THE eyes of the bowling world turned to the Vale of Glamorgan last weekend with press and TV cameras in attendance.

Some of the best bowlers in the world will visit Barry in the next two weeks as the 2019 Atlantic Championships, featuring over 200 players from 27 countries, after it started on Friday 10th May at Barry Island.

Barry Athletic are proud to be co-hosting the event along with Windsor Penarth, Dinas Powis and Penylan bowling clubs.

The tournament will last 12 days with 10 days of play at Barry Island.

The early matches commence as early as 8.15am on many days, with evening matches starting at 6pm. England, Scotland and South Africa are the main attractions on opening day at the Athletic.

On Saturday Wales men and women competed.

The Welsh men triples played against Jersey and the Welsh ladies singles took on Zambia.

Play will continue all week, with some days having as many as 5 sessions.

It will be a rest day in Barry on the Thursday as play will be focused on the first of the finals being played at Penylan in Cardiff.

Play returns to Barry Island on Friday 17th May when local interest peaks with Wales competing in all 5 sessions in the men’s singles and ladies Triples.

The following weekend both Welsh men and ladies teams play on Saturday and Sunday.

The men’s rink and ladies pairs are both playing Sunday morning and afternoon.

Barry Athletic Bowls Club has hosted many international matches in its 108-year history, but possibly never anything on this scale, and members of the public are encouraged to come along and see this unique spectacle at close hand.

Entrance is free to under 16s and just £5 for a day ticket which entitles multiple entrances to all of the venues on that day.

Tickets can be bought online or payable on the gate. Refreshments and bar will be available throughout the tournament.

Full playing schedule can be found on the Welsh Bowls web site, www.welshbowls.co.uk.