World Bowls Champs in Christchurch

I’m here from the 28th of November through to the 11th of December covering this event for Radio Sport and Newstalk ZB. It’ll be my foray into the field of digital media commentary with interviews and updates on various media websites.

There are 34 countries lining up and the finals are live on Sky, 3rd, 4th, 10th and 11th of December. The last time the world champs were held in Christchurch was in 2008 and New Zealand walked away with four gold medals! They will be looking for a repeat. Only three of the 2008 NZ side are back this year and to highlight the youth impact, we now have the youngest NZ player – Katelyn Inch, 21 years old from the Oxford Club in North Canterbury. Australia, England and Scotland all have leading players in their selected teams all in their early 20’s.

The teams comprise of five men and five women who play over the duration of the event. Singles, Pairs, Triples, and Fours. All teams play in their National colours, a variety of colourful attire and coloured bowls.

Tough competition can be expected from Australia, Scotland, England, South Africa, Malaysia, Wales, Ireland, Canada… and you can be assured there is always the chance of a lesser known country causing an upset and earning a spot on the medal dais.

A large contingent of Kiwi supporters and overseas supporters have made their way to Christchurch, with the UK and Australian supporters making up a large percentage of the visitor population.

Regular updates and results will be across the airwaves of Radio Sport here in NZ and across the NZ Herald and Radio Sport websites along with the Bowls NZ website. www.bowlsnz.co.nz www.worldbowls2016.com Here’s a link to my Round One Review.