Selina Goddard Photo: Supplied
New Zealand's Selina Goddard has been named the World No 1 female bowler and hopes the new ranking system can help create more commercial opportunities in the sport.
Goddard (North Harbour) is the first ever New Zealander to top the rankings, which launched in 2024.
The World Bowls rankings, which were released today, take into account results from the past two years, with the 31-year-old having enjoyed consistent form over the period.
In Australia, she won three major titles (singles, pairs and triples) at the highly competitive Victorian Open in March, before winning the Australian Open women's pairs in June.
"My initial reaction was thinking about the year that's been, it's been a massive year and I feel incredibly fortunate to have played with some great team-mates who've helped me along the way," Goddard said.
"I've been playing a lot in Australia. The Australian Open Pairs win and the results at the Victorian Open were incredibly special and it's been an amazing journey."
Goddard is a six-time New Zealand national champion and three-time Commonwealth Games medal-winner and said the new ranking system was the right step forward.
"I think by having a ranking, you see it in a lot of other sports where they do rank, especially individuals. If only we're hoping that it can create some more commercial opportunities in bowls, which can help grow the sport, extend the sport across the world and as we look ahead at the Olympics, hopefully all these things can contribute to bowls being wider across the world."
Goddard is currently competing in the 2025 Bowls World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. She won four of her five qualification matches in the women's singles to reach the quarter-finals where she met former World No 1 Dawn Hayman of Australia, battling hard before going down 8-0, 8-2 in a high-quality encounter. Goddard will team up with Katelyn Inch (Canterbury) later today to begin their pairs campaign.
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