The Rouvi family have overcome the odds and become three of the best blind bowlers in New Zealand.
The three Rouvi siblings - Nooapii (56), Tangi (51) and Aeranga (49) - were all born partially blind in the Cook Islands.
''We all lost more of our sight as we grew older,'' Aeranga said.
''I was only partially blind when I played cricket. I became totally blind four years ago.''
He followed in the footsteps of his brother and sister who became totally blind before him.
Tangi took to bowls from the start and quickly got the jump over her brothers. She won two more gold medals at last month's 60th annual New Zealand Blind and Visually Impaired indoor bowls championships at Lower Hutt.
She beat Sarah Welsh (Counties) 9-3 to win the women's singles and showed that women have the edge over men in blind sport by winning the champion of champions title when she beat men's champion Owen Wilson (Napier) 9-1.
It was the fifth national title for Tangi and she became the first Otago blind bowler to win a gold star. All her titles have been in singles, the first in 1998.
Tangi, who became totally blind in 1997, proudly wears the New Zealand gold star on her blue Otago bowls shirt.
Tangi was guided to the title by her daughter, Lisa, who works as a supervisor at Cargill Enterprises.
''I just have to tell her how far it is and line her up,'' Lisa said.
''But Mum doesn't do what I tell her all the time. She has to be told off a few times.''
Lisa explained the hardest part of being a guide.
''It is when you give them too much green or not enough and they get it wrong. It is my fault then.''
The first member of the family to come to Dunedin was their father, Ngaruaine, who was contracted to work at Methvens in 1969.
Others followed over the next 16 years - Nooapii in 1974, Tangi in 1983 and Aeranga in 1985.
Aeranga, who won his first national title in the fours last month,
cannot see anything. It makes it difficult to play accurate bowls.
''We have a guide who gives us the green and we have to adjust the weight of the bowl,'' he said. The guide tells the bowler how far from the jack they are and they have to adjust the weight. ''On bad days we can't get the green or the weight and we fret about it,'' Aeranga said.
Sound helps a blind person in ordinary life but it is not an advantage in bowls.
''The quieter it is the more accurately you can hear your guide,'' he said.
''We rely completely on our guide.''
It is different for partially blind bowlers who get their direction by a large paddle that is placed close to the jack.
The manager of the Otago team of eight bowlers and three guides was Doreen Wintrup, a volunteer at the Otago Blind Indoor Bowling Club.
She was the guide for Nooapii Rouvi who finished runner-up in the men's singles to Wilson, 9-7. The Napier bowler won the game with his last bowl.
