Mandy Boyd (Johnsonville) has the chance to force herself into the Black Jacks for World Bowls if she wins the women's singles final in Auckland today.
Mandy (20), a fine arts student from Wellington, has made two finals at the New Zealand championships.
She is also in the pairs final with older sister Angela (Taradale). The pair were in the winning fours team at the national championships in Dunedin last year.
Mandy is in the 10-strong Black Jacks women's elite squad and could force the selectors hand with a top performance today.
She played indoor bowls from the age of 8, but only stepped on to outdoor greens in 2006.
She first made her mark on the national scene when she had back-to-back wins in the girls singles at the New Zealand Secondary School Championships in 2008 and 2009.
The Boyd sisters reached the final yesterday when they beat the composite team of Reen Stratford and Hetty Bolscher in a tense semifinal 15-14.
The sisters will meet the composite team of Asia-Pacific championships fours gold medallist Genevieve Baildon and Jan Shirley who beat the composite pair of Sandra Keith and Serena Matthews 21-13 in the other semifinal.
Six seasons on from her initial introduction to the game, Mandy has already made history as the youngest bowler to win a national title after her fours team took the top spot in Dunedin.
Boyd admits that the increased mental and physical training has been very useful and it had an impact on her earning a spot in the women's singles finals after outclassing Clare McCaul (Silverstream) 21-9 in the semifinal.
Her opponent in the singles final is Sandra Keith (Leeston) who reached the semifinals at the championships in Dunedin last year.
Keith reached the final with a 21-11 win over Sue Burnard (Frankton Railway) 21-11.
A new men's singles champion will be found this morning when Peter Hodson (Stoke) plays Neil Fisher (Howick) in the final.
In yesterday's semifinals, Fisher beat Raika Gregory (Frankton Railway) 21-19 in a nail-biter and Hodson downed Steve Cox (Henderson) 21-17.
Cox caused an upset early in the day when he beat Sydney-based Black Jack Richard Girvan 21-14 and then downed Alvin Gardiner (Elmwood) 21-19 in the second round.
Fisher claimed a big scalp when he beat Black Jack Dan Delany (Onehunga) 21-20 in a thriller in the first round yesterday.
The men's pairs semifinals will be played this morning with Blake Signal (Stokes Valley) and Alvin Gardiner (Elmwood) matched against the father and son combination of Neville and Jamie Hill, of Onehunga.
The other semifinal will be between the composite team of Steve Beel and Shane Pascoe and Stoke's Peter Hodson and James Pugh after Hodson completes his singles final.
