One absentee from this year’s Valencian Championship is Quesada Bowls Club member Terry Morgan who is seeking glory for Spain ‘down under’ where he is competing in both the World Championships and the Champion of Champions Tournament on Australia’s Gold Coast.
In the World Championships Terry will represent Spain in both the singles and the pairs, the latter alongside John Pooley, late of the Emerald Isle.
This will be the first World Championship since it was last played back in New Zealand in 2016. Originally planned to be held in 2020, the Gold Coast edition was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Terry, was due to arrive in Australia on 25 August with the championships scheduled to get underway on Tuesday, August 29, with the final matches taking place on Sunday, September 10.
A total of 13 premier greens were used across five clubs on the Gold Coast to host the event.
Unfortunately, as we go to press, we have no idea how Terry and John got on, but they certainly had our best wishes.
If Terry did get to the latter stages of the World Championships he would then have had just a couple of days to ready himself for the Champion of Champions tournament which quickly followed starting on Tuesday 12th September and with the finals on 16th.
Thirty-three nations from around the world will be competing for a World title in the men’s and women’s singles at the 2023 World Champion of Champions.
Club Robina on Australia’s Gold Coast is the host for this prestigious international event, with thirty-two men and twenty-six women competing at a Club set in beautiful, landscaped gardens in a private and tranquil setting with three manicured greens.
More than half of the players will be fresh off the World Championship and include World class players such as Lucy Beere (Guernsey), Midori Matsuoka (Japan), Selina Goddard (New Zealand), Lal Chand Prasad (Fiji), Anthony Loh Kee Sin (Singapore) and Edward Morris (England). Karen Murphy, Australia’s most decorated and best-known world champion, is back on the international stage after winning the 2013 Champions of Champions in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Terry has previously represented Spain on 3 occasions, twice in Cyprus and once in Wales, which was his only experience of ever playing on grass, and which he found much slower.
Nevertheless, against International opposition that included Australia, South Africa, Wales and Ireland, Terry managed two gold medals in Cyprus, including the overall gold, and a very creditable bronze medal in Wales in the Triples competition.
Prior to leaving for ‘Aussie’ he said that he was very much looking forward to playing, once again, against some of the very best bowlers in the world, although he did say that playing 3 matches every day was a little daunting against the many youngsters that would be in evidence.
