Lampeter bowler Anwen Butten jets off to New Zealand this morning (Nov 22) where she will be flying the flag for Ceredigion in the World Bowls Championships which are being held in Christchurch.
The sport’s showpiece competition is held every four years and features players from 34 nations competing for honours from November 29th until December 11th.
Butten who along with team mates Robert Weale, Marc Wyatt and Jonathan Tomlinson are all Commonwealth Games medallists will form a strong team of ten of the best bowlers in Wales.
Butten will represent the dragons in the triples competition along with Emma Woodock of Cardiff and Kathy Pearce of Berriew and also the fours with Woodcock, Jess Sims of Llandrindod Wells and seasoned campaigner Pearce.
The Ceredigion star is joined on the flight by her daughter Alis and son Hari who are both junior international bowlers and husband Tim and Sportsline will be following Anwen closely over the next few weeks.
Speaking to Sportsline just before she left for Heathrow she said:” The plan is to play to our potential and bring some medals home to Wales but we will have to get used to the very different bowling conditions very quickly out in New Zealand as they are very different to ours at home.
“I feel very proud and privileged to be representing Wales once again in this World Championships and it’s going to be a very exciting time for us all.”
Hazel Wilson, the women’s senior team manager, commented:
“We qualified across all the disciplines at the Atlantic Championships in Cyprus last year, so this is another positive step for bowls in Wales.
“We’ll be competing against the best in the world and it’s a huge challenge for our bowlers, but one we’ve been working hard to prepare for. We’ve played a test match against Scotland as part of the build-up.
“We’re expecting the greens to be quick given the warm weather at this time of year.
The Welsh squad:
Women:
Emma Woodcock (Triples and Rinks – Cardiff
Kathy Pearce (Triples and Rinks)- Berriew
Jess Sims (Pairs and Rinks)- Llandrindod
Laura Thomas (Singles and Pairs)- Brynhyryd, Neath
Anwen Butten (Triples and Rinks) – Lampeter
Men’s Team:
Steve Harris – RTB Ebbw Vale
Marc Wyatt – Caerphilly Town
Ross Owen – Harlequins
Jonathon Tomlinson – RTB Ebbw Vale
Robert Weale – Presteigne
Reserves:
David Harding – Penylan and Sara Marie Nicholls Llandeilo
