On the mats: indoor bowls news

All smiles: Nathan and Kayla Trowell with the trophy for the local winners of the New Zealand indoor bowls mixed pairs. Picture supplied

Siblings Nathan and Kayla Trowell are the local winners of the 2022 New Zealand indoor bowls mixed pairs.

They defeated their cousin Matthew Foster and their nana Kaye Easton 8-7 in a tight nine-end final.

It was 2-2 after the second end, but then the Trowells turned on the pressure.

They recorded two points on each of the next three ends to be in command at 8-2.

Foster and Easton then came right. They scored single points on ends 6 and 7, then three points on the eighth end to be only only one point down at 8-7 going into the last end.

The shot bowl changed frequently in the ninth end. After the second-last bowl, one of Foster’s bowls and one of Trowell’s were touching the kitty.

This meant Trowell didn’t have to play his last bowl as no one could score a point on that end, so the final score stood at 8-7 to the Trowells.

This was the Trowell pair’s third local final victory. They won the event in 2019 and 2020 as well.

In July they will travel to Whakatane to play in the New Zealand mixed pairs zone finals against pairs from Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, Thames Valley and Waikato.