Bowlers back in action

By LARRY ANDREW
AFTER a two-year hiatus, the Papua New Guinea Bowls Association held in Lae over the weekend its first open fours tournament which was won by Lae Seniors.
They beat Lae Juniors 22-11 in the final on Sunday.
The tournament attracted old and young bowlers from Mt Hagen, Goroka, Madang, Lae, Bulolo and Port Moresby (Bisini and Defence) with 36 teams across four pools.
The top-four teams from each pool qualified for the semifinals with the winners advancing to the final.
Kenneth Ikirima-skippered Lae Seniors beat Mt Hagen’s Team Ossie Nimdels 18-12 and Sammy Bazo-captained Lae Juniors crushed Mt Hagen’s Team Sir Lucas Roika 23-5 to meet in an all-Lae final.
Bazo’s team of Margaret Bazo, Ismael Buling, and Tommy Mafambuai wasted no time as they bagged points at the first and second ends for a 4-0 scoreline.
But Ikirima’s team of dad Patrick Ikirima, Michael Parker and Piwen Karkar battled to equalise 4-4, picking four points at the third end.
Lae Juniors collected points at the fourth, fifth and seventh ends for a 7-9 scoreline at the finish of the eighth end.
They managed to add to their tally at the finish of the 12th end to trail 11-13.
Ikirima’s team restricted Lae Juniors in the remaining three ends as they piled on nine unanswered points to seal the win at the finish of the 15th end.
Ikirima said after the game that the final was tough as Lae Juniors were valiant.
“I thank my teammates for supporting each other to win the tournament,” he said.
“Without their support, we wouldn’t have won the tournament. We’ll come back next year to defend our title.”
Bazo said his team were thrilled to reach the final.
“We’ll come back stronger next year,” he said.