Very best roll into town

International stars gather for crown

GOLD Coast is set to take centre stage with national bowls tomorrow, with about 2500 of the world’s best to line up at the Australian Open.

Held over 14 days across 13 Gold Coast clubs from Coolangatta to Paradise Point, the competition is one of the biggest in the world.

With 13 disciplines, ranging from under-18s boys singles to over-60s women’s pairs, the Open attracts the largest field of any title. Coming off the back of the back of being the lawn bowls competition manager at the Commonwealth Games, event manager for Bowls Australia Mark Casey is looking forward to welcoming the top players.

These include Scotland’s Alex Marshall – who Casey said is regarded as the world’s best bowler – and Australian Commonwealth Games singles gold medallist Aaron Wilson and triples and fours silver medallist Aron Sherriff.

Casey said the Open would host a few thousand spectators over the course of the competition, with about 2000 expected to watch the finals to be held at Broadbeach.

This is the fourth of a fiveyear agreement that the Open has been held on the Gold Coast and Casey hopes it will continue. “It’s really good for the Coast, the clubs love it. It’s been a huge success and I can’t see it moving away,” he said.

Casey said the Gold Coast has made its mark on the bowling world, with the city set host the Asia Pacific Championships in 2019 and the 2020 world championships.

“Gold Coast is now regarded as the bowls centre of Australia, if not the world,” he said.