SYDNEY - The men's triple provided a golden ending to New Zealand's Asia-Pacific championship campaign, beating their trans-Tasman rivals in a hard-fought final in Brisbane yesterday.
The Gary Lawson-skipped trio, comprising lead Jamie Hill and Sean Johnson, emerged 20-15 victors in a titanic struggle at the Pine Rivers Memorial Bowls Club,
having beaten Malaysia 24-6 in their semifinal.
Four ends had been killed off by the halfway mark of the 18-end contest and New Zealand had to survive an unlucky 13th end when they conceded a six to let Australia get back within range.
They had been leading 16-6 when Australia regrouped but the New Zealanders, with Hill at the forefront, got back into the groove. They were up by seven entering the final end and could afford to drop a two as Australian skip Michael Wilks tried unsuccessfully to kill off the end and force a restart.
"We probably dominated apart from one bad end [the 13th] when I played a bad shot. Apart from that we deserved to win," Lawson said.
The win was New Zealand's third gold medal and enabled the men to retain the overall team trophy, won at Moama in New South Wales two years ago.
- NZPA
