Sport: Tauranga's Lorraine Phipps wins competition after beating husband

After battling her husband in the final of the Tauranga Henselite Singles event, Lorraine Phipps came out on top to become the first woman to win the 60th Jubilee Cup.

The winner of the Tauranga Henselite Singles, which was played on Saturday with 25 entries, will now go on to represent Tauranga at the New Zealand Henselite Singles Final in Palmerston North on September 8.

Lorraine has become only the third person to have won the trophy, which has seen a stronghold on it since its inception, having only been won by players Paul Smith and Geoff Coughey.

Lorraine not only became the first woman to win the trophy, her win meant she was also the first woman to represent Tauranga at the NZ Henselite Singles since the competition started in 1987.

"I know it won't be easy but I'll be trying my best," Lorraine said.

She was ecstatic to have won, especially given the calibre of players she was up against, including New Zealand and North Island players, and said she was still unsure exactly how she managed to win.

"I can't stop thinking about it," Lorraine said.

"It's very nice to win. I had a couple of wines to celebrate," she said.

At the end of the qualifying rounds nine players - Keith Setter, Paul Smith, Mike Phipps, Brian Pointon, Geoff Coughey, Roger Bartosh, Gordon Hamilton, Wes Drent and Lorraine Phipps - made their way through to post section play by scoring five or more game points.

In the first game of post section to bring the field down to the quarterfinals, Setter proved he was too strong for last year's champion Smith, taking an early lead and never surrendering it.

In the quarterfinals, we Setter beat Pointon 10-4, Mike Phipps beat Hamilton 7-5, Lorraine Phipps beat Drent 11-4 and Coughey beat Bartosh 10-9.

In the first semifinal Phipps was playing the in-form Coughey, but after seven ends of 12, she scooped a 9-1 lead, playing great draw bowls and keeping Coughey out of the game.

The final score after 11 ends was 10-5.

In the second semifinal, Lorraine's husband Mike took an early lead over Setter 6-4 after six ends but Mike consolidated his score to win the next six ends and take out the game 15-4.

This meant the final was contended by both Phipps', making it a husband and wife competition.

They appeared to keep the game friendly after three ends with the score tied at three all but Lorraine was taking no prisoners and continued to play superb bowls, picking up two threes to take a 10-3 lead after five ends.

"My game was just on, I must have been in the zone that day," she said.

Lorraine, who has been playing indoor bowls for about 29 years, continued to consolidate her score and with an unassailable score of 15-4 with two ends to play, Mike - a former New Zealand representative - surrendered to his wife and ended the game.

"It was 15-4 and I think that's the shock, I really struggle against him," Lorraine said.

"He's not easy to beat, he's beaten me many times."

She said she was on a high on the day and her husband conceded graciously.

But that wasn't the only trophy Lorraine managed to score. She also took home the Alison Cowan Trophy for the woman going the furthest in this event.