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Day two wrap
Turkiye’s Rahsan and Ozkan Akar are one of a number of countries with 100 per cent records in the mixed pairs so far
It’s getting down to the business end of the World Bowls Indoor Championship at Aberdeen IBC.
With six sessions of the competition played today (Monday), the qualifiers for the men’s and women’s singles and mixed pairs are starting to line up.
In the singles, the player who finishes in position one in each section qualifies for the quarter-finals. Finishers in second and third spots in each group go into the play-off. In the mixed pairs, the top two teams in each division will qualify for the knockout rounds. Four of the six section winners will be randomly drawn straight into the quarter-finals. The remaining two section winners, plus all runners-up from the six sections will be randomly drawn against each other in a knockout round for the remaining four spots in the quarter-finals. The knockout draw will be done so the remaining two section winners will not play against each other or the runners-up from their section.
As it stands at the end of the second full day of play, teams maintaining a 100 per cent record in the mixed pairs and topping their sections are England’s Emily Kernick and Dominic McVittie, the Israel/Scotland combination of Boaz Markus and Kim Watt, Lauren Gowen and Ross Owen from Wales, Claire Anderson and Stewart Anderson, of the host country Scotland and Turkiye’s Rahsan and Ozkan Akar. Defending country Australia representatives Kelsey Cottrell and Jack McShane were beaten on a tiebreak by Malta’s Peter Ellul and Connie Rixon, but the Aussies however still maintain top spot in their group, with Malta in second.
In the men’s singles, section one features three players who have returned winning scorecards from their four games so far – Mark McGreal, Isle of Man, former winner Andrew Kyle, Ireland, and Ian Merrien, Guernsey, who sit in first, second and third place respectively.
Also unbeaten are Wales’ Ross Owen, World Bowls Series No 22 men’s ranked player, who tops section two, South Africa’s Jason Evans (WBS No 37) is in front in section three, while home favourite Scotland’s Stewart Anderson (WBS No 15) heads section four.
In the women’s singles, former winner Guernsey’s Alison Merrien MBE (WBS No 23), has recorded three wins out of three and tops section one, which included beating defending champion Nor Farah Ain Abdullah, Malaysia (WBS No 1) who is second.
2024 silver medallist Connie Rixon, Malta (WBS No 53) is making a bold bid to go one better than 12 months ago. She leads section two with four wins from four. Turkiye’s Rahsan Akar is enjoying a successful time in Scotland in the singles too and is in second spot with three out of three victories adding to her mixed pairs run, with 2023 champion Australia’s Kelsey Cottrell (WBS No 3) in third place with two out of two wins so far.
England’s Emily Kernick (WBS No 80) is another player who has enjoyed an unblemished tournament. Her three singles victories see her in pole position in section three, while Tayla Bruce, of New Zealand (WBS No 18) and Caroline Whitehead, Isle of Man, are second and third respectively with two triumphs each from their two games played.
Another with her record intact is Malaysia’s Emma Firyana Binti Saroji who has three wins from three in section four, which includes last year’s bronze medallist Linda Ng from Canada (WBS No 85) who has had a surprisingly disappointing tournament and sits in sixth place.
The group stages finish tomorrow (Tuesday) in the mixed pairs and Wednesday in both singles with knockout action on Thursday and Friday for all three competitions when matches will be streamed through the World Bowls Facebook and YouTube channels.
The stakes are high for the event – as well as the top prize, a world title, the championship is a platinum event on the World Bowls Series calendar with much sought-after ranking points up for grabs, plus the winners of the men’s and women’s singles will also receive an invitation to compete at the World Bowls Tour World Indoor Bowls Championships at Potters Resorts in January 2026.
World Bowls Indoor Championship results can be followed at the World Bowls match centre: Results portal
Live scoring can be found at: Live scoring
For full player list, roll of honour and more event information, see programme book: Programme
Report compiled by media officer – Ceris Hewlings ceris.hewlings@keypublishing.com
