Indoor bowls: Vision no handicap for these bowlers

VETERAN: Wanganui's Joseph Twomey has played in every national tournament held in this town. PHOTOS/STUART MUNRO

The sense of timing and delivery is no different from their full-sighted contemporaries as more than 50 players from nine centres contested the 62nd Blind and Visually Impaired Indoor Bowls Nationals at Jubilee Stadium over the weekend.

Among them were eight Wanganui players for the Pairs tournament on Saturday which 29 teams entered, followed by the Singles yesterday.

Singles were split in partially sighted men's and women's divisions " with 20 in the ladies and 14 in the men's, and then the fully blind grade with 18 ladies and nine men.

Action continues today with the Fours tournament, which will have 14 teams of which at least one member must be fully blind.

Tournament controller Brendon Kenny said the green mats are a standard 22 feet, with 20ft to the other box at the end and 15ft to three-quarter length.

Therefore, partially blind bowlers are assisted by their coaches who can hold out targeting paddles in the direction they want the bowl to travel.

For fully blind bowlers, the coaches guide them to the mat and then call out the direction for them to guide the bowl, while telling them the required distance so they can gauge how much force to put into it.

These athletes, robbed on one of their senses, have acutely developed others as their ability to put a specific amount of strength into their bowl based on the distance called to them to deliver the bowl accurately is very impression.

"It's great to watch, it can teach you a lesson," said Wanganui's Ken Frederickson, who is president of the BINZ federation.

Frederickson said the number of entries was on par with previous years, with Wanganui having hosted 6-7 times, the last in 2007. The association was fortunate to be able to move the annual tournament around the country as not everyone can come every time, as centres struggle to raise the funds or hire the venues.

This year's tournament also coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Wanganui Visually Impaired Bowlers.

Saturday Results

Pairs - Winner: Vi Coates (s), Jane Mehaffey, coach Noel Fitzwater (Wellington); Runner-up: Betty Atkins (s), Colleen Dwyer, coach Mike Chisholm (Gisborne). Plate - Winner: Ken Fredericksen (s), Reagan Shortall, coach Phyl Jones (Wanganui).