Three Tauranga indoor bowls players have put a new cup in the trophy cabinet this week.

Grant l'Ami, Mike Phipps and Lorraine Phipps from the South City Club in Tauranga won the triples competition at the 63rd Lion Foundation National Indoor Bowls Championships at the Southland Indoor Bowls Centre Hall, Invercargill last week.

Mike and Lorraine Phipps – two of the national title winning trio.

Lorraine and Mike are current North Island representatives who met while competing when Lorraine was a Waikato representative and Mike was a Taranaki representative.

Since relocating to Tauranga 18-months ago from New Plymouth they have continued to compete wearing the Tauranga colours.

Mike, who has been playing competitively since 1984, took up bowls after an injury from contact sports left his leg permanently damaged.

'I've always been fairly competitive. My father and brother played and I found it pretty easy to be honest,” says Mike.

This is Grant's seventh title, Mike's sixth and Lorraine's second. They are all members of last year's champion four when Mike won his gold star.

He has the fours 1998, 2002, 2011, triples 1999 and pairs 2002. Grant won the fours in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2011, the triples in 1999 and the pairs in 2002.

In the final over ten ends they defeated champions Gary, Graham and Jan Low, from the Grasmere Club, Southland 6-4 in a tense and exciting match.

The score was 4-3 to Grant after six ends which included a drawn end which shows how tight the heads were.

Gary Low scored one shot on the seventh end to level the scores. The eighth end was drawn.

On the ninth end, Gary held four shots when Grant drew the jack with his last bowl to lead 5-4. On the final end Gary held the shot after his first bowl. Grant again retrieved the situation drawing the jack for the win. Gary attempted to run the shot bowl out but it did not move the Tauranga team winning a great final 6-4.