World Championships just around the corner
From the 29th of November until the 11th of December, Tasmania’s Rebecca Van Asch (Invermay) and 9 of her Aussie compatriots will be playing in the World Championships in New Zealand. The host club will be Burnside, but other local clubs will be used during this 2 week extravaganza.
There are 34 countries represented with 20 countries entered into each discipline. Australia, as well as nine other countries, will be competing in all 8 disciplines, Singles, Pairs, Triples & Fours for both Men and Women. Not only will players be competing for gold in each individual event, but there will also be an Overall Team Championship up for grabs.
Van Asch will be competing in the Triples & Fours. The line-ups for those combinations are as follows Carla Krizanic, Rebecca Van Asch, Natasha Scott & Kelsey Cottrell for the fours and Carla Krizanic, Natasha Scott & Rebecca Van Asch in the triples. The other player in the Women’s side is Karen Murphy who will be playing in the singles and skipping Cottrell in the pairs.
The fours will be the first format for Van Asch. The first three days will see three matches played each day starting at 6:15am, 10:15am & 1:45pm Tasmanian time. This will see nine rounds completed in the section of 10 with the top three teams advancing to the finals. The team finishing first will go directly into the Semi Finals, whereas second and third will be put into a random draw with the corresponding teams from the other section to play in a Knock Out match for the last two semi-final spots. Each sectional match will be 18 ends of two bowls with a 3 hour time limit. Australia’s opponents in this section are;
Wales, Namibia & New Zealand on Nov 29
South Africa, Hong Kong & Ireland on Nov 30
Fiji, Singapore & Canada on Dec 1
Day 4 will see the finals start with the 2nd & 3rd teams playing at 7am followed by the Semi Final matches being played at 11am. The Final will be held on Day 5, December 3rd, with live coverage on Fox Sports Four starting at 7am. The Men’s Triples Final will be shown on Fox Sports 4 at 11am. The following day will be the first of 2 rest days for Van Asch but the first rest day may see her cheering on some Australian teams in the finals. The Sunday will see the Men’s Pairs on Fox Sports 4 at 7am with the Women’s Singles being played at 11am on the same channel.
On the 6th of December, Van Asch will then start her campaign in the triples. The Triples is a 2 bowl format, 18 ends in duration and a time limit of 3 hours. As it is in the fours, there will be 9 rounds over 3 days using the same starting times and finals format. Here are the opponents Van Asch will be skipping against over the 3 days;
Isle of Man, Zimbabwe & Canada on Dec 6
USA, Fiji & Wales on Dec 7
Scotland, Brunei & Ireland on Dec 8
The 9th of December will see the Post Sectional and Semi Finals being played. If successful the Triples Final will be played on the 10th December at 7am, broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. The other finals that will also be broadcast are the Men’s Fours at 11am on Fox Sports 2 and then on the Sunday it will be the Women’s Pairs at 7am on Fox Sports 4 and the final event is Men’s singles at 11am on Fox Sports 3.
Because the event is being run by World Bowls, there are a few different rules you may not be used to. The Jack will be re-spotted on the 6 foot mark if killed, the minimum length of end is 23m and a win in sectional play is worth 3 points, where as a draw is worth 1 point.
Through the Bowls Tasmania website and Facebook page I will be trying to keep you informed of how Van Asch is going and getting some insights from the Australian team. Bowls Australia will also be posting articles based around the whole team and the World Bowls site will be updating scores and ladders etcetera during the day. Here are some useful links for you to keep up to date;
Bowls Australia Coverage – http://bowlsaustralia.com.au/Events/World-Championships
Results via Burnside Bowling Club – http://www.burnsidebowlingclub.com/2016WorldBowlsChampionshipMensResults.html
World Bowls Coverage – http://www.worldbowls2016.com/Category?Action=View&Category_id=89
We wish Rebecca and the whole Jackaroos team the best of luck!
By David Genford
