Bowls Canada Boulingrin – Team Canada is ready for action.  After a week of acclimatization and training, our athletes are ready to put their best bowl forward and take on the competition.  With the top bowlers in the world in attendance at the 2016 World Bowls Championships, there are expected to be many highlights and touch competition.
 

Week one will feature the women playing singles and fours, while the men play pairs and triples.  Kelly McKerihen (Toronto, ON) will represent Canada in the singles and after months of showing great success on the greens of the Southern Hemisphere, McKerihen is ready to compete.  The women’s fours team add to the experience level with Leanne Chinery (Victoria, BC), Shirley Fitzpatrick-Wong (Winnipeg, MB) and Jackie Foster (Lower Sackville, NS), welcome lead, Pricilla Westlake (Delta, BC).

“Even though New Zealand is now my home, I will always love where I come from.  I consider it a great honour and privilege to be able to wear the Maple leaf and represent Canada to the best of my abilities” stated Chinery.  

On the men’s side, Ryan Bester (Hanover, ON) and Steven Santana (North Vancouver, BC) will be a heavy favourite in the pairs.  Bester and Santana hope to carry the momentum from Asia Pacifics into World Bowls.  Cameron Lefresne (Enfield, NS) will be joining veterans Steve McKerihen (Toronto, ON) and Ryan Stadnyk (Niagara Fall, ON) in the men’s triples. 

“I am excited for the opportunity to play with fellow teammates Bester, McKerihen, Santana and Stadnyk.  It is always a privilege to represent Canada” Lefresne stated prior to departing for World Bowls. 

The team will be supported by BCB High Perfomance Director Macky Singh and Managers Jean Roney and Don Caswell.  BCB is fortunate to have Keith Roney volunteer his services to support our teams while he is visiting New Zealand. Nick Watkins, Bowls Canada’s chief umpire, will be one of the umpires officiating at this event. 

The schedule of play is packed with tough matches and long days but BCB Performance Director, Singh is optimistic, “we have a very strong group of athletes with plenty of experience and depth competing at previous Commonwealth Games, World Cups and Asia Pacifics which will be key in achieving podium performance”.

 Matches to follow in week one:

Mon. Nov 28	Men’s Pairs	Singapore	Hong Kong	Jersey
	Men’s Triples	USA	Namibia	New Zealand
	Women’s Fours	South Africa	Ireland	Namibia
	Women’s Singles	Wales	New Zealand	Guernsey

Tues. Nov 29	Men’s Pairs	Scotland	England	Fiji
	Men’s Triples	Samoa	Jersey	Malaysia
	Women’s Fours	New Zealand	Fiji	Hong Kong
	Women’s Singles	Cyprus	Australia	Netherlands

Wed Nov 30	Men’s Pairs	Cyprus	South Africa	Australia
	Men’s Triples	Ireland	Wales	Australia
	Women’s Fours	Singapore	Wales	Australia
	Women’s Singles	Fiji	Kenya	USA

Semi-finals for week one’s action including women’s singles, women’s fours, men’s pairs and men’s triples will be played on Friday December 2^nd.  The finals for women’s fours and men’s triples will be on Saturday December 3^rd and women’s singles and men’s pairs Sunday December 4^th.  All final matches will be lived streamed and can be watched here: https://livestream.com/i-filmsport/WorldBowlsChamps2016.

Follow Bowls Canada on Twitter for live end to end updates during each match.

For more information on World Bowls Championships please visit: http://www.worldbowls2016.com/Category?Action=View&Category_id=89

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For more information, please contact:
Katie Gardner, Communications and Promotions Manager, Bowls Canada Boulingrin
kgardner@bowlscanada.com 

About Bowls Canada Boulingrin
Bowls Canada Boulingrin (BCB) is the governing body responsible for lawn bowls in Canada.  The BCB mission is to advance the sport of bowls in Canada.  For more details on Bowls Canada Boulingrin and the sport of lawn bowls, visit www.bowlscanada.com.