Young guns to take on the World!
Seven of Australia’s brightest young stars have been selected to take on the world’s best, with the Australian squads for the World Youth Championships and Burnside Pairs announced today. A number of recent Australian Open champions will return to the Broadbeach Bowls Club for the coveted World Youth Championships, to be held at the 2018 Commonwealth Games venue from March 27 to April 2, 2017.
Among them is defending Singles champion and 2015 Australian Open Women’s Singles champion Ellen Ryan (NSW); she will be joined as Australia’s Women’s Singles representatives by the 2015 champion from this event, Western Australia’s Kristina Krstic.
Australia’s two Men’s Singles representatives are also no strangers to the Broadbeach greens, with 2015 Australian Open singles champion Aaron Teys (NSW) and three-time Australian Open champion Nathan Pedersen (NSW/SA) aiming to repeat Aaron Wilson’s feat of claiming the coveted singles crown from last year.
Aaron Wilson is now too old to compete at this event, however his recent World Championship Men’s Pairs gold medal shows the quality of player on show and the event’s status as a breeding ground of future stars.
Ryan and Teys will then team up to defend their Mixed Pairs title won at the same venue twelve months ago.
West Australian Krstic will also be looking for success at the famous Burnside Pairs event, to be held at World Championships venue Burnside Bowls Club from January 13 – 16, 2017.
Krstic will team up with young Victorian star Tiffany Brodie, who caps off an amazing 2016 with selection for this event following two Australian Open titles (Women’s Fours & U18 Girls Singles) and a fourth placing as part of the Blundstone Melbourne Roys at BPL04.
Recently crowned singles World Champion of Champions Scott Thulborn (SA) will also get his chance to compete for a Burnside Pairs title, teaming up with NSW National Training Centre squad member Corey Wedlock, who is currently the 9th ranked male in Australia at the tender age of 20.
We wish all players luck in these prestigious events!
Full squad details:
Burnside Pairs (Burnside Bowls Club, Christchurch – January 13 to 16, 2017)
Tiffany Brodie (Fitzroy Victoria, VIC) & Kristina Krstic (Manning Memorial, WA)
Corey Wedlock (Cabramatta, NSW) & Scott Thulborn (Adelaide, SA)
World Youth Championships (Broadbeach Bowls Club, March 27 to April 2, 2017)
Women’s Singles
Ellen Ryan (Cabramatta, NSW)
Kristina Krstic
Men’s Singles
Aaron Teys (Warilla, NSW)
Nathan Pedersen (Cabramatta, NSW)
Mixed Pairs
Ellen Ryan & Aaron Teys
Bowls Australia would like to acknowledge the assistance and funding provided by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association to Bowls Australia for athletes in the 2016 NextGEN AUSComGames Squad program.
NextGEN AUSComGames was devised by the ACGA to provide assistance to junior players who have been identified as potential 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, and/or 2018 or 2022 Commonwealth Games level athletes.
