Last year's champions, Carlton-Cornwall's Karen de Jongh, Bev, Crowe and Diane Hazelton, narrowly missed the chance to defend their bowls title when triples finalists were found at the Trust New Zealand Open at Blockhouse Bay today.
In a tense semi-final the de Jongh lineup was upset 15-14 by the compositeskipped by Papakura's Gayle Melrose, with club-mate Natarsha Grimshaw at two and Margaret Davies leading.
The Melrose combination will meet the host club's Margaret Aldous, Mary O'Keefe and Marion Vague in Thursday's final, with the Blockhouse Bay side winning another cliffhanger from the experienced composite of Anne Bateman, Reen Stratford and Linda Ralph.
The men's final, also on Thursday, will feature Neil Clarke, Kevin Marshall and Trevor Harris, from Hamilton's Hillcrest club, and Waiheke's Scott Cottrell, who is skipping two Browns Bay bowlers, Bruce McClintock and Brian Wilson.
The Clarke line-up won its semi-final over a Graham Skellern-skipped Carlton-Cornwall triple and Cottrell's side had a decisive 19-9 win over Riverhead's Gordon Smith, David Ross and Duane McDonald.
In the quarter-finals Skellern pipped the fancied combination skipped by Wellington's Ray Martin 13-12 and the Riverhead side eliminated another of the stronger composite sides skipped by former national singles champion Dwayne Cameron and with former Black Jack Tony Grantham leading.
