Alistair McMurran

It was not what he expected. Ron Cain was given a rude awakening into the realities of international sport when his protest was turned down at Madrid in 1981.

There's no stopping Otago Daily Times sports writer and world traveller Alistair McMurran. With 174 countries and territories already ticked off, last year he set out on another adventure.

Raelene Castle wants to be the best at netball, tennis, bowls and business.

It took Sue Burnand's Slam team 11 ends to take control but there was no stopping it after that.

Matt Gallop was 10 when he watched his father win the New Zealand men's fours title in 1998.

Ali Forsyth wants to be named as skip when the next Black Jacks squad is named later this month. He underlined his credentials in the fours yesterday.

The defending champion used the get-out-of-jail card twice to advance to the semifinals of the women's fours at the National Bowls Championships in Dunedin yesterday.

It is different today. Young women are welcomed by bowling clubs. But it was not the case when Leigh Griffin started almost 25 years ago.

Shaun Scott (North East Valley) kept his cool under extreme pressure to give himself a chance of winning the prestige men's singles final tomorrow.

It was Shaun Scott's day. The North East Valley bowler added to the family heritage when he won the New Zealand men's singles title yesterday.

Double world champion Val Smith (United Nelson) wants to put her bowls on the shelf for a few months and have a break from the sport in which she has made her name.

The New Zealand bowls championships have been a tonic for Blaketown bowler Ryan McTaggart, and given him a break from the sadness that has gripped the Greymouth community since the Pike River Coal mine tragedy.

Michael Nagy had a break from bowls on New Year's Eve and got married.

Veteran Lou Newman (Victoria) is a wily opponent with a shrewd tactical sense that can swing games in his favour.

There's no stopping Otago Daily Times sports writer and world traveller Alistair McMurran. With 174 countries and territories already ticked off, last year he set out on another adventure.

Clinton bowler Wynette McLachlan did not win an elusive national title, but she emerged from the national championship with credit after finishing runner-up in the pairs.

Jo Edwards (Burnside) has already established herself as one of New Zealand's great international bowlers but had rarely stamped her mark on the domestic scene.