Broadbeach adding world contest to busy bowls schedule
The Gold Coast’s Broadbeach Bowls Club, Club Helensvale and Musgrave Hill Bowls Club were confirmed today as the host for the 2020 World Bowls Championships, the Neil Grundy reports for the Gold Coast Bulletin.
The announcement confirms the Gold Coast as the epicentre for lawn bowls in Australia, particularly with the Broadbeach club also accommodating the Commonwealth Games bowls event in 2018.
On top of that, the club begins a five-year term as host club of the Australian Bowls Championships in June this year.
Executives from World Bowls and Bowls Australia joined Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Kate Jones at Broadbeach Bowls Club this morning to confirm the May 23-June 7, 2020, event.
Teams of five men and five women from the top-24 ranked nations across the globe will contest the event over 16 days.
Australia has a rich history on the world stage with the 2012 championships in Adelaide delivering an unprecedented five world crowns out of eight categories.
Leif Selby and Karen Murphy are the reigning world singles champions.
Murphy skipped the women’s triples rink to a world title and Australia also won the men’s fours and women’s pairs crowns.
Helensvale bowler Lynsey Clarke, who captains the national representative Jackaroos team and is a two-time World Junior Cup winner, was a member of Murphy’s winning triples rink.
Bowls Australia head Steve Glasson, the 2004 world singles champion, joined Clarke at today’s announcement.
The world championships are held every four years and alternate with the Commonwealth Games.
Broadbeach Bowls Club hosted the World Junior Championships last year, which is presently being staged again, with finals set for Sunday.
Caption: The Hon Kate Jones MP confirmed Gold Coast as the winning bid to host the 2020 World Bowls Championships.
