World Cup title for Yates

Israel’s national visually-impaired lawn bowls team shone at the 2023 International Blind Bowls Association World Championships, hosted from March 5-15 at Tweed Heads Bowling Club. More than 140 players from eight nations took part. The format is like sighted bowls except players have a guide and can use a string down the middle of the greens to help aim their shots.

Israel’s Sharon Ashtar and Itzik Baranes won five of their six matches to win gold outright over South Africa in the B1 mixed pairs.
Ashtar also won a silver medal in the B1 women’s singles, winning five of her six matches. She was equal on 15 competition points with the winner, South African Tracy Smith, but had a lesser for/against points balance.

An Israeli Dan Widder won gold in the B1 men singles, matching runner-up Zam Hasan of Malaysia’s four wins and one loss but holding a better for/against tally.

Israel’s team was managed by Miriam Goldfarb and assisted by Melbourne native Bernie Cuikermann who now lives in Israel and volunteers from the Israel Lawn Bowls Association for the Blind.

Credit AJN