Bowls: NZ selection was brewing for Atkinson

Grant Hassall 

Briar Atkinson has made it.

The 20-year-old Paritutu bowler has been named in the New Zealand side to compete against Australia in Wellington on January 31-February 2.

Atkinson’s selection is the culmination of an impressive last 18 months which has included numerous top performances on the national and international stage. Proving the quality of her efforts has been two golds and one silver from two Oceania Challenges, two medals from last month’s Hong Kong classic and three medals from the Dominion.

She is the only change in the five women New Zealand team which won the overall world title last year, with Atkinson replacing an unavailable Katelyn Inch.

The other team members are Tayla Bruce, Leeane Poulson, Val Smith and Selina Goddard. Atkinson will lead in the pairs for Goddard and play No 2 in Smith’s four.

“I’m pretty stoked,” Atkinson said. “I finally get a chance to prove myself at the next level.”

Atkinson has finished her nursing studies for the year and so the coming weeks will see her compete in the Dominion singles and pairs and will also involve more coaching with Maurice Symes in preparation for her debut.

Atkinson becomes the fourth Taranaki woman to attain full international honours, following Pearl Dymond, Margaret Cole and Cathy Andrews.

The good news from a Taranaki perspective extended further with Kaylin Huwyler and Kurt Smith also being selected for the trans-Tasman contest. Huwyler is in the men’s development team, the equivalent of a B side, and Smith is in the Para team.

Meanwhile, even though Atkinson has suggested she was struggling to adapt the quicker New Zealand greens following her Hong Kong experience, she qualified for the semifinals of the Taranaki women’s open pairs on Sunday.

Playing with her mother, Tina Atkinson-Watt, they will meet West End’s Lorraine Heal and Trish Howard in one semifinal of the Andersons Pies-sponsored event at Stratford-Avon this Saturday. The other semi sees Fitzroy’s Judy Crawford and Rhonda Adams square off against Paritutu’s Andrews and Bridget Fletcher.

In the men’s Auto City-sponsored Christmas pairs, eight duos will settle the issue this coming Saturday at West End – including four from the host club.

Defending champions Bruce Colgan and Steve Walker meet clubmates Blair Clark and Steve Temperton, while Okato’s Kaylin Huwyler and Hamish Kape play Tower’s Grant Anderson and Scott Roberts.

On the other side of the draw, John Roberts and Craig De Faria (West End) will tangle with Gerry O’Sullivan and Eric Foreman (Inglewood) and Dave Wilson and Jordan Linn (West End) face Don Christensen and Darren Goodin (Paritutu).