Peter James Belliss (born 12 November 1951) is a former

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

player for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Background

Belliss was born in

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

in 1951, attending (and playing rugby football at) Wanganui Boys' College. He started playing in the 1970s in the Aramaho (Wanganui) club;

Joseph Romanos Joseph Romanos (born 1957) is a New Zealand journalist, author and broadcaster focusing mainly on sport. Life and career Romanos attended St Patrick's College in Wellington. His father Richie Romanos played cricket for Wellington in the 1951� ...

called him ''The young Turk of lawn bowls''. He had been a railways fitter, and in 1982 was the first New Zealand lawn bowler to turn professional.

Bowls career

At the

World Bowls Championship The World Bowls Championship is the premier world bowls competition between national bowls organisations. World Outdoor Championships First held in Australia in 1966, the World Outdoor Bowls Championships for men and women are held every four ...

s, Belliss won the 1984 singles in Aberdeen against local player

Willie Wood William Vernell Wood Sr. (December 23, 1936February 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a safety with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler and ...

, the 1988 pairs with

Rowan Brassey Rowan James Brassey (born 18 January 1956) is a former New Zealand international lawn and indoor bowls player. Bowls career An earth-moving contractor by trade, Brassey's first national success was the 1980 New Zealand Open Pairs. He went on ...

, and men's triples with Brassey and Andrew Curtain at the

2000 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 2000 Men's World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at Marks Park Bowling Club, in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 1 to 15 April 2000. The 2000 Women's World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at Moama Bowling Club in Moama Moama ( ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. He has competed at four

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

(winning bronze),

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

(winning bronze),

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

; missing 1986 as a professional and 1990 as he had played in South Africa five years previously. He won six medals at the

Asia Pacific Bowls Championships The Asia Pacific Bowls Championships formerly the Pacific Rim Championships was a lawn bowling competition held between national bowls organisations in the Asia Pacific region. The event was inaugurated in 1985, and it was initially held every t ...

including four gold medals and in 1983 and 1989, he won the

Hong Kong International Bowls Classic The Hong Kong International Bowls Classic is a highly prestigious event in the lawn bowls calendar. It began as a men's pairs competition in 1981, with a men's singles event added in 1983. In 2008, the program was expanded to include singles an ...

singles title. He won the 1981, 1986 and 1992 singles titles, the 1992 and 1995 pairs titles, and the 2009, 2014/15 and 2016/17 fours titles at the

New Zealand National Bowls Championships The New Zealand National Bowls Championships is organised by Bowls New Zealand. Bowls was introduced in New Zealand in 1861 but the first national championships were not held until 1914. Men's singles Men's pairs Men's fours Women ...

when bowling for the Aramoho Bowling Club.

Coaching

He was a coach at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

Honours

In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours, Belliss was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to bowls. In 2013, Belliss was an inaugural inductee into the Bowls New Zealand Hall of Fame.

References

* ''New Zealand’s top 100 sports history makers'' by Joseph Romanos, page 214 (2006, Trio Books, Wellington)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belliss, Peter 1951 births Living people New Zealand male bowls players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Bowls players at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Whanganui Bowls World Champions People educated at Whanganui City College Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in lawn bowls