Bowls great in Queenstown

New Zealand bowls legend Peter Belliss played his first competitive bowls in Queenstown this week, 53 years after joining his home club in Whanganui.

The three-time former world champ paired up with his wife Reen — a one-time national pairs title-holder herself — for a qualifying round of the national mixed pairs tournament, currently underway in Central Otago.

The pair won all their five games on Tuesday on Queenstown Bowling Club’s artificial greens to qualify for post-section play.

Now 71, Belliss says ‘‘I still enjoy the game, and an opportunity to play with my wife here is special’’.

He’s only played one or two national tournaments in the past 10 years due to his role as a selector and former coach for the NZ Blackjacks.

‘‘If you’re selecting, it means you’ve got to be watching, rather than playing, and the reason I’m playing here is we don’t have a side to select at the moment, we did that a few weeks ago.’’

Belliss says his introduction to the game came after greens were built behind his parents’ place.

‘‘I was five when it was built, I was just a naughty kid going through there and annoying the bowlers.’’

As to whether the game’s a bit harder at his age, Belliss says ‘‘we always like to think we can still play pretty good’’.

‘‘As you get older your flexibility’s not quite so good, and the joints ache a bit, but certainly a lot of people can still play to a good age’’.

The advent of bowling ‘arms’ also helped people play longer, he says.

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