Bowls: Queens of greens favoured for final

Matamata's Millie Khan and Orewa's Marlene Castle were the only big-name skips still alive in the fours at the national women's bowls tournament as the final 16 were decided in Wellington yesterday.

The pair, who rank among the finest New Zealand women bowlers, are on opposite sides of the draw, and will now be favoured to meet in tomorrow's final.

Khan plays Roslyn's Ainslie Brosnan today after beating Wellington's Patricia Wishnowsky 37-15 and Counties-Manukau's Anne Lomas 21-13 in her two matches yesterday.

Lomas earlier recovered from 10-20 down to beat Ashburton's Peg Scott 24-23 on an extra end but then struck Khan, her daughters Marina and Jan and Matamata clubmate Mina Paul in hot form.

Castle beat Gaynor Reid of Anderson's Bay 20-14, but found it tougher overcoming Lower Hutt Women's Cath Jones 20-18 in her second match.

Jones had upset Palmerston North international Sharon Sims' much-vaunted Northern quartet in an 18-17 thriller.

Sandra Prichard is doing her best to ensure the Wainuiomata club is not simply remembered as the friendly headquarters of the 51st tournament.

Prichard and her home-green team of Margaret Binns, Robyn Fitzgerald and Pat Dixon yesterday upset Judy Howat's defending champion Park-Kilbirnie quartet 20-17 to advance to the last 16.

The home town heroes squeezed through the first round of post-section with a 19-18 win against Tawa's Sylvia Johns and did it tough again before finally ousting Howat.

Down 16-19, Howat held two shots and a possible third on the penultimate end of the 21-end contest only for Prichard to cannon off Howat's shot bowls and nestle her last delivery a few blades of grass from the jack to take the end.

It gave the Wainuiomata four a defensible 20-16 lead instead of entering the final end possibly locked up at 19-19.

It also knocked the stuffing out of Howat's brave fightback, much to the relief of Prichard, who admitted she sweated over the shot.

"I just knew I had to get it as close as possible. Luckily I had the right weight but I was a bit fortunate," Prichard said.

The Wainuiomata four now meet one of the other unlikely success stories of this championship, a hastily arranged four skipped by Rotorua's Babs Waaka, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Waaka's team were organised by Maureen McNae, a new member at the Tawa club this summer. McNae had intended playing with three of her old Fitzroy (New Plymouth) clubmates, but that team fell by the wayside so she enlisted Waaka, Tawa lead Joan Totton and the Park-Kilbirnie's Tui Opai.

Opai was a late replacement in Howat's title-winning four from Hamilton last season, but was struggling to find a team with Jenny Hynam, injured last season, back on board for Howat this year.

- NZPA