Bowls: Song-and-dance Khans call on legendary mum

Marina (right) and Jan Khan hug after winning bronze at the Games yesterday. Picture / John Borren

It took a slice of good luck, the spirit of Millie Khan, some on-the-green controversy and an impromptu song-and-dance routine in the women's loo - but New Zealand finally broke its duck on the bowls green in Melbourne when sisters Marina and Jan Khan took the bronze medal in the pairs over Jersey yesterday.

The Khans - daughters of the famed New Zealand bowler Millie Khan who died in 2003 and who is still a constant inspiration to the pair - for once had a bit of luck.

Cruelly tipped out of the gold medal match by a last-ditch miracle bowl by the Australians, they started poorly and were overwhelmed 8-3 by the eighth of nine ends in the first set by the Jersey pair of Gaynor Thomas and Suzy Dingle. Normally, with the margin unable to be bridged by four bowls (pairs have two bowls each), the match would move straight to the second set.

However, both pairs carried on with Jersey rolling up the jack. With television commentators and some of the crowd questioning the situation, the first end was interrupted as officials intervened.

Few people were sure whether the bowlers were playing the first end of the new set or the last end of the previous one.

While officials dithered - they did not cover themselves in glory - the Jersey pair stayed in the hot sun to sort out the matter.

The Khans, however, took the opportunity for a toilet break.

"It was good for us, it gave us a real lift," said 47-year-old Jan Khan. "We told each other to stop jerking around but we still felt pretty good."

They must have because Marina said that apart from the loo break, the sisters geed themselves up with an impromptu song and dance act that they performed first during the recent national championships.

A bit of a bump-and-grind routine, done while singing the James Brown song I Feel Good. They had also had time for a crack at Maori Battalion.

When they returned they took charge of the unsettled Jersey pair.

Previously, the sisters had not played well - Marina playing underneath the head too much and some of Jan's draws on the long ends scuttled into the ditch.

But it all changed in the second set, Marina putting the pressure on from lead and Jan drawing some beautiful shots and they took the set 11-5, again after just eight ends.

Then it went into tie-break, which none of the New Zealand bowls team have played well in Melbourne.

Jersey took the first of the best-of-three ends but Jan pulled back with a magnificent draw shot under pressure to level at 1-1. In the deciding end, the sisters put the pressure on again, with Marina producing a toucher and Jan another fine draw.

Dingle had two drives to turn the match but both slipped by agonisingly close and the Khans had the medal.

"I was out there saying: 'Mum, mum, hold on, hold on'," said Marina of invoking her mother's help as Dingle's drives headed dangerously close. And she did.

The sisters often talk to their departed mother while on the green and say they can always feel her with them when playing.

"We had a lot of help from the whanau up there," said Jan, pointing at the sky. And she wasn't talking about her family and friends in the stand.