White claws back from nine shots down to claim crown

Debbie White has pulled off a remarkable comeback to claim her first national title.

The Hinuera bowler came back from 20-11 down to beat Carlton Cornwall's Selina Goddard 21-20 in the women's singles final of the national singles and pairs championships in Auckland.

White trailed the 2017 champion by nine shots, before starting her comeback by picking up one shot on the 20th end.

She followed that with a four, three and a one on the next three ends to level the match.

Goddard put the pressure back on and held two after her first two bowls of the 24th end.

But White responded by playing the match-winning shot to claim the title.

Meanwhile, in the men's final, Hillcrest's Tony Fabling came up short after coming from 15-1 down to beat Shannon McIlroy in his semifinal.

He was beaten 21-15 by Mangere 21-year-old Taylor Horn in yesterday's final.

Fabling was able to tie the score at 7-7 and 10-10, but that was as close as he came to Horn.

Leading 14-12, Horn scored a two and added one on the next end to lead 17-12.

Fabling replied with a two, but Horn managed a pair of twos to take the win.

In the pair's championships, Mangere's Jordan King and Chris Lowe won the men's final and New South Wales' Lisa Prideaux and Val Smith won the women's.

King and Lowe claimed a tight 20-19 win, although had to come from behind to get it.

They shot out to a 7-0 lead, before Thames' Karl Garrett and Coromandel's Colin Gawith took the lead at 11-10 and extended that to 16-11.

The women's final went a similar way.

Smith was dominant early and helped her and Prideaux race out to an 8-0 lead. But Carlton Cornwall's Linda Ralph and Aramoho's Reen Stratford fought back in front at 17-14.

However, the Smith-Prideuax duo finished stronger to claim a 20-18 victory.

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