What do a landscape designer, marketing manager, teacher, radio presenter, civil servant and retired air force navigator have in common?
They are among the 66 occupations of the players representing 33 nations from World Bowls member nations competing at the 2026 World Bowls Indoor Championship currently being played at the Ocean Grove Bowling Club, one of the world’s most advanced undercover bowling venues with 16 dome covered rinks on the Belleraine peninsula, Victoria, Australia.
The competitors are bidding for world glory in the men’s and women’s singles and mixed pairs – sectional play continued today (Tuesday).
Ages range from 19-71, with the youngest in the field Gillian Ng who is representing Hong Kong, a quarter-finalist in the World Bowls Junior Indoor Championship in 2024.
Just a year older than Ng, defending champion, 20-year-old Jack McShane (Australia) is continuing his quest for back-to-back titles in the men’s singles with a 100 per cent success record from his five games. Reigning women’s champion Sophie McGrouther (Scotland), two years McShane’s senior at 23, is also on a mission to retain her title. She remains unbeaten in her group but was pushed all the way by Ireland’s Shauna O’Neill pipping her to the win on a tiebreak in a battle of 2026 Commonwealth Games representatives.
In the men’s event, section one sees Canada’s Pat Bird top the table with Australia’s Corey Wedlock in second, McShane heads section two, with New Zealand’s Shannon McIlroy moving up to second following three wins against India, China and the USA. Wales’ Carl Wood sits in first place in section three with three out of three wins followed by Pontus Palmkvist, while Iain McLean, of Scotland, is unbeaten in section four with Auld Enemy colleague, England’s Tom Holmes his nearest challenger.
In the women’s singles, Alison Merrien MBE, of Guernsey, who is bidding to win the title for the fifth time continues to head section one, with England’s Sian Honnor in second.
In addition to McGrouther, the only other player who has recorded wins from all her games is Malta’s Rebecca Rixon, World Bowls Junior Indoor Championship winner in 2024. She takes the honours in section two, with Switzerland’s Laura Butler hot on her heels, while the sole World Bowls Hall of Famer in the event, Australia’s Kelsey Cottrell leads section four despite a shock defeat to Singapore’s Serena Tiong. Sri Lanka’s Kumari Mangos is second in her country’s first appearance in the event. In section four, a tiebreak win for USA’s Giulia Gallo over New Zealand’s Tayla Bruce saw her clinch second place behind McGrouther in the last match left on the green of the day.
The mixed pairs is getting down to the business end with the eight overnight section leaders – Guernsey (Alison and Ian Merrien), who will be looking to better their bronze medal finish 12 months ago, Wales (Amy Williams and Carl Wood), Wood bidding to repeat his success of 2011 when he partnered Welsh legend Betty Morgan MBE, Falkland Islands/Australia (Oliver Thompson and Sophie Kurtzman), Australia (Kelsey Cottrell and Corey Wedlock), Cottrell a former champion in 2023, Ireland (Shauna O’Neill and Adam McKeown), South Africa (Elma Louw and Charles Matthewson), defending nation England (Sian Honnor and Tom Holmes) and Jersey/Australia (Josh Band and Lisa Phillips) have their sights strongly on the quarter-finals on Friday with Guernsey, Falkland Islands/Australia, Australia, South Africa, England and Jersey/Australia all unbeaten so far. The New Zealand powerhouse of Tayla Bruce and Shannon McIlroy lie second behind the Falkland Islands/Australia combo, but while the Kiwis play the USA in their last group game, the composite pairing are in the driving seat overnight ahead of their game against Macao China, while Scotland’s former winners Julie Forrest (2013) and Iain McLean (2014) are sitting one place behind South Africa with the two pairings going head-to-head to decide the section winner in the final game in less than 24 hours.
Follow live scores, results and draw throughout the event on the official World Bowls Match Centre.
Results and Draw: https://tinyurl.com/4catzhm2
Watch live all day on World Bowls TV: https://www.youtube.com/@world_bowls/live
The 2026 World Bowls Indoor Championship is supported by the Victorian Government through Visit Victoria.
