Riverside bowlers third

Blenheim’s Riverside Bowling Club had plenty of reason to celebrate last week when their men’s team finished third in the New Zealand interclub championships in Wellington.

Riverside qualified for the event by winning the local competition, then tested themselves against 27 provincial champions over three days of highly-competitive bowls.

The seven-strong combination excelled on the Naenae greens, topping their three-team pool and going on to reach the semifinal, where they lost 2-1 to the eventual winners, Paritutu from Taranaki.

In the 4-2-1 format, Riverside had Simon Hitchcock playing singles, Damin Hitchcock and Sanjhe Prasad in the pair, while Ken Hart, Jordan Hart, Ken Lond and Craig Macdonell formed the four.

Simon Hitchcock was the local standout, winning all his singles clashes.

Last year the Riverside combination reached the final eight and were determined to go at least one better this year, said Macdonell.

“It would have been lovely to play in the final but at the end of the day we were pretty happy with the result.”

Four hundred and sixty five clubs nationwide played in the qualifying matches.

The Stoke team from Nelson won the women’s title. Marlborough were represented by the Blenheim club seven, who finished a creditable fifth equal.