Gary Lawson and Shannon McIlroy secured the men's doubles crown at Broadbeach Bowls Club with a thrilling 19-18 victory over the Australian pair Ray Pearse and Nathan Rice.

Pearse and Rice trailed by as many as nine shots at one point, but 10 shots in three ends, including six on one, helped them pull the scores level heading into the last end.

Lawson won the game with the last bowl, sealing a title in his first international tournament since the 2009 Asia Pacific Championships.

He said: “I let it go and it felt reasonably good out of the hand.

“It’s always nice if you can do it with the last bowl but it was a bit nerve-racking.

“It’s great because there’s doubts whether you can still compete at that level and under that sort of pressure.”

In the other disciplines, Jo Edwards, celebrating her 600th cap for the Blackjacks, won the women's singles for her fifth Asia Pacific title.

Edwards, who took gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the same venue, beat Norfolk Island’s Carmen Anderson 21-6 in the final.

Val Smith, Katelyn Inch, Kirsten Edwards and Wendy Jensen outclassed Malaysia's Auni Kamis, Nurul Jamil, Azlina Arshad and Nur Fidrah Noh 17-6 in the final of the women's fours.

However, New Zealand could not complete a clean sweep as they were beaten by Australia in the final of the men's triples.

Aron Sherriff – Australian national champion in singles and pairs – produced an excellent display alongside Barrie Lester and Aaron Teys to defeat Mike Kernaghan, Jamie Hill and Ali Forsyth 19-12.

The Championships continue on Monday (June 24) when the men’s singles and fours and women’s pairs and triples begin.