Bowls: Veterans hope to make up for 1998 disappointment

The Commonwealth Games bowls squad began their trek to Manchester yesterday, taking along an all-new black playing uniform and quiet confidence of achieving success.

The feeling among the team is that they have unfinished business after the disappointment of winning just one bronze in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

Seven of the 19 players are world champions, including Peter Belliss and Rowan Brassey.

Both have been internationals for 20 years. Belliss will be attending his fourth Games and Brassey his fifth. Marlene Castle will also be at her fourth Games.

All three know what it is like to win Games medals, but none has a gold. Castle has a silver and a bronze, Belliss has two bronze and Brassey a silver and two bronze.

The other world champions are Andrew Curtain, Sharon Sims, Patsy Jorgensen, Jan Khan and Anne Lomas.

Eight gold medals are up for grabs in Manchester - men's and women's events in singles, pairs and fours, plus, for the first time, men's triples for disabled competitors and women's singles for blind competitors.

The 19-strong New Zealand contingent complete their preparations for Manchester with a series of matches in Northern Ireland next week - two tests against the Northern Irish Commonwealth Games team, and a five-test series with an Irish selection, before moving to the Games village on July 19.

The Games begin on July 25.

The last time the teams met, New Zealand whitewashed the Irish in Christchurch, the men and women winning their series 3-0.

Lawn bowls has yielded at least one medal for New Zealand in every Commonwealth Games where bowls was included in the programme, except once - in 1934.

The tally stands at 27 medals in total - nine of each colour.

But a lone bronze for Millie Khan in women's singles made Kuala Lumpur in 1998 the leanest Games return since 1934.

Since then Bowls New Zealand has quietly but radically improved its high-performance programme.

Men. -

Singles: Mike Kernaghan (Dunedin).

Pairs: Russell Meyer (NSW) and Paul Girdler (NSW).

Fours: Andrew Curtain (Canterbury), Sean Johnson (Wanganui), Rowan Brassey (Auckland) and Peter Belliss (NSW).

Disabled triples: John Davies (Manawatu), Barry Wynks (Manawatu), Peter Horne (Wellington).

Women. -

Singles: Marlene Castle (Auckland).

Pairs: Sharon Sims (Manawatu) and Jo Edwards (Nelson).

Fours: Wendy Jensen (Counties), Patsy Jorgensen (Hawkes Bay), Jan Khan (Canterbury) and Anne Lomas (Counties).

Blind singles: Marilyn Savage (Auckland) with coach-director Helen Stallard (Auckland).

- NZPA