Canada's Best Bowlers Coming to Woodstock

Thursday, 21 March 2013 11:17

Woodstock plays host to the best bowlers in the country this weekend. The Canadian National Championships will be played at C&D Lanes, this Saturday and Sunday. 18 bowlers are in the field, 9 men and 9 women, including last year's national champions. They'll compete for the men's and women's national title, and the right to go to Russia this November for the World Championship. It's rare that Woodstock plays host to a national championship for any sport, and C&D Lanes Co-Owner Carol Skillings says it was an event they had to bid on to secure. "Because we are an AMF Cubica House, which means we have their equipment and their scoring here, we were elidgable to host. So we put our bid in, and they picked us." Skillings says there's some serious work being done on their lanes this week to make them challenging. "There will be a full strip done on the lanes, and then we put out the conditioner into a pattern. Our regular pattern will not be anything close to what's out there this weekend. There will be 80 units of conditioner across the lanes. What it means is that they (bowlers) will have to stay slow and make adjustment from game to game, ball to ball. They're going to have to know which ball to throw, where to throw it and how to make the changes to win." In addition to hosting the games, C&D is working with Bowl Canada to put on a victory banquet at the end of the tournament. Overall, Skillings says there may be as much pressure on hosting the tournament as there is on the bowlers. "We have to set up the shot and get a machine in to do the right shot. We have bowlers equipment arriving daily from different provinces, so we have to keep care of everything that they've got, until they get here. But it's a big honour for us to host this event and bring these bowlers to Woodstock." The action starts with an opening ceremony at 1PM on Saturday, and continues Sunday morning at 10AM. The heavy favourite on the men's side is Michael Schmidt of Manitoba who has won 7 of the last 8 nationals. On the women's side, Felicia Wong of Alberta goes for her 3rd national in the last 4-years. Click here for more info on the event.