Aiming to bowl the world over

Aiming to bowl the world over

Palmerston North athlete Greig ‘the surgeon’ Jackson has just received his golden ticket to compete at this years’ World Boccia Championships to be held in Beijing this September.

“Boccia is a Paralympic sport of immense skill and strategy and the top athletes in the world work incredibly hard to get to the top,” Boccia New Zealand Director Luke Morriss says.

Jackson was the only New Zealand player to qualify after last years’ Asia and Oceania Boccia Championships in which he finished a very credible fourth place (equalling his and New Zealand’s best individual result) in his first international tournament after four years away from the sport.

Morriss added “the degree of precision and passion that the world’s best athletes have is mind-blowing and we are extremely lucky to have a player of Greig’s calibre on our local scene to show our younger players what is required to get to the top”.

Greig started playing boccia in the early 2000s and was immediately touted as a potential star with his strong ability to read the game. Now highly experienced with 73 international caps, two (Athens 2004; Beijing 2008) Paralympic Games campaigns under his belt and a number of top finishes, Greig will again prove a handful for the opposition with his high standard of play. Highly competitive by nature, it wouldn't be surprising if Greig didn't feature prominently come the business end of the tournament.

However, in order to get to the Champs Jackson must help come up with the needed $13000 to cover the entry fee and airfares. Boccia New Zealand receives a minimal amount of funding which is enough to cover administration costs and the running of the organisation.

“We are a small charitable organisation and need the support of New Zealand to help Greig go for gold” Morriss said.

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