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New Zealand lawn bowlers fined for fixing game in Malaysia

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand lawn bowls player was banned for six months yesterday and three others were fined after being found guilty of match fixing during an international tournament in Malaysia last year.
National skipper Gary Lawson was banned and fined US$3,5000 while his international team-mates Shane Sincock, Jamie Hill and Shannon McIlroy were each findUS$700 over the incident which occurred during August’s Asia-Pacific Championships.

Lawson, a double world champion, said he and his team-mates would appeal the penalties to the Sports Tribunal, the body which arbitrates sports disputes in New Zealand.


An independent judicial committee last month found Lawson, Hill, Sincock and McIlroy had contrived to lose one end of a match against Thailand during the Asia-Pacific tournament at Kuala Lumpur.

New Zealand conceded four shots on the 17th end of an 18-end match, turning a 15-12 lead into a 16-15 deficit and eventually losing 17-15. The New Zealand team had already qualified for the tournament’s knockout rounds, but the loss sent Thailand into the playoffs at the expense of Canada.

Canada lodged a protest which was taken up by lawn bowls’ world governing body which urged New Zealand to investigate. Bowls New Zealand convened a judicial panel chaired by a judge which found in January that Lawson and his team-mates were guilty of misconduct. — AP

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