AS predicted, the star teams skipped by David File and Glenys Whiteman won the JJ Martin Memorial and Rahiwi Cup bowling tournaments at the weekend.

Men's teams

Ten men’s teams started and five achieved the necessary three wins to qualify for post-section play. No team won all four games. Qualifying team skips were — File, three wins, plus-32 differential; Bob McIlroy, three wins, +23; Charlie Ure, three wins, +20; Steve Goldsbury, three wins, +19; Vern Marshall, three wins, +18.

In post-section play, File beat Ure 16-6. He repeated this scoreline in the semifinal, beating Goldsbury 16-6. Marshall got home 14-13 against McIlroy, taking out four shots on the last end. This meant a Marshall-File final.

Marshall made the early running, but File’s team gradually took the ascendancy, with Lofty Hurrell in outstanding form. From the midpoint of the game, Marshall scored only two points, and the final score was 14-6. Tactically, File’s team were superior due to the positioning of their bowls.

Goldsbury would have to be disappointed his all-representative side failed to fire. Last year this team finished third-equal in the New Zealand final.

Winning team members were File, John Dawson, Hurrell and Duncan Macpherson.

Women's event

In the women’s event for the Rahiwi Cup, four teams qualified for post-section play. Three teams had the necessary three wins, while Kathy Carroll’s team from Poverty Bay were the fourth qualifiers because they were the next best-performed team.

The Kahutia teams met in the semifinals, Whiteman defeating Emily Hongara 24-8. This left the two Poverty Bay women’s teams to decide the other finalists. Carroll’s four defeated Ora Peipi’s team 19-15. The final was even for a while, but Whiteman’s team pulled away to win 19-7.

For the runners-up, Joy Davis and Erin Sutherland had steady tournaments. But the winners, as usual, were much steadier than the rest of the field. Lucy Shanks at lead and Millie Allen at two were generally much stronger than their opposition. Well done to Glenys Whiteman and Francie Adair for putting the icing on the cake.

Next up is the centre open pairs competition. Bowlers are reminded to get their entry in.