Victoria became the first club in the history of the Wellington Fours to win both the men’s and women’s titles in the same year. There has been a Wellington Fours events for both genders since 1948.
For the women it was an awesome Victoria vs Victoria final with the winners Leigh Griffin, Helen King, Kay Carr, and Nina De Munnik over Sarah Taukamo, Yvonne Gibb, Sharman Buckle, and Robyn Rintoul. Well done ladies, amazing to have both teams in the final.
The men’s final was won by Lou Newman, Andrew Curtain, Laurie Guy, and Gary Ruane who won over the Stokes Valley team that included former member Bradley Down. Early on Victoria were down 11-2, with the Stokes Valley skip Finbar playing some great bowls. Victoria fought back though, winning the next 6 ends and it stayed tight right until the end where it was 17-17 all after 18 ends, forcing an extra end. In the extra end, with Victoria down on the head, Lou killed it, forcing the extra end to be replayed. Then with Victoria down in the extra end again, Lou with the last bowl of the match, he drew it dead for the win! Champions!
- Leigh Griffin’s 31st Wellington title
- Helen King’s 29th Wellington Title, her 2nd title this season, and has been in the final of all three Wellington events held so far this season (Winner Mixed Pairs, 2nd in Singles).
- Kay Carr’s 16th Wellington title
- Lou Newman’s 13th Wellington title
- Nina De Munnik’s 8th Wellington title
- Laurie Guy’s 6th Wellington title
- Gary Ruane’s 2nd Wellington title
- Andrew Curtain’s 2nd Wellington title
Victoria did also have on the men’s side a team in the semi-final that lost which would’ve made it an unheard of double double final, but Ray Martin, Tim Toomey, Chris Nugent, Mark Burgess went down in the semi-final to the Stokes Valley team.
The men’s pathway to victory:
Section play vs Johne Ford, Peter Small, Mike Prasad, Russell Dive (Hutt): Win 11-10
Section play vs Glen McTaggert, Bryan Whale, Ian Burt, Larry Williams (Naenae): Win 21-15
Last 64 vs Howard Ivory, John Earles, Steve Scones, Barry Jordan (Wilton): Win 20-13
Last 16 vs Glen McTaggert, Bryan Whale, Ian Burt, Larry Wiliams (Naenae): Win 20-6
Quarter-final vs Wayne Jones, Sar Alefosio, Graham Clifford, Adrien O’Brien: Win 19-13
Semi-final vs Dean Stratford, Anton Ferrari, Nigel Musgrave, Ken Addley: Win 19-18
Final vs: Finbar McGuigan, Bradley Down, Jason Puddick, Mike Chapman: Win 18-17
The women’s pathway to victory:
Section play vs: Marlene Alberino-Kay, Carolina Esposito, Barbara Pilkington, Anne Basile (Island Bay): Win 16-11
Section play vs: Wendy Mackie, Janeen Noble, Ann Gateley, Sue Way (Naenae): Loss 6-19
Section play vs: V Fitzmaurice, L Stevens, R Carter, S Brooking (Petone Central): Win 21-6
Quarter-final vs: Patricia Wishowsky, Sandy Booth, Debbie Hanna, Sheryl Young (Petone Central): Win 15-11
Semi-final vs: Alieta Vulu, Birdie Love, Cherie Brien, Brenda Cabral (Stokes Valley): Win 19-12
Final vs: Sarah Taukamo, Yvonne Gibb, Sharman Buckle, and Robyn Rintoul (VICTORIA): Win 18-11
Video of the last 40 minutes of the match is available via this link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/726729527415585/permalink/2589100961178423/