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AUSSIES DRAW FIERCE FOES
FOR WORLD TEAM CUP
Australia will enter the highly anticipated
World Team Cup in May as the top ranked women’s
team and the No. 2 seed in the men’s draw,
it was announced today.
The rankings – which were released today
by Bowls Australia along with the pools and
draw for the preliminary stages of the event
– take into account results from the 2004
world bowls championships and the 2006
Commonwealth Games.
To be staged at Tweed Heads Bowls Club from
17-25 May, the inaugural World Team Cup will
feature the eight leading nations in the world
of bowls.
The six players representing the host
nation will have to be at their best if
Australia is to make it through the round
robin stage of the tournament and contest the
finals.
Made up of experienced campaigners Wayne
Turley, Nathan Rice and young gun Aron
Sherriff, the men’s team will face arch
rivals England and New Zealand with Malaysia
completing the tricky group.
The remaining two semi-finalists will come
from the group which contains leading seed
Scotland, Ireland, Wales and South Africa.
On the women’s side, Australia’s Karen
Murphy, Julie Keegan and 16-year-old Kelsey
Cottrell have drawn South Africa, New Zealand
and a hand-picked team from Oceania.
The remaining teams in the competition are
the No. 2 ranked England outfit, Malaysia,
Scotland and Ireland.
Bowls Australia chief executive Mark
Rendell said any competition that features the
world’s best would be made up of quality
pools.
“There’s nowhere to hide when you’re
up against the top teams,” Mr Rendell said.
“This is the fairest and most equitable
way to format the competition but when it
comes down to the leading nations it doesn’t
matter who you’re drawn against, you have to
play well to qualify for the semi-final stage.
“That’s the beauty of the World Team
Cup. Every match will mean so much and each
nation will have to be on their game to make
it through to the final four.
“I know bowls fans are very excited about
this event and Tweed Heads Bowls Club is
readying itself for big crowds and the big
names of bowls.”
Australia’s assault on the tournament
begins against England on 17 May in the men’s
division before the women tackle Oceania on
the opening day.
“Australia deserves to be one of the
leading chances but I would expect the
Europeans, Kiwis and Malaysians to be fighting
out for a semi-final berth and you can never
write the South Africans off,” Mr Rendell
said.
“It promises to be a thrilling week of
bowls and I’d encourage fans to get along in
May.”
2007 WORLD TEAM CUP - SECTIONS AND
RANKINGS
Men
Section 1: Scotland, Ireland, Wales,
South Africa
Section 2: Australia, England, New
Zealand, Malaysia
Women
Section 1: Australia, South Africa,
New Zealand, Oceania
Section 2: England, Scotland,
Malaysia, Ireland
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