Bowls: De Jongh eyes full set of titles with pairs

Karen de Jongh.

Leading Auckland women's bowler Karen de Jongh has a chance today to add to her impressive recent record in the Trusts New Zealand Open when she contests the pairs final with her Carlton-Cornwall club-mate Bev. Crowe.

A win would give de Jongh a complete set of Open titles, as she won the singles in 2014 and with Crowe and Diane Hazelton the triples last year.

In the final today de Jongh and Crowe will meet Lauren Mills and Caroline Downs, from Whangarei's Kensington club, who were in good form yesterday in the semifinals with a 17-10 win over Linley O'Callaghan and Bronwyn Stephens.

Another long standing Auckland representative, Reen Stratford, now of Wanganui, will contest tomorrow's women's singles final against Papakura's Natarsha Grimshaw, who yesterday won a 21-20 epic semi-final against Queenstown's Christine Buchanan.

The men's singles finalists will be in-form Aucklander Scott Cottrell and the Australian-based former Black Jack Richard Girvan, winner of the title in 2009.

A couple of relative unknowns, Waikato's Jessie Russell and Thames Valley's Taylor Horne and Riverhead's Duane McDonald and David Ross, made the men's pairs final to be played tomorrow.

Russell and Horne pipped Richard Girvan and Tom Delaney, who in the quarter-finals had overwhelmed defending champions Rob Ashton and Barclay Lee, and McDonald and Ross just edged another North Harbour pair, Garry Banks and Walter Howden.

Banks just missed emulating his sister Gayle Melrose, who will be in today's women's triples final.