KEY POINTS:
Shayne Sincock, a 43-year old Christchurch courier, moved suddenly up the national bowls pecking order when he emerged yesterday as the outstanding performer at this week's New Zealand Open in Auckland.
A few hours after ousting Auckland's Danny Delany in a held-over semifinal in the men's singles, Sincock skipped his all South Island combination of Nelson's Gary Watson and Greymouth's Lance Pascoe to the triples title.
In the final, with Sincock often coming to the rescue when his front was under pressure, they beat an experienced Auckland line-up of Petar Sain, Wally Marsic and Tony Garelja, who between them have a host of centre and national titles, 15-14.
Sincock's combination came together only after they had been in a regional training squad, but despite being a new line-up, they generally had the edge, holding on against a strong Sain finish at the Henderson club.
For Sincock it was his best performance, exceeding the seven Canterbury centre titles he has won.
Though shaded probably in experience, Watson and Pascoe are also bowlers with significant pedigrees. Watson is the son of the 1990 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Marie, and Pascoe, just 27, was part of a family four which won a national pathways title this year.
Sincock now meets another South Island product, Matt Gallop, in today's singles final, brimming with confidence.
In the women's triples final, Pakuranga's Karen Hema, Jill Fraser and Tania Wrigley dropped a four on the last end to lose what until then had been a close battle 18-14 to Elaine McClintock, former world champion Patsy Jorgensen and Raewyn Willis.
It was a happy farewell for the Willis combination, who have all been regular Bay of Plenty representatives. But recently McClintock, whose leading yesterday was crucial, returned to North Harbour's Mairangi club.
A day which had promised much for the Auckland centre ended disappointingly in the women's pairs final when New Lynn's Reen Stratford and Hetty Bolscher were overwhelmed by world champion Australian Karen Murphy and her Scottish partner Kay Moran.
