Bowls: Back-to-back champ relishes the competition

By JULIE ASH

For the second year in a row 24-year-old Ali Forsyth has claimed the national men's singles bowls title. The left-hander from the United club in Nelson will now represent New Zealand at the world champion of champion singles in Australia in November.

Forsyth was in action in the fours yesterday but gave up a few precious minutes of his lunch break to talk to the Herald.

When did you start playing bowls?

I have been playing for eight years now. I started the same time as my Dad. I have played indoor bowls since I was seven but the local outdoor green, where I first started, was only 200m down the road [from my home].

Why bowls?

It is something that I have always enjoyed playing. It is an extremely competitive sport and it is something where you can challenge yourself against anyone. Age or gender doesn't really restrict you.

What is it like being one of the youngest competitors in the sport?

Ninety-five per cent of the people are very supportive. More and more young people play these days - most of my mates play. They have developed a national secondary schools competition, which has got to be good for the game.

How often do you practise?

It depends on how much I am playing.

Probably I would do one good session on the green but then I do three gym sessions a week to help improve my fitness.

Fitness has a fairly big role to play.

If you are not very fit your concentration level tends to disappear very quickly.

You have just won your second consecutive national singles title. How difficult was that?

I was extremely happy to have won the title again. It was even better the second time around. Last year my win as fairly unexpected but this year everyone was aware so no one took me lightly. Every game was a tough one but I seemed to get through it okay.

What is next for you?

Hopefully my next event will be the transtasman series which is in Rotorua in the first week of February. A New Zealand team and a New Zealand under-30 team will compete in that. I am not expecting to make the New Zealand side but fingers crossed I will be selected in the under-30 side. Then there is the world champion of champions singles tournament in Australia. I competed in that last year and won eight of my 13 games. I just missed out on the quarter finals by one game ... I'd like to advance a bit further this year.

Do you see a long future in the sport?

A couple years down the track, if I keep on playing like this, certainly I'll be looking at the Commonwealth Games and maybe if I am very lucky there are the world championships in Christchurch in 2008.

It would be pretty special if I made the team and got to that.