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| World Bowls Championships New Zealand 2008 with Sporting Highlights |
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Leaving the UK on a chilly January day, the Sporting Highlights party arrived in Christchurch after a 27 hour flight and were greeted with warm summer weather. Not only was the sun shining but we also had a warm reception from the locals, welcoming a good mix of supporters from all over the United Kingdom.
Some had chosen to break their journey
in Hong Kong, Singapore or Australia
but we had all come together in Christchurch
with one purpose - to support our men's
and women's teams throughout the two
week World Championships. |
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A traditional Maori welcome and the parade of teams at the Opening Ceremony was well supported and appreciated by the mainly overseas supporters in the crowd who greeted each team with loud applause and cheers.
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This was the start of a memorable fortnight of bowls with some very exciting matches. The changeable weather - extreme heat, very cold strong winds and heavy rain, sometimes in the same day - made the playing conditions very difficult, but the travelling supporters stayed true to their teams and were there in great numbers each day. They were rewarded with some thrilling finals and success for the Home Nations.
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| Gold
- Scotland Men's Triples
Silver
-Women's Singles - Ellen Falkner,
England
Wales Women's Fours
England Women's Pairs
Scotland Men's Pairs
Bronze
-England Men's Fours
Wales Women's Triples
Ireland Women's Pairs
Ireland Women's Fours |
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Sporting Highlights organised a number
of excursions during the fortnight to
ensure that the bowls supporters also
experienced some of the amazing sights
that New Zealand has to offer. Our whale
watching trip from Kaikoura was extremely
successful as we were lucky enough to
see a number of whales plus a pod of
nearly 200 dolphins. |
Day trips to Akaroa, Hanmer Springs and the TranzAlpine train journey to the Southern Alps were also available. The highlight for most was the End of Tour Dinner held at the restaurant at the top of Christchurch Gondola. With fantastic views of the city, great food and an after dinner talk by Tony Allcock, this was a memorable evening and a great way to finish the tour!
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With most of the supporters returning home, complete with very happy memories of the tournament and of Christchurch, a group of 24 (the Rock & Rollers!) continued on to the South Island bowling holiday tour, visiting Dunedin, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Queenstown and finally finishing in Auckland, playing some very enjoyable matches against local clubs along the way. Other groups toured the North Island taking in Wellington, Napier, Rotorua and Auckland and some visited friends and relatives or had an itinerary tailor-made to their requirements.
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The World Bowls Championships in New Zealand was certainly a great success both on and off the green and one that will be remembered for many years to come! We look forward to being appointed again for the World Championships in Adelaide 2012! |
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Sporting Highlights
will be sponsoring the Bowls England
National Mixed Fours Championships,
with the finals being played at Worthing
16-17 August. We look forward to meeting
many of you at the Men's British Isles
Championships in Wales in June, the
British Isles Junior Champions in
Wales in July, the Bowls England Women's
National Championships at Leamington
Spa and the Bowls England Men's Championships
at Worthing in August.
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Sporting Highlights' new
bowls brochure, featuring both playing and
spectator tours, will be launched in mid
April. We will showcase our Bowls Holidays
to South Africa & Hong Kong, the European
Team Championships in Cyprus and the Atlantic
Championships in Johannesburg 2009.
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