Two Dunedin bowlers are taking on the best in the world.
The World Indoor Championships are under way in Norfolk, England.
New Zealand has four entrants competing over the two weeks.
Dunedin's Helen Carman and Mario Sopp played their preliminary matches in the pairs early this morning, against Israel's Boaz Markus and Beverly Polatinski and the favoured team in the pool from Ireland, featuring Ian McClure and Derek Smith.
They were to play a third match against a South African pairing but that team was a late withdrawal, due to visa problems.
Carman and Sopp follow a long line of success for Dunedin pairs to get this far.
Dunedin branch players have played seven of the past eight times New Zealand has been represented at the event.
However, none would have predicted it would be this Dunedin pairing to make it this year. They were introduced to each other by the local co-ordinator with little or no previous form to forecast success.
But then the magic happened as they beat four PBA internationals along the way in Geoff Wilson, Doug Thomas, Richard Corry and Neil Fisher, and also recent New Zealand PBA team reserve and manager Oliver Mason.
They did not have the luxury of a bye in either the Dunedin qualifier or finals weekend in Hastings, and got through two tiebreaker nail-biters to win the semifinal and final with everything on the line in Hastings.
Ray Martin, from Wellington, will play multiple world champion Scotsman Alex Marshall in the singles on January 18.
It is a blue-ribbon event with the biggest prize in bowls, of more than $NZ100,000 for the tournament winner.
Martin has shown good recent form, reaching the semifinals of the New Zealand pairs championships this week and being runner-up in the Wellington open fours the week before.
Dean Drummond, of Hawke's Bay, will be New Zealand's first entry in the invitation under-25 singles. He will play Scotland's John Orr on January 27.
This will be the most New Zealanders to participate in the World Indoor Championships in 10 years.
