JOHANNESBURG - New Zealand bowlers are in the medals again, this time the men, who took gold and bronze at the world championships in Johannesburg.
Last month, the women won two golds at their tournament in Australia.
The Kiwi four clinched gold on Saturday with a resounding 23-13 victory over arch-rivals Australia.
The win gave Peter Belliss his third world championship gold medal. He joined Tony Allcock and Sammy Allan as the only bowlers to win gold in the singles, pairs and triples.
Yesterday, Paul Girdler and Russell Meyer lost their chance of either a silver or gold medal, going down in their semifinal to South Africa 17-22 over 21 ends.
But their bronze was a great effort from a new combination at international level.
South Africa lost 14-23 to Scotland in the final, after the Scots had earlier scraped past Commonwealth Games champions Australia 19-17 in their semifinal.
The South Africans had qualified for the semifinals courtesy of a huge win in their last match of section play over Norfolk Island, and relied on Wales beating the United States to scrape into the final four.
Shaun Addinall and Gerry Baker, cheered on by a capacity home crowd, raised their play a couple of notches against New Zealand and were always in control.
New Zealand skip Girdler lamented missed opportunities, but was pleased overall with the team's performance.
"We are delighted to win a medal; we played some good bowls throughout the week. Perhaps the home crowd was the difference today, so now we just have to focus on the fours."
South Africa led 4-0 after three ends and 7-4 after eight, before the New Zealanders grabbed a five on the ninth end to lead for the only time in the match.
Lead Meyer struggled at times with his weight and Girdler was often under pressure to save the head.
At 10-10 after 11 ends, New Zealand were still very much in the contest, but the South Africans gained four shots on the next two ends.
The decisive end was the 18th, where South Africa picked up four shots to lead 21-13, with three to play.
New Zealand clawed four shots back over the final ends but it was too little too late.
In the triples, 48-year-old Belliss was at his brilliant best as he, Rowan Brassey and Andrew Curtain dominated Australia.
Belliss rated the victory alongside his singles title in 1984 and pairs title with Brassey in 1988.
"This is special. It has been a long time between drinks and we went through the tournament unbeaten.
"We had a pretty disappointing Commonwealth Games in 1998 and we talked about having some unfinished business, and today we were able to settle the score there."
The New Zealanders were spurred on by the South African crowd in the final, and quickly raced to a 17-6 lead after 12 of 18 ends. But Australia gained six shots on the 14th to close the gap to four shots with four ends remaining.
Belliss was the rock in the side and, with Brassey struggling for his length, he pulled out a series of superb saves over the closing ends to put the game beyond Australia's reach.
New Zealand now turn their attention to the fours and singles, starting today.
Girdler and Meyer team with Belliss and Brassey in the fours, while Curtain will contest the singles.
- NZPA
