Returning to its favoured qualifying format, the BLK National Championships promises to be a blockbuster event this year with all defending combinations arriving to chase the double and newly combined configurations looking to cause an upset or two.

Held in the stunning depths of Dunedin, Taieri Bowling Club will once again play host to more than 500 bowlers vying for their shot at national honours, with current, former and aspiring New Zealand representatives mixing it with club bowlers and provincial representatives across all levels, as they bid for top honour.

Fresh from their efforts at the World Champion of Champion Singles, reigning national champions Dean Elgar and Selina Goddard will prove tough to dethrone, though with World Men’s Singles champion Shannon McIlroy hungry for more and a smattering of Commonwealth Games’ hopefuls desperate to impress, the singles will be hotly contested with all eyes on former national singles’ champions such as Petar Sain, Shaun Scott, Ali Forsyth, Peter Hodson, Mike Kernaghan, Tony Grantham, Tayla Bruce, Jo Edwards and other rising stars looking to stamp their mark once again.

Last year's singles champion Dean Elgar

With the notable absence of Wellington-based Australian Neville Rodda this year, leading national titleholder Gary Lawson will instead team up with prolific national champion Ali Forsyth in the men’s pairs, (who memorably stole hearts winning back-to-back pairs with father Neville in 2014 and 2015), posing a formidable force and daunting prospect for any opposition.

Keen to lock horns with the title favourites will be former pairs champions Rob Ashton and Petar Sain, while strong combinations in the form of McIlroy and Justin Goodwin, Kernaghan and Grantham, Peter Belliss and Lance Tasker all lie in the waiting on the road to victory. Other  combinations to watch will be young charges Sheldon Bagrie-Howley and Seamus Curtin teaming up for the first time, and former Blackjack Andrew Kelly combining with former age group rep Richard Hocking.

The women’s pairs will see World Pairs Gold Medallists Jo Edwards and Val Smith reunite and rightly earn the favourites tag, though with reigning champions Dale Rayner and Ashleigh Jeffcoat eyeing up a back-to-back victory, it’s clear they will have something to say along the way.

With a stellar line-up in this year’s event, fierce combinations could blow the title race wide open with the likes of Blackjack pairing Tayla Bruce and Katelyn Inch joining forces, sisters Mandy and Angela Boyd back strong, mother and daughter combo Leigh Griffin and Kirsten Edwards, Blackjack Selina Goddard and fellow Commonwealth Games’ bronze medallist Amy McIlroy joining talents, among some established pairings such as local favourites Sarah Scott and Bronwyn Stevens and the mixture of youth and experience in Paris Baker leading for Rima Strickland.

The final discipline of the week will turn to the men’s and women’s fours, with some heavy hitters primed and ready for battle.

In the men’s line-up, seasoned punters would find it difficult to look past a team comprising of three world champions and a Commonwealth Games representative in Forsyth, Lawson, McIlroy and Goodwin, though expect a strong charge from Kernaghan who teamed with Scottish international Ryan Burnett, U25 NZ rep Rory Soden and former World Singles champion Tony Grantham will pose an equal threat to any opposition, as will the defending quartet skipped by the evergreen Peter Belliss.

Meanwhile, the women’s action will see reigning champions Jo Edwards, Val Smith, Kirsten Edwards and Tayla Bruce combine once more, while powerhouse combinations and former champions skipped by Mandy Boyd, Catherine Bien, Dale Rayner, Sandra Keith and Queenstown high performers Margaret O’Connor, will all be eyeing up the silverware come the first week of January.

With the stage set and competitors champing at the bit to get underway, let the good times roll.

*The BLK National Championships will be held in Dunedin from December 29-January 8 , with all finals being played at event HQ , Taieri Bowling Club , from January 3 onwards.