From Israel to Norfolk: The bowls brothers taking on the world's best

Brothers David (right) and Zvika (left) Hadar travelled all the way from Israel to Norfolk to compete at the World Indoor Bowls Championships

Brothers David and Zvika Hadar travelled the world together when they were younger, before they had families of their own.

Forty years on from spending time in Brazil and Jamaica, they decided to roll back the years and take off on another adventure.

It was Amsterdam for New Year's Eve celebrations, but that was just a stop off on the way to the exotic surroundings of Potters Resort in Hopton-On-Sea, Norfolk.

It is probably not a well trodden path, but they had a very good reason - they were the Israeli qualifiers for the Open Pairs at the World Indoor Bowls Championships.

It was not to be on the famous blue rink as they lost their first round match in a tie-break against Scotland's Ronnie Duncan and Colin Walker.

But David was pleased with his first experience on the big stage.

"I think it was a lot of fun," he said. "I'm very happy with the performance of us as a team even though we lost.

"I think the people are very nice, it's very special to be here - the food is great, the shows are great, all the staff are wonderful, this is a beautiful place."

Tough to leave Israel

Qualifying for the World Championships is not easy - and the ongoing conflict between the Hadar brothers' home country Israel and Hamas provided more complications.

David, 69, now retired, and Zvika, 65, who works in real estate, both live in the city of Ra'anana, around 6 miles (10km) north of Tel-Aviv.

David (pictured) and Zvika are both members of Ra'anana Bowls Club in Israel

Zvika says it was a difficult decision to leave their homeland given the current situation.

"The atmosphere Israelis hear about the anti-Semitism in the world is a little bit intimidating," he said.

"However, both in Amsterdam and here, we encountered only support and sympathy from everybody so I'm surprised positively.

"As far as making the decision to come here, it wasn't easy because for the last three months, we in Israel are mostly mourning the people that we know who either got hurt or lost.

"In November I didn't make the Scottish International, even though I qualified, because it was too close to the situation. It wasn't perfectly right to take a break from the bad atmosphere and go and have fun.

"But at the same time, I wanted to come here and show myself as Israeli on television and in person to show us also in a positive side, not only in the war that is going on and the two sides that are hurting.

"Getting to spend a week with my brother and try to crack a win against top bowlers in the world, it's been pure fun."

Indoor adjustment

Throughout the World Championships, seeded players Wayne Willgress and Mervyn King are among those who have said how difficult it is to judge the pace of the portable blue rink, and they live just down the road.

So imagine the difficulty level for David and Zvika, given there are no indoor bowls venues in Israel. They are both members of Ra'Annana Bowls Club.

"Bowls in Israel is not as popular as it is here," Zvika says. "There's four clubs, with 400-500 members, playing on grass.

"We don't have indoor or artificial outdoors so we have to make a big adjustment when we come here."

Ra'anana Bowls Club - probably a bit warmer than the Norfolk coast

Fortunately, there were a couple of former World Champions on hand to give some help to David, who has only been playing a few years.

"As a first time international bowler, I practised with two legends, Greg Harlow and David Gourlay MBE," he said.

"They both were very nice, they helped me, they gave me tips. I changed my bowls because of them."

Zvika has been bowling for much longer than his older brother and has previous experience of bowling at the highest level, even beating the then reigning world champion Greg Harlow at the Welsh Open in 2010.

He recalls his first times playing alongside the world's best.

"It was the same for me, especially in the first few years - they're always keen to help the up and coming, overseas players that don't have much experience on this blue portable rink which is not easy," he said.

"I've been bowling for 20 years and the event at Potters is probably the most exciting and fun - the people here in hospitality, the conditions for us as players, the fact that it's televised all over the world - we come here and have a blast."

David and Zvika may have lost their match, but bowls has allowed them to reconnect for the first time in many years.

"We used to be very close when we were young, before we got married and each had our own families," Zvika says.

"So now two brothers going to travel together, it's been pure fun!"

You can watch live coverage of the 2024 World Indoor Bowls Championships on the BBC Sport website.