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Blind bowlers celebrate start of World Championships

Tuesday 31 July 2001

The Scottish Association of Blind Bowlers are the proud host of the 2001 World Blind Bowling Championships from 6 - 17 August at Girvan Bowling Club, the first time this prestigious event has been held in Scotland.

With the support of £100,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund, through its Major Events Programme, the 7th World Championships will attract competitors from across the globe. Countries as far a field as Australia, Canada, China (Hong Kong), England, Israel, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Wales and Zimbabwe will do battle in this two week event.

Provost Elizabeth Foulkes JP from South Ayrshire Council, will officially open the event at 10.00 am, by throwing the first silver jack and rolling the first bowl. The first games of the day will commence at 2.30 pm.

The Scottish team hope to build on their success in the last competition in New Zealand, where they won both silver and bronze medals and are looking forward to competing on home soil.

During each competition, each team will consist of 12 bowlers, all of whom are registered blind, a number of helpers, a manager and an assistant. Different categories will cover different levels of visual impairment.

It is hoped that staging the competition in Scotland will help to heighten the profile of blind bowling and assist greater integration of blind bowlers into mainstream bowling clubs.

Judith Marshall, President of the Scottish Blind Bowling Association, said: “We are very pleased to host the 7th World Blind Bowling Championships in Scotland.

“This most prestigious event supported by sportscotland gives the Scottish Blind Bowling Association the marvellous opportunity not only to promote Blind Bowling within our own country but to meet and compete with countries from all over the world and encourage the sport to expand.

“The stage is now set and with fair weather we will give our counterparts a very warm welcome and a flavour of Scotland.”

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said: “Participation in sport can have many positive advantages for visually impaired people, including increased confidence and improvements in general fitness.

“We hope that staging the World Blind Bowling Championships in Scotland will encourage visually impaired people of all ages to try out the sport and experience the benefits that participation in sport can bring sportscotland is delighted to be supporting this event.”

  • The World Blind Bowling Championships will take place at Girvan Bowling Club in Ayrshire from 6 - 17 August at 9.30 am.
  • The opening ceremony will take place at 10.00 am and play will commence at 2.30. On the closing day play will start at 9.30 am followed by the trophy ceremony at 2.00 pm.
  • Scotland are currently ranked 7th in the world (from 12 participating countries) with the top ranked country being Australia.
  • Bowlers are divided into categories depending on their level of sight, B1 (Totally blind), B2 (visual acuity up to 2/60) and B3 (visual acuity up to 6/60). A helper accompanies each bowler.
  • The last time the event was held in Britain was in 1985 in England. The championships were last held in New Zealand. Zimbabwe, Australia, South Africa and Canada have also been hosts.
  • Other contributors towards the event are:
    • sportscotland
    • The Gannochy Trust
    • Lloyds TSB Foundation
    • The Scottish National Institution for the War Blinded
    • Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire
    • The Hugh Fraser Foundation
    • The Scottish Bowlers’ Fellowship