THERE is no talk of retirement from Doreen O’Connor just yet. The veteran bowler may have stepped away from the demands of national selection, but she remains a familiar figure on the green, still competing and still challenging the younger generation.
“I just come for exercise. If it’s a win, it’s a bonus,” O’Connor said.
It is a simple outlook from a player whose career has taken her to some of the biggest stages in bowls.
O’Connor represented Fiji at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and was part of the national team that won bronze in the women’s fours at the 2019 Pacific Games.
Her introduction to the sport, however, was anything but serious.
“I used to call it an old man’s game,” she said.
That changed after Litia Tikoisuva, one of Fiji’s most experienced international bowlers, introduced her to bowls.
What began as an introduction developed into a friendship and successful partnership.
O’Connor and Tikoisuva represented Fiji together at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the women’s triples and fours, reaching the quarter-finals in both events.
Five years later, they teamed up with Radhika Prasad in the women’s triples at the Pacific Games, where Fiji also secured bronze in the fours.
Their success continued on the local green, with O’Connor and Tikoisuva winning the women’s pairs at the 2020 Banana Cup.
For O’Connor, though, their relationship means more than medals and titles.
“Litia is still my inspiration,” she said.
“She will always be.”
Her international career also produced memorable battles, including at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where O’Connor and Sheral Mar narrowly lost 16-17 to New Zealand world champions Jo Edwards and Val Smith in the women’s pairs.
Now, O’Connor has chosen to make room for the next generation.
“I’m standing back now. I don’t want to go into any of this because there’s a lot of girls here. It’s time for them to get in, and get the feeling,” she said.
But stepping away from selection has not taken away her competitive edge.
At the 97th Annual Pineapple Cup which concluded last Sunday, O’Connor was still on the green and ready to test herself against younger players.
“I’ll give them a go for their money,” she said.
For O’Connor, bowls now offers more than competition, it brings exercise, friendship, strategy and the simple pleasure of being on the green.
She also wants young girls to stay with the sport.
“You’ve really got to like the sport to keep going,” she said.
Her own journey proves the point.
She laughed when recalling how she once called bowls an “old man’s game”. From those early days, O’Connor went on to represent Fiji at two Commonwealth Games and win Pacific Games bronze, building a career she never imagined when she first picked up a bowl.
And she is not ready to put it down yet.
“The day I don’t know when to bowl, that’s a day I’ll just sit back and watch,” she said.
Until then, O’Connor still has a bowl to deliver.
