A champion lawn bowls player has shown off his impressive tackling skills on the greens at the World Championships on the Gold Coast.

New Zealand star Andrew Kelly was in the middle of his quarter-final match when an alleged teenage offender halted the contest as he looked to flee from police on foot.

Kelly was having none of it, tackling the youngster in front of shocked spectators at Broadbeach before police quickly arrived on the scene, with officers later alleging the teen had two knives in his bag.

The man of the hour told Sunrise’s Natalie Barr he acted on instinct.

‘For me, it was a case of no one else was doing anything … there was a bit of a lull in our game, so I thought I’d have a crack,’ he said on Tuesday morning.

Lawn bowls star Andrew Kelly displayed his tackling skills on the greens at the World Championships on the Gold Coast 

With an alleged offender on the run from police, Kelly (pictured right) became the hero of the hour as he tackled the pitch invader to the ground

The Kiwi said he acted on instinct, and helped restrain the alleged offender until police arrived on the scene

‘I wasn’t aware he was carrying [two] knives, I just moved into action and the rest is history.’

Spectators on the scene described Kelly’s tackle as ‘textbook’ and one the All Blacks would have been proud of ahead of the rugby World Cup.

Kelly revealed he has a background in Muay Thai fighting and joked he ‘is open to offers’ from rugby teams following his heroics.

He also told the New Zealand Herald it was a unique situation.

‘There’s been streakers previously,’ he said.

‘All sporting events have that sort of thing happen…. but I guess this to me was quite a bit different because he was obviously wanted for doing something naughty.’

The alleged offender was later charged with stealing, possession of a knife in a public place and obstructing police.