Horsham’s Sophie Martin will represent Australia at the inaugural World Bowling Junior Championships in France later this year.
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Martin, 16, is one of only four juniors in the Australian team, with two boys and two girls selected to compete in the national team.
The competition will be held in Paris from March 16 to March 23.
Martin said she was surprised but definitely excited by the call-up.
“I wasn’t 100 per cent sure if I would be selected,” Martin said. “You have to be a part of the national training squad. There is a group of 12 juniors that go to training together for a day after national tournaments.
“I guess it was a bit of a surprise – it’s all a bit overwhelming you could say.”
It is not Martin’s first national call-up, as she represented Australia at the Asian Schools Championships in 2018. The prodigious bowling talent also won the President’s Shield with Victoria last year.
But the World Championships will be the first time Martin will be competing against the best juniors from all across the world.
The timing of the first ever World Bowling Junior Championships came at just the right time for Martin. She would be too old for the next time the biannual event takes place in 2021.
“Because it’s every two years I wouldn’t have been able to go to the next one,” Martin said. “I suppose it was good timing.”
Martin has been competing at a lot of events recently as she continues improving.
The tournament will also provide Martin the chance to travel to Europe for the first time. Her Mum, step-Dad and two friends will join her to make the most of the rare opportunity.
“Yeah we’ll probably go sightseeing and everything while we’re there,” Martin said. “Just to make the most of it.”