The pair began the tournament with a sensational victory in the first round of section play, defeating defending champions Sarah Scott and Bronwyn Stevens 11-7.
They followed this up with a convincing 12-6 victory over Lynda Milne (Invercargill) and Christine Buchanan (Queenstown).
A wake-up call came in the third round when they went down to the Taieri pairing of Karen Gordon and Anna Louw 15-6.
However, they then proved too good for internationals Carolyn Crawford (St Clair) and Pam Walker (Omakau) 11-7 and the Queenstown combination of Margaret O'Connor and Jane Anderson 17-5, to finish as top qualifiers in section 4 and earn a quarterfinal against Jo Toogood (Gore) and Annie McDonald (Oamaru), whom they defeated 17-10.
In section play, Toogood and McDonald accounted for last year's tournament runner-up, the Canterbury pairing of three-time champion and Black Jack Sandra Keith and rising PBA star Tania Woodham.
Hall and Francis defeated the composite pair Lynley O'Callaghan (Alexandra) and Beth Brown (Taieri) 16-10 to earn a spot in the final.
On the other side of the draw, progressing through to the final were Bowls Dunedin open pairs champions Shannon Eathorne and Cathy King (both Andersons Bay).
The successful mother and daughter combination began with a rare draw, finishing 12-12 with Toogood and McDonald in the first round of section 3.
But as both pairings then progressed through to post-section, it was Eathorne and King who topped the pool as the only undefeated pair in section play to earn a quarterfinal against Milne and Buchanan, who earlier in section play in group 5 had also defeated defending champions Scott and Stevens, 18-5.
The quarterfinal proved one of the matches of the tournament as Eathorne and King clawed their way to a 15-14 victory over Milne and Buchanan to earn a semifinal against sisters Linda Ralph and Estelle Hickey (Calton Cornwall, Auckland), whom they defeated 16-6.
Heading into the final against Hall and Francis, Eathorne and King took confidence in the fact they were the only undefeated pair while Hall and Francis were out to make amends for their third-round stumble in section play.
The intent from Hall and Francis was evident right from the first bowl of the final as they raced to an eight-shot lead after just four ends.
Eathorne and King bounced back with some low numbers to niggle away and, after scoring successive threes just after they halfway stage, the game closed up, Hall and Francis clinging to an 11-10 advantage.
A single shot on the 12th end followed by a three on the 13th appeared to secure the match as they held a 15-10 lead with two ends remaining.
But Eathorne and King drew two shots on each of the final two ends to fall agonisingly short, Hall and Francis securing the title 15-14.
For Francis, Sunday's win was her second at the tournament. She also won playing lead for Janet Swallow in 2018.
King won the title as lead for Swallow in 2019.
Scott and Stevens won the the consolation final 15-11 against Ruth Williams and Christine Boorer and, in the plate final, Keith and Woodham edged the 2020 tournament runner-up pairing of Helen Carman (Taieri) and Shona Elder (Te Anau) 10-9 .
