At 66, Campbell is still a force to contend with

KEVIN CAMPBELL is one of South Africa’s greatest ever lawn bowlers.

The 66-year-old Glen Country Club member, the youngest SA international at the age of 24, made a name for himself four decades back when he was part of the national team that completed a clean sweep of events at the World Outdoor Bowls World Championship on home soil. Campbell won the Triples and Fours gold medal with a 14-1 win record.

Campbell, a two- time national singles champion, contested the same event 16 years later and picked up a silver and bronze medal.

After that, another bronze at World Bowls in 1996 followed by a silver at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Fast-forward to present day and the little maestro, whose parents won national titles, is still a force to be reckoned with. This season alone he got to the last-four of the Western Province singles and then made the final of the by-invite WP Masters where he narrowly lost to Mowbray’s Joel Roebert, the outcome hanging in the balance till the very end.

And later this month he will battle it out in the WP Triples having skipped his side into the quarterfinals.

How easy he makes it look with his effortless style. He steps onto the mat, looks at the head and then sends down another shot of intent that more often than not delivers the desired outcome. Many a challenger has been put away in the various formats.

“I’ve had a long innings,” said Campbell, who beat Polio as a kid. “I played for the first time aged 10 and went on to enjoy every moment out on the greens, knowing this was going to be my game of choice. I ended up representing Northern Transvaal, paving the way for a call-up to the national team. Playing for my country and what we managed to achieve in 1976 is one of the highlights of my career.

“Over the years I’ve managed to hold my own in top company and achieved my fair share of success. Hopefully there’s more to come.”