Report – Summerset Nationals week 2 – by Lindsay Knight

Not even North Harbour’s Black Jack, Selina Goddard, who was defending the national singles women’s title she won last season, could gain a major honour for the centre when the 2023-24 national championships ended in Christchurch yesterday.

 Harbour’s only glory came indirectly when Tony Grantham, still a member of the Birkenhead club, helped Gary Lawson retain the men’s pairs title to earn Grantham his national gold star and give Lawson his seventh national title in the pairs alone. However, as was the case last season, Grantham and Lawson played under the banner of their Auckland club, Mt Albert.

 They won the final 16-13 from the Kelleher brothers, Hamish and Ethan, who represented respectively Canterbury’s Halswell club and West Coast’s Cobden.

 Selina won her first two matches in post-section, but was upset in the round of 16 by Dunedin’s Sarah Scott, who comes from a family of Otago bowling royalty. Her father Terry and her uncle Jim are both former national champions and Black Jacks.

 Elaine McClintock also made the round of 16, where she was beaten by former Black Jack, Mina Paul. Considering that in the round of 32 she had achieved a major scalp with a big win over Canadian international, and winner of the pairs last week, Kelly McKerihen, Elaine’s elimination was also a surprise.

 Millie Nathan also made post-section, but squandered a big lead in the opening match to lose 21-20. The women’s singles title went to current Black Jack Leanne Poulson, from the Papakura club, who had a 21-12 win in the final over a former national champion, Sandra Keith.

 There was a notable feat in the men’s pairs by Manly junior Paul Daniels who with his South Island based brother Mark made the last 16, where they were beaten by a powerful combination of Black Jacks, Jamie Hill and Lance Pascoe.

  The best performed of other Harbour bowlers in the men’s pairs were Birkenhead’s Daymon Pierson and David Eades and John Janssen, who playing with an old Canterbury mate, made the round of 32.

 It was an especially gutsy effort by Eades as he was forced to use a fixed stance because of a leg injury. He and Pierson only went out through a single shot loss to Central Otago bowlers, Pat Houlahan and Howard O’Donnell.

   Other Harbour bowlers, Matthew Higginson and Peter Nathan and Steve Hoeft and Bart Robertson qualified for post-section but went out early.