The mother and daughter duo of Kirsten and Leigh Griffin put up a stiff challenge to sisters Angela and Mandy Boyd going down 15-9 in the semifinal of the national championship pairs at the Paritutu greens. Kirsten and Leigh had earlier rolled multiple national title holder Ann Muir and her partner Sue Wightman (Northland) in the quarterfinals. The semifinal appearance adds to an already ground-breaking season for Kirsten who won the New Zealand Open Singles in Auckland in November.
Hayley May reached her fourth national championship quarterfinal in three years playing with Dale Rayner (Johnsonville), Clare McCaul (Silverstream) and Amy Brenton (Nelson) in the fours. The side went down to Taranaki’s Heather Johns 19-18 after having lead 17-2 after 10 ends. However the Paritutu side that won the Taranaki Open Fours last year, were tenacious taking the next seven ends including a five on the 13th head, to take the lead 18-17. McCaul drew shot on the last end to tie the game up. On the extra end, Johns sealed the deal with a front toucher and Rayner could not recover.