Last weekend the NHB BOWLS3FIVE tournament was held at Browns Bay Bowling Club.
48 Triples teams were entered and played on all three greens.
This is a club entered tournament, so the teams are selected by the clubs.
Mairangi Bay had eight teams entered, one sixth of the total teams, which is a great turn out by Mairangi Bay.
Last year the team of Leon Wech, Hanaan Shahwan and Glenda Rountree went right through to the final losing that to Birkenhead, Millie Nathan, Chad Nathan and Mark Rumble, which was a top effort by this team.
The concept is, two bowl triples, two games of five ends and if the teams are drawn after the two sets a tiebreaker end is played to decide the winner.
Five games of qualifying on the Saturday and finals on Sunday. The top two in each of the eight sections qualified for finals.
This year the final was to be played on Tuesday evening at Auckland Bowls club with a Auckland v North Harbour play off after to decide which centre team would go through to the National finals in May.
Our teams were:
Mairangi Bay Stingrays Larry Cain, Sheryl Wellington and Kerin Roberts.
Mairangi Bay Sharks Judi Farkash, Tony James and Graeme Storey.
Mairangi Bay Barracudas Murray Radojkovich, Bruce McClintock and Theresa Rogers.
Mairangi Bay Dolphins Leon Wech, Hanaan Shahwan and Glenda Rountree.
Mairangi Bay Kingfish Elaine McClintock, Phil Chisholm and Allan Langley.
Mairangi Bay Orcas Kevin Cameron, Alan Telford and Jo Baxter.
Mairangi Bay Swordfish Geraldine Wight, Gordon Jenkins and Joy Watkinson.
Mairangi Bay Marlins David Payne, Wayne Glogoski and Julie Chhour.
We had four teams qualify – the Dolphins, 4 wins and topped their section, Kingfish, with three wins to finish second, Orcas, 3 wins and finished second and Marlins who had four wins and topped their section.
The Stingrays had four wins and did not qualify, finishing third, very unlucky. The Sharks had three wins and finished third in their section.
The Swordfish only had the one win but it was against a top side that missed out on qualifying because of that loss.
Barracudas had three wins and just missed out in qualifying finishing third.
To the finals: sixteen teams, four from Mairangi Bay – 25% of finalists, excellent result.
Dolphins beat Mahurangi in a tiebreak. Marlins beat Manly 2 sets to 0. Orcas beat Hobsonville two sets to 0. Kingfishwere beaten by Browns Bay in a tiebreak.
Quarter Final: Marlins beat the Dolphins 2 sets to 0, meaning our last year finalist were out. The Marlins bowled very well and deserved their win.
Orcas beat Sunnybrae 2 sets to 0. They played very well with all players contributing when needed.
Semi-final: The Marlins played the Orcas, unfortunate, but guaranteed Mairangi Bay a team in the final.
In a very good game, with some top bowls from both teams, the Orcas came out the winners 2 sets to 0, with Alan playing a great last bowl to move the jack slightly to pick up 3 and the win.
Jo lead extremely well and Kevin playing good draw bowls and weighted shots, he also made some good calls which Alan responded to.
Another Mairangi Bay team in the final.
Last year’s winners Birkenhead beat Riverhead and will play the Orcas on Tuesday night.
Below the Orcas after their semi-final win.
Tuesday Finals Night.
The final of Bowls3five was held at Auckland Bowling Club.
The Orcas : Alan Telford, Kevin Cameron and Jo Baxter faced Birkenhead – Millie Nathan, Chad Nathan and Mark Rumble, last year’s winners.
The Mairangi Bay threesome playing under the name “Orcas” could be especially proud of its effort in fully extending the strong Birkenhead combination, only being ousted in a tie-breaker.
Mairangi Bay won the first set 5-2, but dropped the second 7-2. The Orcas were holding the shot in the tie-breaker, only for Millie to play a run shot to edge it out with her last bowl.
Thank you to Tony and Jane James for being the support team.
Birkenhead went on to win the playoff against an Auckland club side and will now play in the National final in May.