It’s getting down to the business end of the World Bowls champion of champions at cluBarham, NSW, Australia, and the quest to be crowned a world champion in just two days is tense.
With another five sessions of the competition played today (Tuesday), the bid to reach the knock-out stages is exceptionally tight with places for qualification potentially coming down to how many sets each player has won when the final games are completed tomorrow and results calculated – yes, it is that close.
Section one of the women’s discipline is on a knife-edge where no fewer than six out of the nine competitors are still in contention going into the final sectional round in the morning.
Four players stand on 18 points having all won six out of their nine games so far.
Ireland’s Shauna O’Neill, the current British Bowls women’s singles gold medallist, maintains her top spot, second is Malaysia’s Syafiqu Haidar Afif Abdul Rahman, Norfolk Islands’ Shae Wilson is third and Giulia Gallo from the USA is fourth. Australia’s Chloe Stewart lies in fifth place on 15 points, the same number of points as Switzerland’s Marianne Kuenzle.
Section two features 2019 silver medallist Debra White from New Zealand who maintains her unblemished record with an impressive eight wins out of eight and 24 points to her name. England’s Izzie White has played herself into second place with two wins out of two today to gain a total of 15 points, while Thailand’s Thaddaow Phandaech lies third on 15 points as well.
Malta’s Rebecca Rixon and Hong Kong China’s Gloria Ha have both chalked up seven wins out of eight and collected 21 points each in section three. Rixon, reigning World Bowls Junior Indoor Championship gold medallist, is in first place, Ha second and South Africa’s Bridget Herselman third on 18 points.
In the men’s event, section one is already sealed between Malaysia and Thailand respectively for the top two places. Malaysia’s Amirul Danial Abdul maintains his lead with seven out of eight wins and 21 points, while Naret Aiangetuen from Thailand is second on 18 and Wales’ Carl Wood is third with 12.
Despite losing to Spain’s Graham Shoots on a tiebreak, Australia’s Jacob Nelson takes the helm in section two after beating overnight leader Fiji’s Rajnesh Prasad. Prasad, like Nelson went into today unbeaten in the event, had a disappointing day also losing to Canada’s Owen Kirby who stays third.
2014 winner Iain McLean has already qualified for the 2026 event as back-to-back Scottish champion. He takes the honours in section three with 18 points, India’s Putul Sonowal is second, also on 18, while three wins for Ireland’s David Copeland against the USA, Sweden and South Africa sees him climb from seven to third with 15 points.
The top two finishers in each section will progress to the quarter-finals, while out of the three third place getters, one will get an automatic place in the last eight with the other two playing-off for a spot in the knockouts.
A World Bowls Series ranking event, this event carries platinum points with the top 10 ranked players on October 31 being invited to the WBS finals to be staged December 9-12, also at cluBarham.
Full daily results and up-to-date tables – HERE
Live streaming – HERE
Photo gallery – HERE
Report compiled by: Ceris Hewlings, World Bowls media officer, ceris.hewlings@keypublishing.com
Photo caption: The scores are hotting up at the World Bowls champion of champions at cluBarham, NSW, Australia. Jersey’s Malcolm De Sousa in action in the foreground
