Hawke's Bay indoor bowls representative Michael Brown has spent more than a decade trying to secure a berth in the singles final in the province's annual Easter tournament.
"It's always a strong field so I was pretty happy to tick that goal off," Brown said as he reflected on his eight point loss to Tauranga's Annelise Baker in Friday's final of the 117-player singles event.
"Our tournament is the only one in the country where you get all four disciplines over four consecutive days and with a first prize of $1200 in the singles you can see why we get a strong field," Brown explained.
The 44-year-old Waipawa sickness beneficiary who started indoor bowls in 2001 pipped fellow Bay player Bruce Dalton 11-10 in his semifinal while Baker, the first woman to win the title in 10 years, beat Upper Hutt's Ashley Diamond by the same score in her semifinal.
"Neither Annelise or I qualified in the fours," Brown said referring to Saturday's fours section of the tournament which involved 34 teams. Brown skipped a team which had experienced Hawke's Bay rep Glenis Cohen at three, his father Philip Brown at two and 13-year-old Tracey Ludeman at lead.