Keith and Christine Buchanan (Queenstown) won the third annual Dunedin Casino women's classic pairs at the North East Valley club.
They beat the Dunedin pair of Malia Tavite (Forbury Park) and Anne Curtis (Caversham) 13-9 in a closely fought final.
''It was the first time I'd met Christine, let alone played with her,'' Keith said.
Forty-eight players are invited to the two-day women's $5000 cash tournament. The winning pair gets $2000.
It is the biggest women's cash tournament held annually in New Zealand and the pairs are drawn by ballot the night before the competition.
It was the first time Buchanan had been invited to the tournament.
''I knew Sandra had won in the first two years. The pressure was on me. I didn't want to let her down,'' Buchanan said.
''I was excited to be drawn to play with her.''
Keith is an experienced bowler and has won five New Zealand titles. She won the world champion of champions singles title in 2012.
She does not wilt under pressure and made her debut for the Black Jacks last year.
Buchanan is a sixth-year bowler, who has already won 10 Central Otago titles and a New Zealand triples title.
Keith was not concerned when the Dunedin-based team won six of the first eight ends and led 7-2 in the 15-end game.
''No,'' she said.
''We have always been slow starters. They weren't getting big numbers, so there was no need to panic.
''It was just a matter of holding out until we had an end where we got a few shots.''
That came on the tenth end when Keith and Buchanan scored five shots to take the lead for the first time in the game, 8-7.
''That tenth end was the turning point,'' Keith said.
''I had told Christine to keep calm. On one end we were going to score more than one.
''There was only one bowl holding us out most of the time. It was just a matter of being patient.''
Buchanan was outplayed by Tavite with the lead bowls and she only had the better of her opposite on three of the first eight ends.
''It took a while to settle into it and we came right and picked up a five on the tenth end and that put us in the right mood,'' she said.
Buchanan admitted being nervous during the early ends.
''I just tried to get one bowl close to cut down their score,'' she said.
''I knew I just had to get one shot there. I didn't have to have three shots around the kitty.''
''Once we got level we both picked our game up,'' she said,.
Buchanan put three shots around the jack on the tenth end and Keith added two more. That was the decisive end.
It gave Buchanan a lot of confidence and she outplayed Tavite on the last four ends as Keith and Buchanan added five shots to win the game.
In the end, Buchanan had the better of Tavite on nine of the 15 ends. Curtis and Keith had an even tussle and they both had the better of their opponents on seven ends.
In the semifinals, Tavite and Curtis beat Viv Forrester (Havelock) and Michelle Fallow (North East Valley) 22-9.
Buchanan and Keith beat Jenny Dyhrberg (Taieri) and Carolyn Crawford (St Clair) 16-1.
New Zealand pairs champion Anne Muir (Northland) and Annie McDonald (Awamoa, Oamaru) beat Sue Kincaid (Waikiwi, Southland) and Shona Mann (North East Valley) 13-3 in the plate final.
