2x4x2 Mixed Pairs Final Results
Father and daughter, Peter and Millie Nathan, from the Birkenhead club, prevailed in a remarkable performance in the North Harbour mixed two-four-two pairs at the Belmont Park club at the weekend.
The Nathans, with Millie in just her second year in the game, won an absorbing final over the hotly-favoured Adam Haywood and current BlackJack Wendy Jensen, 12-10.
Millie, in her early 20s, defied most forecasts to emerge as the tournament’s star with outstanding displays not only in the final but in the quarter and semi-finals as well.
In the final, she played superb draw bowls to equal the celebrated accuracy of Jensen, while in the semi-final it was her powerful drive for three shots which snatched victory from another powerful combination of Steve Cox and Denise Samuel.
Earlier the Nathans won a cliff-hanger quarter-final over another highly decorated and vastly experienced duo, Orewa’s Elaine McClintock and David Eades.
For Millie, it was her first centre title, but clearly, her potential is such there should be many others. For Peter, it added to the singles championship he won in the 2013-14 season and the junior singles he won while at the Glenfield club in 2008 and 2010.
The high standard seen in the championship throughout the two days was shown by the calibre of those beaten in the quarter-finals and the fact such accomplished players as Takapuna’s Trevor Forward and Connie Mathieson and Daryl Read and Anne Dorreen, plus Orewa’s Colin Rogan and Lisa Parlane failed to make the last eight.