Bowls: Smith wins women's world title

Lorna Smith. Photo / Supplied

Scotland's Lorna Smith defeated Dutch star Saskia Schaft in a closely-fought world singles bowls championship in Christchurch yesterday.

Smith is one of the most decorated bowlers in sport's history, but yesterday's win marked her first major singles crown.

She did it the hard way, having come through the elimination finals, where she defeated New Zealand's Helen King in a tiebreaker, then another sudden-death three-ender against Malaysia's Noor Zafirah Noor in the semifinals.

Earlier in the day, Fiji's Litia Tikoisuva progressed to the semifinals when she outgunned Tai Jim from the Cook Islands in an elimination final. However, Titkoisuva was unable to reproduce the same form in her clash with Schaft, and will share the bronze tier of the medal presentations podium today with Noor.

The men's semifinals and final are to be played today. New Zealand's Ali Forsyth will take on Fairus Jabal in the first semi, while Australia's David Holt will take on Iain McLean of Scotland in the later match.