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England’s Nick Brett Makes Insane Shot at World Indoor Bowls Championship

In Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Prepare to be amazed by the thrilling action of carpet bowling, Zion Williamson announces his arrival in a big way and more.

I don’t know what sport this is, but this is incredible

Before last night, I had never heard of indoor bowls (also known as carpet bowling). That’s not terribly surprising, considering this is what the crowd at the world championships looks like. 

Fans at the 2020 World Indoor Bowls Championship

But let me tell you, after seeing the shot from England’s Nick Brett this week, I have all the respect in the world for these athletes in their silly shirts. 

Brett and partner, Greg Harlow, faced Alex Marshall and Paul Foster in the open pairs final at the World Indoor Bowls Championships on Monday. In the seventh end of the first game (the rules appear to be like a mix of curling and bocce), Harlow informed Brett that he had a space of “about six inches” between two balls to squeeze his shot through and get close to the jack (the target). 

Brett rolled the ball down the mat in a big, sweeping curve that managed to take a path directly through the narrow space between the other team’s two balls. All the septuagenarians in the stands went nuts. 

The first time I saw the video I was even more impressed, because I thought Brett had to make the ball spin to get it to curve like that. After doing some research (including watching a legendary but very uncharismatic carpet bowler instruct some teens on a VHS tape from the '90s) I learned that the balls are designed to curve due to their shape. But still, Brett had to correctly calculate the precise trajectory of the curve that would take it through that tiny sliver of space. I don’t know how he did it. 

Zion lived up to the hype

Of course Zion Williamson actually did something interesting after I went to bed. 

The 2019 No. 1 pick scored just two points and played just eight minutes in the first half of his NBA debut against the Spurs on Wednesday night. 

But then he caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points in a span of about three minutes. 

His four three-pointers during that stretch were more than he ever had in a game during his one year at Duke.

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