By Irishexaminer.com,Séamus Ó Tuama
Copyright irishexaminer
The same shouting, running and general animation that surrounds the sport here was there too. There was also the uncanny similarity between the techniques used by Italian bowlers and those in Ulster. When we dug a bit deeper we discovered other common threads. They play on roads like us, the basic rules of engagement are the same. These were definitely our long lost bowling cousins.
They performed at a very high level. We expected them to make a greater impact at international level than they have so far achieved. What do we hope to see from the Azzurri this weekend? We hope for at least one big performance. A win would be a game changer for Italian bowling. Don’t rule it out. Ballincurrig has a lot of similarities to the roads around Pesaro and they will luxuriate in the banter and brio.
Are Kelly Mallon and Silke Tulk the absolute best women bowlers of all time?
Kelly Mallon and Silke Tulk have a combined total of 15 Queen of the Roads—Silke has eight and Kelly seven. They have played each other in eight finals, Silke is 5-3 ahead. They have met in four semi-finals which Kelly leads 3-1. Tied on six wins each.
Plenty bowling fans will swear one is so much better than the other. These figures suggest otherwise. Are they truly above their peers in terms of greatness? Let’s look at some more facts. Mallon is also the holder of a record 12 All-Ireland senior titles and numerous Ulsters. She won the intermediate and U18 All-Irelands in 2005, the U18 in 2007 and U16 in 2004. She also won the European senior road gold medal in 2008 and bronze in 2022.
Tulk has 16 Dutch senior women’s championships in road bowling. She has six European individual gold medals. She has won a senior gold in every championship since 2012, taking gold in both the road and the Moors in 2016. She also has two youth gold medals and a bronze.
They are world-class; no, they are in a class of their own. Tomorrow they contest their ninth final, one not to be missed.
Is this the year when the King of the Roads will leave Ireland for the very first time?
No German or Dutch bowler has ever won King of the Roads. It is the only premier international road bowling competition that has been exclusively won by Irish bowlers. In 2024 that record came very close to ending.
European champion, William Hobbelink knocked out reigning champion Thomas Mackle and Munster champion Martin Coppinger in the first semi-final. He became the first ever Dutch finalist.
In the second semi-final, German champion, Stefan Runge came very close to joining him. It took exceptional bowling from All-Ireland champion, Colm Rafferty to see him off, with Arthur McDonagh well below par. Runge even produced a massive last bowl that narrowly missed the line. It was the bounce of a bowl from an Irish whitewash.
The Dutch have sent Patrick Zieverink this year, and Manuel Runge comes in place of his brother to complete a mission that has narrowly eluded three Germans.
In 2011 Ralf Rocker got to the final, only to encounter the virtually unbeatable David Murphy in his pomp. In 2016 Ralf Look took Thomas Mackle to the last shot. That was in the middle of Mackle’s glorious four-in-a-row.
Tiny step, by tiny step they are getting closer, could 2025 be the year that finally delivers the crown?
Does the new road surface at Ballincurrig change everything?
Ballincurrig bowling road has just received its greatest makeover in the 40-year history of King and Queen of the Roads. It has a significantly different feel in terms of camber, texture, some projecting chips and margins of drainage stones. Gone, for now, are the all-important traditional tracks. The drainage stones are mendacious.
This creates a range of imponderables beyond the normal. It may even tilt things in favour of the Dutch and Germans to the disadvantage of the Irish and Italians. It may prove more or less manageable by Ulster or Munster players. The lack of answers is because it has not been sufficiently tested yet.
An Irish bowler engages with the road as an accomplice. The camber, the tracks, the curves, the rubs are all part of their calculation. If those are absent or hard to read they are outside their comfort zone. Continental bowling is almost the opposite. There the bowler assumes they will have to take almost total control. We see players delivering bowls in long arcs, spinning bowls to fight the road leaning left or right.
Ballincurrig will, over time, revert to a more typical Irish bowling road. In the meantime we are a little blind-sided.
Is 2025 the year of the big generational shift?
A whole new audience has discovered bowling in recent years. It has started to pluck admirers from the most obscure and diverse places. It is feeding into and feeding off social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
There is a discernible difference in bowling consumers in 2025. There is an equally discernible difference in the bowlers that are stirring things up. A rich vein of exciting talent is elbowing its way into the middle of it all. These young bowlers are getting traditional fans excited, but they are also channelling in new fans, very many of whom are in the same age profile, who previously had little awareness of bowling.
This new wave of talent will be very visible in Ballincurrig this weekend. The hope is that they will demonstrate that they are ready to move on in their journeys and soon be the ones seeking King and Queen of the Roads. Look out for the likes of Shane Crowley, Brian O’Driscoll, Ben Cooney, Eoin McVeigh, Darragh Gribben, Hannah Sexton and Emma Hurley. These are the ones that got under the wire this weekend, but there is a legion of similarly gifted bowlers vying with them week-in-and-week-out.
