On the mats — Indoor bowls news

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

SEVENTEEN-year-old Nathan Trowell beat his father Malcolm Trowell 4-3 in the final of the Friday Night Singles indoor bowls competition.

The three-end final could have gone either way. Nathan picked up one point on the first end and two points on the second.

Malcolm Trowell then played the shot of the night — a run shot through two short bowls to take Nathan's bowls out of the scoring zone.

Malcolm Trowell picked up three shots to force a deciding end, with the game being tied at 3-3.

The deciding end was a great spectacle. Malcolm held the shot, until Nathan's third bowl of four. Nathan looked to have drawn on to the kitty to create two touches, meaning one of both players' bowls was touching the kitty.

With his last bowl, Malcolm played into the shot bowls, just missing what he wanted. That gave Nathan the point, and he didn't need to play his last bowl.

This was Nathan Trowell's 22nd centre title. He goes from strength to strength in the game.

It was a fortunate night for him. He needed to gain five points to qualify for the playoffs, with two points for a win and one point for a draw. He won his first game against his grandmother Kaye Easton, but then suffered a heavy loss to Keith Setter.

Trowell's third game was against Warren Madoc, who held the points to win the game before Trowell played a run shot that hit the kitty, bouncing it off a back bowl, then forward to finish right near a Trowell shot to gain a draw. Trowell's last game was a win against Hina Preddey to qualify.

In his last-eight game, against Dylan Foster, the game was locked at 2-2 and on the last end Trowell played too heavy and bumped the kitty back two feet. Foster had a big chance to win the game by drawing within the two-foot area, but fell short, giving Trowell the win.

Trowell's semifinal was against David Lynn. Trowell was 3-0 up. Lynn had last bowl, and a big chance to pick up the kitty sideways for three points to force a deciding end. However, his bowl went too wide, and Trowell took the win.