Withdrawals have been few and far between for the national mixed pairs tournament which started in Central Otago yesterday.
The national fours tournament finals were played on Sunday under Covid-19 level 2 restrictions and that has also impacted on the draw for the pairs.
Tournament convener Chris Lander said section play for the pairs yesterday was played at 12 clubs with just the one green per club, except for Alexandra.
Alexandra had two greens. The greens were kept separate and players and officials could not move between the two greens.
Play at Roxburgh was dropped to one green while play was opened up on the artificial green at Cromwell.
Games were being played at clubs from Waipiata to Arrowtown.
There were 204 pairs entered, and that had dropped back to 200 pairs lining up yesterday.
A couple of entries could not make it out of Auckland and another couple had dropped out because of injuries. But most players were keen to compete and line up for some more bowls after the fours.
Lander said Bowls New Zealand had to be mindful with Covid-19 that most of the players were in the older age group and needed to adhere to the rules.
No spectators were allowed at the greens and that was being strictly enforced.
During the fours finals on Sunday, some people had stood outside the Alexandra Bowling Club, where finals were taking place, and lined up along the fence to watch.
In the pairs yesterday, each pair had three matches each of 16 ends. Those that win two or three games will go through to post section play today.
They will be required to play four games today, again of 16 ends, though there will be a time limit of two hours, 45 minutes.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and final are due to be played tomorrow, again at the Alexandra Bowling Club.
