Results – The Grove Orewa, BNH 1-5 Any Combination Pairs – 13 & 14 April 2024

Birkenhead’s Willie Tonga and Takapuna’s Aaron White, a composite team entry, recovered from a bad opening qualifying round  to score a thrilling win in the Grove Orewa, BNH 1-5 any combination pairs tournament at the weekend.  In Sunday’s final at the Milford club they beat Hobsonville’s David Den Hertog and Clinton Smith 13-12, with the teams going into the 18th and last end locked at 12-all.

  It was a win for Tonga and White which had not seemed likely when they started Saturday’s section play with a 9-20 defeat to Orewa’s Wayne Harris and Allan McQuoid, but wins in their remaining two games meant they made post-section with their differential.
 Harris and McQuoid also qualified, but were well beaten in the quarter-finals by Manly’s Paul Daniels and Doug Hiku, who in turn were ousted by Den Hertog and Smith.

 Tonga, who when he’s not bowling works for Waitemata Health as a junior doctor, while White also has, for a bowler, a diverting occupation: he’s one of the Northern area’s race callers. For Tonga it continued his happy association with Milford as earlier in the season he helped Birkenhead club-mates Millie and Chad Nathan win the Milford 5000. 

 After their early setback he and White were in imposing form, especially with a 29-7 win in the quarter-finals over Orewa’s Ian Carroll and Bob Semple and then in the semi-finals over Riverhead’s / Manly’s Peadar Macelvanna and Dave Vince, who in the quarters had ousted Manly’s highly regarded Andy Dorrance and his partner, Craig Robertson.

 Though finishing runner-up in the final it was another top effort from Hobsonville’s 1-5 year bowlers and Smith and Den Hertog’s narrow defeat was their only loss in the entire weekend.
 
The event, of course, was open to both genders, and in the past many ladies have been prominent and among the winners. But this was one occasion when males dominated with all of the combinations in post-section being men.