Bowls: New Zealand takes back trans-Tasman trophy

SYDNEY - New Zealand wrested back the Trans-Tasman Trophy from Australia last night and should claim the Tri Nations Cup today in the international bowls series in Melbourne.

The competition for the Trans-Tasman Trophy is being played for within the Tri Nations series which also involves Malaysia, but New Zealand was dominant in both men's and women's sections against Australia and was able to win back the trophy that stayed in Melbourne after the Australians' win last January.

The competition for the Tri Nations Cup was made a little tougher last night when the New Zealand women went down three matches to nil to Malaysia, with singles player Jo Edwards losing to Commonwealth Games gold medallist Siti Zalinda Ahmad in the singles.

New Zealand heads into today's matches ahead on the points table, but the exact position was not available late last night.

New Zealand co-coach Peter Belliss said the win over the Australians was deserved, but the New Zealand bowlers would not be able to relax in the final three tests today.

"There's still a lot at stake and we will have work hard on the final day," he told NZPA last night.

Of heart to the New Zealand selectors heading into next month's Commonwealth Games will be the form of singles player Russell Meyer, who is unbeaten in the series so far, and the pair of Rowan Brassey and Jamie Hill.

New Zealand has been experimenting in the pairs for the past year with indifferent results, but Avondale clubmates Hill and Brassey have been in good touch during this series.

They won both games on Tuesday and though they dropped their early match yesterday to Malaysia, they fought back strongly to demolish the Australians in straight sets last night, recording a 14-0 drubbing in the second set.

The triple skipped by Gary Lawson has found the going tough. They won their first match in the series yesterday, but were edged out by the Australian trio last night.

All the matches the triple have played have been tight, but the selectors will be wanting to see more of the form that took them to a gold medal in the Asia Pacific championships in November.

While the women's team dropped their match to Malaysia last night, they were unbeaten to that stage. Edwards has been in good form and the triple has been holding its own.

While the Khan sisters, Marina and Jan, have battled in the pairs, they were desperately unlucky to lose in a tiebreaker last night when the jack rebounded down the green when they were holding shot on the last end.

Belliss said it was good the New Zealanders had been able to reverse last year's results against the Australians.

"It's always a challenge to beat Australia and especially here, so it's pleasing that they have been able to turn that around."

He admitted it would be a confidence booster heading into the Games with winning form, but would like to see the job finished properly tomorrow.

There have been some encouraging results for the New Zealanders with their development sides, though their results don't count for the Trans-Tasman Trophy or Tri Nations Cup.

Up and coming star Shannon McIlroy lost his two matches on Tuesday but fought back strongly to win both his encounters yesterday.

- NZPA