On the mats

LOCAL WINNERS: Coralie Campbell-Whitehead and Kevin Fishburn with the trophy they received for winning the local final of the New Zealand mixed pairs. They won the right to contest the zone final in Whakatane early next month. Picture by Paul Rickard

AFTER seven years of trying, Kevin Fishburn and Coralie Campbell-Whitehead qualified in the local round of the New Zealand mixed pairs for the first time.

They proved to be unstoppable, and were undefeated all day, winning the local final 10-5 against David Lynn and Lois Lamont.

In the nine-end final, Fishburn and Campbell-Whitehead were in total command, playing great shots to be 6-0 up after just three ends.

Two points to Lynn and Lamont on End 4 made it 6-2.

On End 5, the Fishburn pair picked up one shot to go 7-2 up.

On End 6, a bowl from each pair touched the jack, which resulted in a drawn end and no change to the score.

On the seventh end, Lynn and Lamont picked up three points to close it to 7-5, only for Fishburn to play an outstanding shot on End 8 to pick up two more points to go 9-5 ahead.

One more point to Fishburn and Campbell-Whitehead on the last end proved to be the icing on the cake.

This win means Fishburn and Campbell-Whitehead can go to the zone final in Whakatane early next month to play a round-robin against Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Thames Valley.

Lynn, a member of the New Zealand indoor bowls executive, pushed for the mixed pairs to become a New Zealand title event.

This is the first time the mixed pairs competition is being run as a New Zealand title event, and nearly every centre has found a winner to go on to zone finals.

This was Fishburn’s second centre title and Campbell-Whitehead’s seventh.