A lawn bowls player from Nanaimo has scored a rare double, and now he’s trying for another.
Hirendra Bhartu is a Bowls B.C. champ in both men’s pairs and mixed pairs, and will try to replicate the feat on a national scale.
Bhartu and his partner Gordon Fall of Cowichan are in North York, Ont. this week (Aug. 16-22) at the Bowls Canada championships, and Bhartu and Josephine Lee will compete at the Canadian mixed pairs championships Sept. 14-19 in Fredericton, N.B.
Bhartu and Fall won provincials at the end of July in Victoria, and then, the very next weekend, Bhartu and Lee won provincials in West Vancouver.
The Nanaimo lawn bowler said he’s expecting fierce competition this week in the men’s pairs.
Bhartu said he likes to try to stay in the game for 10 or 12 ends, and then build a strategy depending on the score. He’s willing to be aggressive with his shots.
“If the opposition’s going to leave one bowl or two bowls in the head that can be taken out of the head for a multiple big count, I go for those shots,” he said. “It’s risk and reward.”
Bhartu is a former Commonwealth Games competitor and a multi-time national champion. He has teamed with Lee four times at provincials and four times at nationals and the duo has never failed to win gold.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
