Bowls: Champion crowns to Dunedin and the Bay

Dunedin and Bay of Plenty were yesterday crowned men's and women's champions respectively at the national intercentre finals in Palmerston North.

As predicted, both competitions went down to the wire and in a spectacular finish, both results came down to the last end of the best of three end tie-break.

In the men's event, of the four teams on 14 points, Canterbury, Gisborne East Coast and Counties Manukau could only record a single win across singles, pairs and fours.

That left Dunedin in the box seat with wins to Paul Girdler in singles, and the triple of Terry and Jim Scott with Steve Beel.

In the women's event, Waikato and Bay of Plenty were tied on 16 points going into the final round, with Wanganui still in contention.

But Green's victory over Waikato's Doreen Schumacher essentially decided the final result.

Waikato faced Wanganui and Bay of Plenty faced Nelson in the triples clashes.

With Bev Corbett's Waikato triple finishing their match in straight sets, attention shifted to the Bay of Plenty contingent of Mina Paul, former double world champion Patsy Jorgensen and Anne Burggroof.

Nelson pushed hard but Paul prevailed in the tie-break with Bay of Plenty finishing on 22 points and Waikato 20.

- NZPA