National Disability Championship Set to Begin

By Matt Stevens
June 8, 2021

Zone Bowling Mt Gravatt in Queensland will host and showcase the best bowlers with a disability from around the country tomorrow as the 32nd National Disability Championship gets underway.

Since 2008, Tenpin Bowling Australia (TBA), in partnership with the Australian Disability Tenpin (ADT), has run the annual National Disability Championship.

The National Disability Championship is an 11-day festival of Bowling for participants with an intellectual or physical disability. The Championship allows bowlers around the country to compete and socialise in various grades and events.

Zone Bowling Mt Gravatt is the 2021 host venue of the event. A southern suburb of the city of Brisbane, Mt Gravatt is expected to welcome approximately 340 participants throughout the running of the Championships.

With the event kicking off tomorrow, squads will dominate the schedule leading up to the official Opening Ceremony on Saturday morning.

Good luck and high scoring to all participants in this year’s Championship!

National Disability Championship

The Championships sees bowlers compete in Singles, Doubles and Team (3 bowlers per team) events. Entrants competing in the events will bowl a three-game series with the highest series in each Grade and Event deemed champions. In addition, medallions and chevrons will be awarded to the first three placegetters in each Grade and Event. More information can be found in the entry form by clicking here

All Events

An All Events entry is when participants compete and provide scores in all three events – Team, Doubles and Singles.

An All Events Champion will be declared in every Grade. A bowler’s FIRST appearance in Teams, Doubles and Singles will count towards the All Events score. Entering average will determine All Events classification.

Masters– Friday 18th June 2021

The Championship has three specific Master events – Open, Classic and Restricted. All three Masters will take place on Friday the 18th June 2021.

Masters Qualifying will be the highest three game series in either a Singles or Doubles entry bowled during the championship from the 9th June to Thursday the 17th June 1:45pm squad. Open to all those who have completed an All Events entry at the Championship.

The Top 16 qualifiers for each Masters event will compete in the final. Defending champions and State Master winners all receiving automatic entry with vacancies filled by qualifiers.

The final format will see bowlers complete eight games (4 x 2 game blocks). The Open Masters is a Scratch event, whilst the Classic and Restricted Masters will be Handicapped.

Bowlers in each division will be ranked according to total pinfall after the eight games bowled (including handicap for Classic and Restricted).

Following the rankings, the Top 3 in each division will bowl in a one-game step ladder final.

Read more in the entry form by clicking here

The Cole Challenge Cup and Open State Team Challenge – Wednesday 16th June 2021

These two events are the premier representative team events of the Championships.

The day will see two team events occur with the Cole Challenge Cup and Open State Team Challenge. The events will see teams from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania.

Unfortunately, due to recent COVID restrictions and logistic challenges, there are a few missing teams from this year’s events. Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria will be the unfortunate missing teams.

To view more information about these events and those representing their states and territories, click here.

Joint Management Committee & Tournament Team

TBA works closely with the Australian Disabilities Tenpin Inc in running the annual championships. Members from both parties form the Joint Management Committee (JMC), who collaborate and organise the annual event.

This year will be the 32nd running of the Championships after 2020 saw the event unable to proceed due to COVID restrictions. It was also a challenging year for many within the organisations following the passing of ADT President and Tournament Director Michael Cooke.  Michael will be sorely missed at this year’s Championships after playing an instrumental role in connecting TBA and ADT.

Excited to continue the Cooke legacy is newly appointed ADT President and Tournament Director of the National Disabilities Championship, Louise Cooke.

Neice of Michael, Louise heads a new looking JMC for 2021. Other members include Beth Boyd, Don Atkinson, Jenny Tiernan, Kortnee Morcus and Rohan O’Neill.

National Disability Championships HQ

Click here to view all the information regarding the event. All links to scores will be updated once the Tournament team publishes the first scores of the event.

Important Dates

  • CHAMPIONSHIPS START – Zone Bowling Mt. Gravatt -Singles/Doubles Squad – 8.00am Wednesday, 9 June 2021
  • OPENING CEREMONY – Zone Bowling Mt Gravatt 8.30am Saturday, 12 June 2021
  • COLE CHALLENGE CUP AND OPEN STATE TEAM CHALLENGE– Zone Bowling Mt. Gravatt – Wednesday, June 16 , Opening Ceremony at 8.30 am – Bowling commencing 9 am.
  • OPEN, CLASSIC AND RESTRICTED MASTERS – Zone Bowling Mt. Gravatt – Friday, June 18. Check-in by 8.30am –Bowling commencing at 9am.
  • ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGAustralian Disabilities Tenpin Inc. – Saturday, 12th June at 5.30pm
  • CELEBRATION DINNER – Friday, 18 June, 7pm for a 7:30pm start.
  • PRESENTATIONS will follow the ‘Caregivers Challenge’ on Saturday, June 19


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