Yarrawonga Bowls Club’s Stephen Day, President Robert Tait and head coach Michael Szabo are thrilled to have the world’s best come to the club next Tuesday.
World number one ranked lawn bowler Alex Marshall of Scotland will be at Yarrawonga Bowls Club next Tuesday, February 13 from 4.00pm to 7.00pm.
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The multi time outdoor and indoor bowling champion will give a free coaching session for two hours followed by a barbecue and question/answer session.
The event is free and open to all. Buy a raffle ticket and there will be a Henselite pop up shop for anything bowls from which to purchase if you so desire.
It is huge coup for Yarrawonga Bowls Club to snare the man popularly known as ‘Tattie’ – who turns 57-years-of-age on February 8 - who plays at Gifford Bowls Club (outdoor) and East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club.
Yarrawonga Bowls member Stephen (Darkie) Day was instrumental in recruiting Marshall to what will be Marshall’s first visit to Yarrawonga.
“One of my very best mates, Troy Stafford, works in sales of Hensilite. Alex is a Hensilite -sponsored player and is an ambassador for Hensilite Bowls. The opportunity came up, Troy asked me if we’d be interested in hosting something!” Darkie said.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to have Alex come up to our club.”
“It’s a major coup,” Yarrawonga Bowls Club head coach Michael Szabo said. “He’s a very humble guy, very funny.”
Scotland’s Alex Marshall MBE at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Szabo, who has been in Yarrawonga two years and was a top player in Melbourne, said he “had the pleasure” of being beaten (albeit narrowly by Marshall when the latter played two seasons at Deer Park.
Marshall began bowling at the age of eight supported by both his father and grandfather and first represented his country in 1988.
He is the record breaking six-time World Indoor Singles Champion, has eight World Indoor Pairs titles to his credit and has won seven World Outdoor Championship Gold medals (Pairs in 1992, 2000 and 2012, Fours in 1992, and Team in 1992, 1996 and 2004).
His other achievements include four Commonwealth Games (Pairs in 2002, 2006 and 2014, and Fours in 2014), one Atlantic Games Team Gold (in 2015) and three Hong Kong International Classic Pairs titles (in 1993, 1996 and 2002).
In 2012, Marshall and Paul Foster became the first pair to win the World Indoor and Outdoor Pairs titles in the same year. In 2013, he claimed his first major WBT title outside the World Indoor title at the UK International Open. In 2014, he won the Australian Premier League with the Murray Steamers and was named Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.
In 2016, two more bronze medals were added when he competed in the 2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Christchurch. He added a pairs silver as part of the Scottish team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games with Paul Foster. He then set a gold medal record for Scotland by winning the gold medal in the Fours. The success continued in 2019,when he won another open pairs at the 2019 World Indoor Bowls Championship – this was a fourth with Paul Foster, sixth overall and 14th world indoor gold medal.
Marshall was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours for services to bowls.
“He just makes the ball talk, or sing!” Yarrawonga Bowls Club President Robert Tait said.
“We’ve had members benefit greatly because of him at Deer Park – Tim Crombie and his sons Tyson and Coby.
“We have invited all local clubs, clubs from Corowa, Wangaratta, Rutherglen and Cobram too – we have plenty of space at our club.
“We are so honoured to have him and the two-hour session is free. There will be a barbecue, a question and answer session and a pop up shop for anything bowls from which to purchase.”
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