New Zealand's best indoor bowlers chase national glory in Rotorua

Tauranga's Grant I'Ami, Lorraine Phipps and Mike Phipps won the Open Triples and the Geyserland Trophy at the National Indoor bowls Championships. Photo / Supplied

Rotorua's Energy Events Centre has been abuzz with indoor bowls action this week.

The city is hosting the Summerset National Indoor Bowls Championships which started last Saturday and finishes today.

Last Saturday, the action kicked off with the Open and Masters (60+) singles. 114 players qualified for post section play in the open and 72 in the masters.

On Sunday, it was Manawatu's Tim Veale who rose to the top in the Open division. In the final, he beat Paul Smith, of Tauranga, 9-8.

It was his second national championship title as he won the Pairs in 2008. In his speech he dedicated his win to his late grandfather who had always felt that Tim could go far in the sport of indoor bowls if he put his mind to it.

The Masters Singles was won by Dora Warren, of Hawke's Bay, who beat Val Hagan, of Tauranga, 10-4. It was the first time that two women had contested the final and meant that a woman would create history and win for the first time.

On Monday, attention turned to the pairs competition in which 62 teams qualified for post section play in the Open Division and 47 in the Masters Division.

In the finals, Tauranga's Grant I'Ami and Mike Phipps won the Open Pairs and sisters Bronnie Read and Colleen Riddock, of North Taranaki, won the Masters. Both finals were very close and came down to deciding ends to find the champions.

The triples began on Wednesday. 43 Open teams and 23 Masters teams qualified for post section play on Thursday.

Indoor bowls history was made on Thursday when Grant l'Ami, Mike Phipps and Lorraine Phipps, of Tauranga won the Open Triples as well as the Geyserland Trophy and Barry Chapman, Selwyn Hale and Dennis Hale, of Waikato, won the Masters Triples and the Boothby Trophy.

L'Ami became the first bowler to win 15 nationals titles and a third Gold Star (for five titles) while Lorraine Phipps won her fifth title and her first Gold Star. For Mike Phipps it was his 14 title.

The national fours titles will be decided today.National Indoor Bowls Championship winners so far:

Open Singles: Tim Veale, Manawatu.
Masters Singles: Dora Warren, Hawke's Bay.
Open Pairs: Grant I'Ami and Mike Phipps, Tauranga.
Masters Pairs: Bronnie Read and Colleen Riddock, North Taranaki.
Open Triples: Grant l'Ami, Mike Phipps and Lorraine Phipps, Tauranga
Masters Triples: Barry Chapman, Selwyn Hale and Dennis Hale, Waikato.

- Supplied content