A strong contingent of indoor bowlers from the Tauranga region is aiming to win their share of titles at the National Indoor Bowls Championships starting on Saturday.

Former national singles champion Keith Setter (2010) believes the group of Tauranga bowlers is among the strongest to ever compete at the nationals and says he and many others in the contingent have been playing well and hope to do well at the week-long tournament in Invercargill.

A strong contingent of Tauranga indoor bowlers, including Mike Phipps, Fiona Wilson and Keith Setter, are aiming for success at the national championships in Invercargill.

'I'm really confident. I feel like I'm playing well enough to compete and do very well, but as you know, with the numbers involved, there are no guarantees.

'Being a sport that is based on a lot of skill, it only takes one lapse and you're basically out of there.”

Keith will play in all events, including the triple with Geoff Coughey and Paul Smith, and the fours with Fiona Wilson, who has just won the Tauranga centre title.

Fiona is optimistic after recent success, saying she will put a particular focus on bettering the four's third-equal placing achieved last year. She believes the Tauranga contingent has a good chance of winning the provincial shield for overall success.

The Tauranga team has been boosted by top players Mike and Lorraine Phipps who shifted up from Taranaki two years ago and have convinced their top Taranaki-based playing partners Grant L'Ami (who holds six national titles) and Paul Midgley, to play for the Tauranga association. They will be defending their title as last year's fours champions.

Lorraine says their preparation has been good and she is focused on defending the fours title and improving on her third-equal placing with Paul Midgley in last year's pairs. Paul, who is based in Taranaki, is also the defending singles champion.

Mike is also excited about Tauranga's chance to win the provincial shield for the first time, saying it was adding an extra motivation for everyone.

The contingent of 35 Tauranga bowlers, competing in a field of 868 players, is less than half the normal numbers attending from Tauranga due to the Invercargill location.