History will be made at Long Beach BC, California, USA, next week when the World Bowls Americas region stages its first World Championship qualifying event.
Jamaica, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and the USA will be participating which sees men’s and women’s competitions for singles, pairs, triples and fours.
Among the players to watch will be the USA’s 2023 World Bowls Champion of Champions winner Anne Nunes, Canada’s Erik Galipeau, a bronze medal winner at the World Bowls Junior Indoor Championship in Belfast, Northern Ireland, last December, and his compatriot Jordan Kos who represented Canada in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The tournament is one of the World Bowls Series sanctioned ranking events which carries silver tier points for participants.
Practice days are February 28 and March 1, with competition dates March 2-6. The event is being held ahead of the next World Bowls Championships in July 2027 at Leamington Spa, England.
In brief, World Championships are, in principle, open to every Member National Authority (MNA) of World Bowls. However, because of venue and scheduling constraints, each discipline is limited to 24 teams or participants in England.
To determine the field for 2027, World Bowls established the following process: The top 12 finishers in each discipline at the 2023 World Championships automatically qualify for the 2027 World Championships. The remaining 12 places in each discipline are allocated by region.
Each World Bowls region receives a number of qualification places based on the number of MNAs within that region. The Americas region consists of five MNAs and is allocated one qualifying place per discipline from the remaining 12 available worldwide. All other World Bowls regions will hold qualifying events in 2026, which World Bowls uses to determine their regional qualifiers. Historically, the Americas region has not held such an event. As a result, a dedicated Americas Qualifying Tournament (AQT) must be held to determine which country earns the single available Americas qualification place in each discipline that is not already filled through automatic qualification.
Automatic qualifications from the 2023 World Championship based on their top 12 finish:
Team USA – Women’s Singles, Women’s Triples, Men’s Triples, Men’s Fours
Canada – Women’s Singles, Women’s Triples, Women’s Fours, Men’s Singles, Men’s Pairs, Men’s Triples
For these disciplines, the United States and Canada are already qualified and do not need to compete for an Americas qualifying place. While Jamaica is eligible to enter every discipline, they do not currently have a full contingent of players available and as a result, has elected to compete in only four disciplines at the tournament.
Other World Bowls regional qualifying events are scheduled later in the year. The Asia Lawn Bowls Championship is being held in New Dehli, India from April 5 – 12, the European qualifier will take place at Llandrindod Wells, Wales, September 19-26, followed by the African States qualifier, September 20-27. Dates for the Oceania Challenge and qualifier are to be confirmed. For more information, see International Events – Bowls USA or https://www.worldbowls.com/2026americas-region-world-championship-qualifier/ .
