Taranaki rep men meet old rivals

Representative bowls takes centre stage for the men this weekend, with Taranaki clashing against Manawatu and Wanganui in Palmerston North.

The seniors will be contesting the Arnott Shield and it will be interesting to note just how much passion the sides bring to the event. Wanganui has the strongest nucleus of players, but the Judd Opticians-sponsored Taranaki side did surprise with a strong win two years ago in New Plymouth.

The catch-cry for the weekend, though, must surely be combinations. Selector Neville Elliott needs to find his best combination from this event, and then stick with them for the big stuff later on.

Hawera Park's Trevor Symes will make his senior debut. There has been a late change in the Taranaki senior side, with advisory selector Mike Curd replacing Ian Wellington, who withdrew earlier this week.

It is interesting in viewing the 24 players travelling south - 12 senior and 12 10-years-and-under - that only the latecomer Curd remains in the Chris Wright/Professionals-sponsored Taranaki men's open triples following the weekend's play.

Four teams remain there, but one can only wonder just how much stronger the Taranaki team would be if the likes of Darren Goodin, John Roberts and the Andersons were involved.

TARANAKI: Seniors, Dean Elgar, Ian Andrews, Kevin Hills, Ian Mahoney, Don Christensen, John Reid, Trevor Symes, Mike Curd, Dennis Osborne, John Sexton, Craig Johns, David Bennett; 10-years-and-under, Tau Whakarau, George Jonson, Grant Pease, Gerry O'Sullivan, Allan Madgwick, Noel Muller, Neil Clark, John Garrud, Des Brophy, Wayne Robinson, Barry Whakarau, Rex Wright.

Following on from her strong showing against Waikato, Fitzroy's Denise Cooper made another big stride with last week's women's open singles win. With the senior women's representative side also short on numbers, Cooper's triumph must cheer selector Robin Sissons. There's nothing like a win to inspire confidence.

The major women's interclub competitions start this Saturday, with the Bowls New Zealand division one event playing at Waitara.

Defending champion Lepperton will again be the side to beat, but something sure to please all sides this year, including the men, is a rule change.

Last season, the Taranaki Daily News raised concerns with Bowls New Zealand over the inability of players to move up from the second tier into the top division. The rules had stipulated that no such movement was allowed after three rounds. Following on from this, BNZ has this year relented and so players can now move up at any time. Quite sensibly, the restriction on players moving down remains.

Starting in Auckland tomorrow are the qualifying rounds of the first New Zealand Open.

The event is being hosted by the Auckland centre, and is run as part of the Australian Open.

The singles and pairs winners from the Auckland tournament receive entry into the Australian event early next year. There are separate sections for both men and women, with the field including a number of leading international players.

In the singles, there are 14 invited players, who will be joined by qualifiers to make the field to 64.

The pairs have nine direct entries, plus 23 qualifiers, and the fours, five direct entries with 27 qualifiers.

- © Fairfax NZ News