| XIX Commonwealth Games |
A potent mix of youth and experience will represent Australia at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October.
Six men and women bowlers have been selected by Bowls Australia and have been appointed to the 2010 team by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association.
This includes three gold medallists from Melbourne, as well as nine Commonwealth Games debutants.
Lynsey Armitage has been granted the opportunity to defend her women’s pairs gold medal, this time leading for teenage sensation Natasha Van Eldik, who at 19 years of age will become the youngest ever lawn bowler to represent Australia at a Commonwealth Games.
Joining the pair on the sub-continent will be world number five Kelsey Cottrell, a reserve four years ago, who will make her debut in the women’s singles, while Sharyn Renshaw, Claire Duke and Julie Keegan have been selected to play in the triples.
In the men’s disciplines, world number two Leif Selby has secured the coveted singles role following three years of global domination, while Mark Berghofer and Aron Sherriff will play in the pairs and Brett Wilkie will partner defending Commonwealth Games champions Wayne Turley and Mark Casey in the triples.
Having topped the medal count on home soil four years ago with three gold, one silver and one bronze, the Australian team will head to Delhi with the aim of replicating its Melbourne heroics, but national coach Rex Johnston believes the target is achievable if the selected representatives play to their potential.
"We’re extremely happy with the final 12 that has been selected," said Johnston, who will embark on his sixth successive Commonwealth Games as a player or a coach.
"It’s been a long and exhaustive process, but in the end, we’ve come up with the six men and women who we believe will give us the best possible chance of achieving our goals.
"We have a strong mix of youth and experience, with the likes of Armitage, Turley and Casey being given the chance to defend their respective gold medals from Melbourne, while we’ve also invested our faith in the likes of Cottrell and Selby who have proven to be world class players over the past couple of years.
"I’m sure the 12 selected bowlers will do Australia proud."
A core sport at the Commonwealth Games, Australia’s lawn bowlers have won nine gold, 15 silver and six bronze medals since 1930, with women not playing until 1982.
Australia’s 2010 Commonwealth Games team
Singles: Leif Selby, 37, (St Johns Park, NSW)
Pairs: Mark Berghofer, 25, (St Johns Park, NSW) & Aron Sherriff, 24, (Halekulani, NSW)
Triples: Brett Wilkie, 35, (Club Helensvale, QLD), Wayne Turley, 37, (Taren Point, NSW) & Mark Casey, 28, (Club Helensvale, QLD)
Singles: Kelsey Cottrell, 20, (St Johns Park, NSW)
Pairs: Lynsey Armitage, 26, (Club Helensvale, QLD) & Natasha Van Eldik, 19, (Raymond Terrace, NSW)
Triples: Sharyn Renshaw, 48, (St Johns Park, NSW), Claire Duke, 26, (Cabramatta, NSW) & Julie Keegan, 45, (St Johns Park, NSW)
