Two extremely tight and hard-fought finals saw Selina Goddard (North Harbour) and Katelyn Inch (Canterbury) take silver in the women’s pairs event in Malaysia, while Teri Blackbourn (Hamilton) claimed the second podium spot in the para women’s singles.
Goddard and Inch were solid throughout pool play and knockout matches to reach the final at the Arena Lawn Bowls Bukit Kiara.
Taking on Hong Kong China in the decider, the Kiwis started strong, scoring two shots in the first end of set one. But their opponents fought back, with the teams level at 4-all heading into the final end before Hong Kong China secured a single shot to take the set 5-4.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Hong Kong China again rallying late to edge the Kiwis 3-2 and win the match.
In the para women’s singles, Teri Blackbourn added another silver medal for New Zealand.
The Hamilton bowler was dominant in pool play, winning all five of her matches before cruising through her semifinal.
In the final, she faced England’s Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall in a tight contest.
Blackbourn took an early lead before Lewis-Wall fought back to win the first set 7-4 and held on to take the second 4-3 and win the match.
In the men’s singles, Dunedin bowler Keanu Darby finished with two pool wins over South Africa and Ireland, while Finbar McGuigan claimed victory against South Africa. In the para men’s singles, Kurt Smith rounded out his campaign with two wins over Wales and India.
New Zealand ends the tournament with three medals overall, after Smith and Blackbourn combined earlier in the week to win bronze in the Para mixed pairs. — Bowls New Zealand
