Bowls Australia’s (BA) National Selection Panel has selected the ten-person team that will represent the country at this year’s Oceania Challenge in November.
The week-long event in New Zealand will be categorised as a Gold Tier World Bowls Series event that will allow players to accrue ranking points as part of the new system announced in June.
Australia and New Zealand have been invited by World Bowls to send a development team and in line with that, the panel has selected a Performance Pathways team from the Right at Home Emerging and Pathways Jackaroos squads.
The women’s contingent will see Kira Bourke take the singles position across the quintet, as well as teaming up in the pairs with in form Victorian Samantha Atkinson who will play in the lead position.
Atkinson will skip the fours team alongside her state teammate in Sophie Kurzman, South Australia’s Kate Argent-Bowden and the ACT’s Chloe Morrison.
Morrison will skip the triples with Kurzman in the lead position and Argent-Bowden in second.
The men’s squad will see New South Wales’ Jack Lewis take the singles mantle, as well as the second position in the triples alongside his lead in Beau Prideaux and Australian Open singles runner up Cohen Litfin as the skip.
In addition, Litfin will skip the fours discipline with Prideaux as his second, while Australian Open men’s pairs winners in Joseph Clarke and Jack McShane will play as lead and third respectively.
McShane, fresh off his Australian Indoor Championships singles title, will skip the pairs with Clarke as his lead as the duo look to recreate their heroics from Broadbeach in June.
BA’s National Coach Gary Willis is thrilled with the team put together and hopes that the opportunity will only allow the next generation of Australian bowlers to flourish on the international stage.
“This is a sensational opportunity for such a talented group of bowlers who we hold in such a high regard,” Willis said.
“The challenge of going overseas is one that can enhance careers in terms of how they face new environments and overcome the rigours of competition.
“We look forward to seeing how these ten athletes perform against a high standard of opposition in New Zealand come November.”
See below for the full squads and positions for the Oceania Challenge on November 20-24 in New Zealand:
Women:
- Kira Bourke (Club Tweed – Queensland)
- Kate Argent-Bowden (Holdfast Bay – South Australia)
- Sophie Kurzman (Club Sunbury – Victoria)
- Chloe Morrison (Tuggeranong Vikings – ACT)
- Samantha Atkinson (Dandenong Club – Victoria)
Men:
- Jack Lewis (Engadine – New South Wales)
- Jack McShane (Merrylands – New South Wales)
- Joseph Clarke (St Johns Park – New South Wales)
- Cohen Litfin (Algester – Queensland)
- Beau Prideaux (Cabramatta – New South Wales)
Positions:
Singles:
- Kira Bourke – women
- Jack Lewis – men
Pairs:
- Samantha Atkinson & Kira Bourke – women
- Joseph Clarke & Jack McShane – men
Triples:
- Sophie Kurzman, Kate Argent-Bowden & Chloe Morrison – women
- Beau Prideaux, Jack Lewis & Cohen Litfin – men
Fours:
- Sophie Kurzman, Kate Argent-Bowden, Chloe Morrison & Samantha Atkinson – women
- Joseph Clarke, Beau Prideaux, Jack McShane & Cohen Litfin – men
