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Bowls New Zealand is proud to announce the Blackjacks team selected to represent New Zealand at the 2025 World Cup, to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 4-9 November.
This new addition to the international calendar provides an ideal prelude to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The event, played on portable indoor rinks and using sets play format, mirrors the surface expected in Glasgow and reflects the ongoing evolution of the sport.
Among those named is current World Champion Para Women’s player Teri Blackbourn, who will skip her Trans-Tasman partner Kurt Smith in the Para Mixed Pairs. This will be the first time World Bowls has staged a B6–B8 Para Mixed Pairs event. Blackbourn previously skipped Smith at the 2025 Trans-Tasman series, where the New Zealand para team claimed the Para Trophy against Australia, and the duo won the 2025 Summerset National Open Disability Pairs in January.
Due to the “one of each” format for the World Cup, Blackbourn will not compete alongside her World Champion Pairs partner Julie O’Connell — marking the first time she will play an international event without her. Smith will lead and gain valuable international experience, having only debuted at the Trans-Tasman earlier this year.
In the Open Women’s team, selectors faced a tough decision in narrowing the squad for the pairs-focused format. As a result, the established pairing of Katelyn Inch and Selina Goddard has been selected, meaning World Singles Champion Tayla Bruce misses out. Goddard won the Australian Open Pairs in June, while Inch won her fourth Queensland State Singles title in May.
“This was a really tough decision,” said Head Coach and Convenor of Selectors, Mike Kernaghan. “How often do you leave the World Singles Champion out of your team? Ideally, we would have preferred the team composition to mirror what we expect for Glasgow — three men, three women, two para men, two para women, and a vision-impaired mixed pair — but World Bowls has determined the format, and we have to select accordingly. With Glasgow in mind, we needed to take a close look at our pairs combinations, and this selection reflects that priority.”
The Open Men’s team also reflects bold decision-making. While experienced players Shannon McIlroy and Ali Forsyth were strong options, the selectors chose to invest in the next generation, naming Keanu Darby and Finbar McGuigan to represent New Zealand.
“We know what Shannon and Ali are capable of — they’re world-class. But we agreed that it was time to be brave and give newer Blackjacks the opportunity to gain experience at this level,” Kernaghan said.
The 2025 World Cup will be broadcast daily from Kuala Lumpur and promises high-quality international competition across all disciplines.