Mainland Bowlers Begin Title Defence at Challenge Trophy

Aiming to keep the Bowls NZ Challenge Trophy in their hands for another year, the Mainland side made great strides in the first day of play today at Christchurch's Burnside Bowling Club.

Counting Black Jacks Ali Forsyth and Jan Khan among their skips, the two experienced international campaigners managed to put the final touches on a perfect, unbeaten day of triples action as the rain began to fall, giving the Mainlanders a welcome boost.

Heading a crew of youthful Talent Development Squad bowlers, Amy Brenton and Black Jack squad member Andrew Kelly also did their bit to keep the points rolling in.

“Mainland are doing their best to defend their title,” confirmed Bowls NZ National Head Coach Dave Edwards.

“They have a few people from last year, like Jimmy Pugh, but there are a lot of new faces.”

And that's one of the purposes of an event created as both a tool to push Talent Development Squad members, and to give Black Jacks a “real good workout” before they head overseas again to defend the country's golden bowling name.

“The best players in the country are here,” says Edwards, “and the Talent Development Squad players are learning all the skills to become high performance bowlers, while rubbing shoulders with Black Jacks.”

The other teams in the competition are made up of players from Southern, Central and Northern New Zealand and supplemented by Black Jacks to balance the teams and avoid creating an all-star team of elite bowlers.

Dividing up the best bowlers among the teams has also provided some interesting results today, as world number one Jo Edwards skipped just one winning match from three and Black Jack stars Val Smith, Richard Girvan and Dan Delany wrapped up the day without a victory.

Holding second place behind the Mainland team is Central, followed by Southern and Northern in last place.

Tomorrow the assembled bowlers will compete in three rounds of pairs matches, and Sunday will see the bowlers compete in three rounds of singles to wrap up the tournament.

Day One Standings
Mainland - 60 game points
Central – 42  game points
Southern – 24  game points
Northern – 18  game points

Northern Team
Women: Lauren Mills, Leanne Curry, Jo Edwards, Hannah Robertson, Jan Shirley, Genevieve Baildon
Men: Josh Thompson, Scott Cottrell, Tony Marinkovich, Monte Pawa, Scott Evans, Dan Delany
Mainland Team
Women: Tayla Bruce, Sheryl Pearce, Jan Khan, Brittany Tyson, Misty Arnold, Amy Brenton
Men: Josh Boyd, James Pugh, Ali Forsyth, Nathan Glasson, Greg Ruaporo, Andrew Kelly
Central Team
Women: Kirsten Griffin, Dale Lang, Mandy Boyd, Kaaren Guilford, Lisa White, Clare McCaul
Men: Tim Toomey, Chris LeLievre, Darren Redway, Euan Wong, Tony Grantham, Blake Signal
Southern Team
Women: Sarah Scott, Abbey Dugdale, Val Smith, Angela Boyd, Rachel McDowall, Serena Matthews
Men: Conor Muir, Mitchell Will, Richard Girvan, Craig Forgie, Matt Gallop, Shaun Scott

For full results from day one of the event, click here.