Whangarei trio triumph in grand final

It was a red letter day for the formidable Kensington women's triples team of Ann Muir and Lauren Mills, skipped by Anne Bateman who won gold at the Trusts New Zealand Bowls Open, in Auckland.

The ComfitPro Women's Triples final staged yesterday at Henderson Bowling Club was a thrilling battle between the Whangarei trio and New Zealand representatives Jan Khan, Mandy Boyd and Leanne Curry.

However, Bateman and the Kensington ladies continued their winning ways, after a successful tournament, and executed a 12-8 win over Khan and her team.

"Yes, we are very pleased. It was a tough final, but we kept our cool, and played our game ... I think being the underdogs [up against NZ representatives] gave us the edge and won us the game," Bateman said.

Bateman, Muir and Mills came out on top after beating the Margaret Henderson Triples 20-15 in their semifinal on Wednesday. The win assured the team a spot in yesterday's grand final up against Jan Khan's team (NZ), who had defeated the defending champions from Waikato 20-12 in their semifinal.

The winning trio will line up again this weekend along with Maureen Rahui to contest the Centre Fours in Whangarei.

Meanwhile, rising star 18-year-old Monte Pawa Junior from Kaitaia just got a little brighter after beating Black Jack Tony Grantham in the men's singles semifinals, 21-16 on Wednesday to set him up in the singles' final this afternoon playing Howick's Neil Fisher.

Looking somewhat off his game, Grantham shook his head in wonder over a number of shots that went wildly astray on Wednesday.

All the while, Pawa kept his cool and gave almost nothing away until he was sitting one point away from victory. Tensely willing his bowl on in the final end, relief seemed to undo the knots and a smile broke out as his bowl came to rest next to the jack.

Despite his age, Pawa is no stranger to elite competition and has worn the silver fern for in the under-18 transtasman tournament.