Auckland songwriter Bob Bridge hit the right note in Dunedin
yesterday when he won his third New Zealand senior doubles
petanque title.
Bridge (69) and Auckland secondary schoolteacher Clive
Bartleet beat the New Zealand seniors pair of Shirley Selwyn
(Wanganui) and Neville Frost (Dunedin) 13-6 in the final at
the Forbury Park car park.
It was special for Bartleet (62) because it was his first
national title after coming third and second in the last two
years.
"I'm so happy," he said. "I've been playing petanque for 14
years and the national title has come at last."
Bridge has been a professional writer of song lyrics for 30
years and has also had three books published.
He has entered the history books of New Zealand petanque as
the only player to win the senior (over age 60) doubles title
three times. His other wins were in 2009 and 2010.
The Auckland pair took control of the game by scoring two
points on each of the last three ends.
Bartleet played his part with accurate pointing that put the
pressure on Selwyn and Frost and forced them into mistakes.
Bridge was the shooter and smashed his opponents scoring
shots off the piste.
The big upset of the day came in the quarterfinals when the
Christchurch team of Tony Wilkinson and Les Clearwater beat
defending champions Graeme Morris (Masterton) and Pete
Hamilton (Wanganui) 13-2.
But they were beaten in the semifinals when the Dunedin pair
of Selwyn and Frost scored three shots on the last two ends
to win 13-10.
Bridge and Bartleet beat the Auckland pair of Margaret Maher
and Margaret Penny 13-10 in the other semifinal.
The Consolation final was won by John Targett (Christchurch)
and Charles Brock (Auckland) who beat Joan Miller and Ralph
Priddle (Masterton) 13-10.
The competition for the bottom 16 after the first day was won
by the Caversham pair of Maureen Brown and Anne Sinclair.
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