New Zealand made a solid start to the BlackJacks’ World Cup campaign which began with a bronze medal for the Para Mixed Pair team of Teri Blackbourn (Hamilton) and Kurt Smith (New Plymouth).
Competing at the 2025 Lawn Bowls World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Blackbourn and Smith were impressive throughout the qualifying stages, adapting well to the carpeted playing surface to win four of their five qualification matches and finish top of their pool.
In their semi-final the pair took on a strong Australian side. The match was all tied up early, with Australia just pulling away to claim the first set 3-2, before they closed out the match 8-3 in the second set.
“It was a well fought match. They just got away from us in that first set and we tried to reset in the second but they were too good,” said Smith.
“It’s great to be around so many nations and I’ve loved playing with Teri — she’s a weapon and I’m super lucky to have her as a teammate. We’ve had quite a bit of success together and having someone like that with so much experience has been great for me.”
The semi-final loss saw the pair finish with a bronze medal.
Blackbourn also opened her singles campaign overnight, with a convincing 15-1, 16-1 win over her Irish opponent.