Australia announces teams for Junior World Bowls Indoor Championships and Burnside Under 26 Singles
Bowls Australia’s (BA) National Selection Panel has identified two Right at Home Emerging Jackaroos to take on the Junior World Bowls Indoor Championships in Scotland at the beginning of December, as well as a further pair for the Burnside Under 26 singles tournament in New Zealand come October.
Both tournaments hold high prestige and grant up and coming bowlers the chance to shine at international level, as well as gaining an abundance of experience in terms of touring, recovery and the rigours of intense competition.
For the event at the East Kilbride Indoor Bowling Club in Scotland, Nathan Black and Jessie Cottell will be the Australian combatants following some excellent performances on the home front.
Black enjoyed a solid Australian Open campaign on the Gold Coast, progressing to the round of 16 with partner Nathan Pedersen, while in January he and Cohen Litfin took out the division one prize at the illustrious Burnside Pairs tournament, proving that his tournament play is of the highest quality.
Cottell has enjoyed a successful year since switching clubs and has constantly found herself at the pointy end of tournaments, including the Australian Open women’s fours quarterfinal.
In addition, Cottell has qualified for August’s Australian Indoor Championships at Club Tweed and both will be in action for the same team in July’s National Development Series on the Gold Coast.
Australia’s record at the 2022 tournament was exemplary as Brianna Smith conquered the women’s singles event and teamed up with Nick Cahill for a silver in the mixed pairs, who also claimed a runner up finish in the men’s singles.
Cahill will be in action in New Zealand come October as he heads across the ditch for the three day under 26 singles tournament at the famous Burnside Bowling Club.
The Queenslander has continued to go from strength to strength since being named BA’s Male Bowler of the Year in 2022, with his aforementioned performance in the UK in December the jewell in a sensational calendar year that also included his maiden Australian Open final last week in the men’s fours and a phenomenal Multi Nations campaign that saw him earn two silver medals in an international event.
Cahill will ascend over the Tasman with his Queensland teammate in Kira Bourke, who has continued to maintain her form as one of the most prominent singles players across the nation, progressing to the semifinals of the Multi Nations as she clinched a bronze medal behind only Kelsey Cottrell and Ellen Ryan.
Queensland Satellite Coach and former Jackaroo Claire Turley will accompany Cahill and Bourke to New Zealand, while Victorian Pathways Coach Ian Ewing will make the trip to Scotland with Black and Cottell.
Ewing, a former Victorian representative, looks forward to the challenge of combating some of the world’s best younger bowlers and aims to assist his students in any way that he can.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic with the opportunity to join Nathan and Jessie on the plane to Scotland, both are highly talented and I believe that they have the capabilities to bring home success,” he said.
“The chance they have before them is one of the utmost importance in their career and I look forward to passing on my knowledge and guidance to them in any way that I can.
“As a coach, this is a great chance to travel and experience a unique event to develop my own skill set within a competition, and I think I will be much wiser for it.”
It will be Turley’s maiden coaching voyage and the former World Champion and she will relish the opportunity to guide her pupils on their journeys, as well as discovering more about herself as a mentor.
“I think it will be a great event and they’re two very promising young players to to be part of it will be very exciting,” Turley said.
“It’s just as exciting for me as it is for them, the greens will be different with varying conditions so hopefully any knowledge I can pass on from my own experience will help them going forward.
“This will be my first time going to an event on my own so I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can learn and find out about myself as a coach, as well what I find out about these players who I have been around for quite a while now.”
The World Bowls Junior Indoor Championships will run from December 4-8 in Scotland while the Burnside Under 26 singles will run from October 6-8.
