National Youth Cup & Challenge to kick off 2020
By Matt Stevens
The top youth bowlers from the country, New Zealand and Singapore will touch down in Victoria this week to begin preparations for the 2020 Youth Cup and Challenge.
Wyncity Bowl & Entertainment, Point Cook is gearing up to host back to back National Youth events this year. The National Youth Cup will kick off festivities on the 11th and 12th January before the National Youth Challenge takes place from the 14th-16th January.
2020 will mark the 18th running of the National Youth Cup which began in 2003 with Jason Belmonte and Toni Woodcock named the initial champions of the event. The event is the first nationally ranked event for the year for the Youth Division.
Over 80 bowlers will hit the lanes on Saturday to bowl the first of two 6 qualifying game blocks, the second block to occur on the Sunday. After the 12 qualifying games from bowlers, the top 15 will advance to the three-way matchplay format final to find our 2020 champions.
Both 2019 champions in Chloe Jones and Jordan Dinham will return to defend their titles. Both Jones and Dinham were named 2019 ranked champions in the youth division (Dinham also taking the junior title) and will be the ones to watch heading into the event. The National Youth Cup does provide a platform for all to contend though with no male bowler in history going back to back. Three females in Lexi Nicoll, Rebecca Whiting and Rebekah Commane have accomplished the back to back feat in the 17 year history of the event.
Entries are still open to all 2020 TBA members in good standing and all non-resident bowlers who are a member of an affiliated federation who have not reached their 21st birthday on the 1st January 2020. For more information head to the National Youth Cup webpage.
The 18th National Youth Challenge will take place from Tuesday the 14th-16th January 2020.
The FIQ formatted event will see teams compete for medals in singles, doubles, four player teams and all events competitions. Each of the three disciplines will see bowlers bowl six games to find our winners. Through the events, teams will accrue points from first to last position.
All points gained will go towards three division titles that teams will be striving for medals and trophies in; Male, Female and Combined. Queensland will return to defend their overall and male championships whilst the Australian Capital Territory will return after winning the 2019 female title.
2020 will see eight teams competing for glory over the three days. Invitational teams from New Zealand and Singapore Sports School will again attend the event. Full Team rosters can be found here.
For all information regarding the 2020 National Youth Challenge, head to the National Youth Challenge webpage.
