Bowls: Junior bowler beats the odds to win NZ Open pairs final

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Point Chevalier's Aggie Motu achieved the remarkable feat of winning a national title in the New Zealand Open women's pairs final at Henderson yesterday while still only a junior bowler.

Motu, who joined Point Chevalier in 2009 and is in only her fifth season, skipped Mangere's Kirsty Hill to a comfortable 20-10 over the Thames Coast's Val Matthews and Dolly Welch, enabling Hill to maintain her family's distinguished bowling history.

She is a daughter of one of Auckland's most colourful personalities, Neville Hill, and the younger sister of Jamie, who like his dad has represented New Zealand and been a national champion.

But despite her considerable pedigree in the sport, Kirsty has had only a modest record so far, and although playing since 2005 has yet to win a senior or even junior centre title.

So unexpected has been the success of Motu and Hill this week that before yesterday's final Neville Hill told them: "If I was a bookmaker making the odds you would have been 250-1 before you started."

Motu admitted to having played some family, social bowls in Kaitaia more than 30 years ago as a teenager, but until joining Point Chevalier her main sporting interests had been touch football and darts.

Matthews and Welch, by contrast, between them had 30 centre titles and in 1997 Matthews was in a Putaruru four which was runner-up in the nationals. But after the first six ends had been evenly contested, the more experienced Thames pair was then never in the match.

The game turned on the seventh end when Motu, one down on the head, trailed the jack into the ditch for three shots. She and Hill then took a four on the next end to go to a virtually unassailable 12-5 lead.

Wellington's vastly experienced Rob Ashton, with 31 centre titles and a national pairs title among his many successes, and his St Heliers lead Barclay Lee won the men's pairs final, picking up a two and four on the last two ends to beat South Islanders Alvin Gardiner and Pat Houlahan 18-10.

And Browns Bay's Neil Fisher, John Walker and Colin Rogan repeated Takapuna's victory last year to keep the men's triples title within the North Harbour centre.

In the final they took a 7-0 lead after three ends to easily beat David Hood's Far North line-up 15-4.