New Zealand has wrapped its 2025 Lawn Bowls World Cup campaign with two silver medals on the final day of competition.

Two extremely tight and hard fought finals saw Selina Goddard (North Harbour) and Katelyn Inch (Canterbury) take silver in the women’s pairs event in Malaysia, while Teri Blackbourn (Hamilton) claimed the second podium spot in the Para women’s singles.

Goddard and Inch were solid throughout pool play and knockout matches to reach the final at the Arena Lawn Bowls Bukit Kiara.

Taking on Hong Kong China in the decider, the Kiwis started strong, scoring two shots in the first end of set one. Their opponents fought back, with the teams level at 4-all heading into the final end before Hong Kong China secured a single shot to take the set 5-4. 

The second set followed a similar pattern, with Hong Kong China again rallying late to edge the Kiwis 3-2 and win the match.

“We were in the fight right until the end but unfortunately just couldn’t quite push it to a tie break,” said Inch. 

“We’re incredibly proud. I’ve loved pulling on the New Zealand shirt, it’s what I play the game for and it’s been amazing to do this with Selina, she’s one of my best mates so it’s been really special.

“This has been an incredible learning opportunity. We’ve played some world class bowls and we’re excited to continue to build on that.”

In the Para women’s singles, Teri Blackbourn added another silver medal for New Zealand. 

The Hamilton bowler was dominant in pool play, winning all five of her matches before cruising through her semi-final.

In the final, she faced England’s Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall in a tight contest. Blackbourn took an early lead before Lewis-Wall fought back to win the first set 7-4 and held on to take the second 4-3 and win the match.

In the men’s singles, Keanu Darby finished with two pool wins over South Africa and Ireland, while Finbar McGuigan claimed victory against South Africa. In the Para men’s singles, Kurt Smith rounded out his campaign with two wins over Wales and India.

New Zealand ends the tournament with three medals overall, after Smith and Blackbourn combined earlier in the week to win bronze in the Para mixed pairs.

The full BlackJacks team is:

• Kurt Smith, 35, New Plymouth

• Teri Blackbourn, 31, Hamilton

• Selina Goddard, 31, North Harbour

• Katelyn Inch, 30, Canterbury

• Keanu Darby, 29, Dunedin

• Finbar McGuigan, 25, Wellington
  

About the 2025 Lawn Bowls World Cup

The 2025 Lawn Bowls World Cup is the premier international bowls competition in 2025 and will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from November 4th-8th.

Six Kiwis are contesting the event which is being attended by 12 countries. Matches are being played across men’s and women’s singles and pairs, as well as Para singles and Para mixed pairs.  

The competition is being played on portable indoor rinks, with carpet used as the playing surface, mirroring the conditions for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.