up for the winners.
Overc0ming a spirited fightback from Leeanne Poulson, keeping calm under pressure Mandy Boyd won her first NZ singles title 21 – 
16. Well done Mandy, a great performance. It was a great game with both players performing well especially in the windy conditions.
And so to the final, a replay of the 2024 final, Tony Grantham and Gary Lawson v the Kelleher Brothers.
What a game. 14 – 14 going into the final end. Grantham’s first bowl on kitty. Ethan’s first bowl a drive which put kitty in the ditch with his bowl close by in the ditch. Virtually game over!
Third place, men’s pairs. J. Hill & L. Pascoe. 
Runner up men’s pairs. T. Grantham & G. Lawson2 – 1 – 25 From “The Press”
Top New Zealand lawn bowlers Aiden Takarua and Tayla Bruce will chase their second national singles titles as the country’s best descend on Christchurch.
Takarua and Bruce head the contenders for the respective men’s and women’s singles titles among 864 entries for the 2026 national bowls championships which open on Friday.
Held across 21 clubs in Canterbury, the men’s singles, women’s pairs and disability pairs run from Friday until Monday, before the women’s singles, disability singles and men’s pairs are contested from January 6-9.
Southlander Takarua, the 2024 national men’s singles champion, will chase a repeat as one of New Zealand’s form players. He won the Hong Kong Open last month to boost his world ranking to No 6.
“It’s been a pretty good few months and I’m really looking forward to nationals, it’s something we build towards all year,” said Takarua. “Nationals is the pinnacle of bowls in New Zealand and I’m pretty pleased to be heading back to Christchurch. That’s where I won my title in 2024 so I’ve got good memories there. They’ve got some of the nicest greens in the country, they’re really fast and true so I’m looking forward to it.”
Others to watch in the men’s division include two-time national champion Shannon McIlroy (2016 and 2018), and Matt Berry from Auckland’s Pringle Park club who produced a huge upset to beat Black Jacks international Keanu Darby 21-17 in the men’s singles final a year ago.
In the women’s singles, Bruce (Burnside) will chase a repeat of her 2022 title in front of friends and family.
“It’s always great to play at home,” said Bruce. “There’s a really strong field this year. I’m expecting some great competition and I’m excited to get involved.”
Bowls great Val Smith – recognised in the New Year honours with an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) – will also line up despite announcing her retirement from international bowls last year.
Smith has never won a national singles title but has four pairs titles to her credit.
Defending singles champion Deb White (Hinuera) returns to chase a third title after beating Takapuna’s Wendy Jensen 21-17 in last year’s decider.
Mandy Boyd – who won back to back pairs titles with sister Angela in 2015 and 2016 – is also a leading contender chasing a maiden singles title.
Play will begin at 8.30am on Saturday and will be broadcast on Sky TV and the Bowls NZ YouTube channel.
MuzzaWeb found it somewhat disappointing that three of EP’s elite bowlers and holders of NZ titles were not mentioned, Gary Lawson, Kelvin Scott and Lance Pascoe.
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