Report – The Grove Orewa Women’s Singles – 16th & 17th November 2024
It was a reversal of roles for both finalists, Mairangi Bay’s Theresa Rogers and Manly’s Judy Smith, when the North Harbour women’s singles title was decided at Birkenhead at the weekend. Theresa, one of the centre’s most consistent women’s players over the past decade, won 21-18 to add to the 10 centre titles she has already amassed since her first in the 2015-16 season. But it was her first in the singles and in gaining her narrow, come-from—behind win, the circumstances almost paralleled those in her first final, against the legendary Ruth Lynch in the 2017-18 season. Then, as was the case with Judy in Sunday’s final, Theresa, then a junior, had a big lead, only for it to be whittled away, with Ruth telling Theresa afterwards she was not going to let herself beaten by a junior.
Though Judy, as a 10-year player and with one centre title to her name, is not a junior, something similar happed in the final, but on this occasion it was Theresa in the Ruth Lynch-role. For Judy was the dominant player early, and with accurate draw bowling she jumped to a 10-2 lead after just eight ends. But Theresa kept her composure, beginning her comeback with a four on the ninth end to peg the leeway to 6-10, then picked up threes on each of the 15th, 16th and 18th and final end to win 21-17. This was with an ease which had not seemed likely at the halfway stage. And for Judy her quickfire start was a contrast to most of her earlier games, when after coming from deficits, some of them big, she dubbed herself “The Comeback kid.” In the quarter-final against Mairangi Bay’s Gaye Horne she trailed at various stages 1-8 and 5-13 before recovering to win 21-19 and in the semi-final against Birkenhead’s Connie Mathieson she was 14-18 down before keeping Connie scoreless on 18 while she stormed to 21.
The final also feature a little piece of Harbour history. For the first time one of the lasers the centre’s umpires have acquired was used on one end to determine a tight measure.
The championship also featured the eclipse of some of the centre’s most dominant women’s bowlers over the past few seasons. Rogers had a 21-10 win in the quarter-finals over the formidable and multiple centre champion Elaine McClintock and the equally distinguished and former Black Jack Wendy Jensen succumbed 21-13 to Helensville’s Sharon Parker. Rogers then had a comfortable semi-final win over Parker, the daughter of Helensville patriarch, Ron Cowper. Birkenhead’s Millie Nathan, who just last week was the winning skip in the centre’s women’s triples championship, was another notable casualty, losing all three of her qualifying games.
That perhaps was a reassuring sign that some of the junior and developing bowlers are beginning to add to the centre’s depth.
