Richard Girvan and Danny Delany have won New Zealand's first gold medal at the 2011 Asia Pacific bowls championships in Adelaide, beating Australia's Brett Wilkie and Mark Casey 17-16 in the men's pairs today with the last bowl of the match.
The duo trailed 11-16 with two ends to go but recovered to snatch the gold in dramatic fashion.
"They played the last two ends exceptionally well," New Zealand coach Dave Edwards said. "Richard played a really, really good bowl to finish it. He turned one they were holding in the final end into three with his last bowl."
It was Girvan's second gold medal at the event, after he won the men's triples in 2005, but the first for Delany. Girvan also won silver in the men's fours in 2007.
"It was a hell of a game of bowls," Girvan said. "A hard campaign and a lot of hard work have paid off."
