Bowls: Mina shows the men a thing or two in bowls

Bay of Plenty women's bowls representative Mina Paul proved too strong for some of the men and remained in contention to win a $20,000 car at the the grand final of the Daewoo mixed open singles being played on the Henderson greens in Auckland.

Paul upset the national trialist Rob Ashton, of Wellington, 25-23 in the first of five qualifying rounds to find this afternoon's quarter- finalists. Though well beaten by Auckland representative Clive Major, 25-9, in her second match, Paul bounced back to overcome Rawhiti's Warwick Alexander 25-19.

Talented Wellington youngster Sean Robertson and Auckland representatives Ivan Marsic, Ross Haresnape and Tony Garelja, the last of whom had recovered well from a sprained ankle, were well placed to make the last eight after being unbeaten on the first day.

Last year's runner-up, Michael Galloway, was also upset, by Henderson's Kerry Dye, 25-19, in the second round but stayed alive by beating Taranaki's Russell Hardy 25-17 and Waikato's Richard Woodcock 25-20.

The semifinals and final of the tournament offering the biggest prize in New Zealand bowls will be played tomorrow.