The return of singles players Ali Forsyth and Val Smith is the most noticeable change to the New Zealand bowls team named to compete in the Asia Pacific Championships in Kuala Lumpur in August.
Bronze medallist at the World Championships in Christchurch, Forsyth was overlooked in favour of in-form Shannon McIlroy for the recent Trans-Tasman series in Australia, while Smith, who won two world titles in Christchurch, was unavailable for most of the 2008/09 season, needing surgery on a knee injury.
Both Forsyth and Smith won the singles titles at the last Asia-Pacific Championships in Christchurch two years ago.
There is some experimentation in naming Shannon McIlroy in the middle of the triples and fours teams, and the use of both Forsyth and Smith as skips in the women's pairs and men's triples, respectively.
The team is -
Women
Singles: Val Smith (Nelson).
Pairs: Genevieve Baildon (Waikato), lead, Smith, skip.
Triples: Manu Timoti (Northland), lead, Dale Lang (Wellington), Karen Coombe (Wanganui).
Fours: Baildon, lead, Timoti, Lang, Coombe, skip.
Men
Singles: Ali Forsyth (Sydney).
Pairs: Jamie Hill (Auckland), lead, Gary Lawson (Canterbury), skip.
Triples: Shayne Sincock (Canterbury), lead, Shannon McIlroy (Nelson), Forsyth, skip.
Fours: Sincock, lead, McIlroy, Hill, Lawson, skip.
