American Anne Nunes and Australian Lee Schraner kept their hopes alive of creating history after the third day of the World Bowls Champion of Champions Singles in Auckland.

Over 50 champion bowlers from 30 nations have descended on New Zealand for the 22nd World Bowls Champion of Champions Singles at the Browns Bay Bowling Club in North Harbour this week.

Nunes remains unbeaten after five rounds in the women’s competition, aiming to become the first player to successfully defend their title at the World Bowls Champion of Champions.

Meanwhile Schraner handed New Zealand champion Aiden Takarua his first loss as the Australian attempts to become the first male to win the men’s title on two occasions, after he prevailed in 2019 in Adelaide.

Schraner is the only unbeaten player in section three, with Takarua and Canada’s Pat Bird equal in second place on five wins. They may need two wins from tomorrow’s remaining three games to cement claims for the weekend playoffs.

The three section winners and the runners-up in both male and female will progress to Saturday’s quarterfinals. The third placegetters in the three sections also go through. One will be drawn by lot to progress directly to the quarterfinals while the other two will playoff on Friday afternoon to decide the final qualifier.

“Any day you get two out of two is a good day. It was a good match against Aiden (Takarua) that went to a tiebreak and deserved to go to a tiebreak,” said Schraner.

“I struggled in the second game but managed to win a couple of close sets against Japan. I will take it and move one.

“It is a different format from the won when I won and it was also over five years ago – so a fair while ago. It is my fourth time here and I have only won it once, so I am determined to go as close as I can.

“My form coming in has been a bit up and down. It has been the same here but I have managed to find the bowls when I needed especially in the tiebreaks . If you have a lull in a set you have to wake yourself up for the tiebreak.

“Our section is not done and dusted despite winning all my games. Fourth place is 4-2 but with similar sets on countback to me so I will need one if not two more wins tomorrow.”

After six rounds in the men’s competition, in section one Malaysia’s world no. 2 ranked Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple has six from seven games joined by Royden Stewart Aperau (Cook Islands) and Wayne Roberts (South Africa) on five wins from six games.

Section three is led by Schraner who has six wins from six with Takarua and Bird both on five.

In section two England’s Lewis King is unbeaten with India’s Putul Sonowai, Thailand’s Wattana Kadkhuntod and Welshman Ross Owen all on five wins.

In the women’s competition, Joy Peyroux (Niue) leads section one unbeaten on five wins ahead of Milika Nathan (Tonga) on four wins while Shae Wilson (Norfolk Island) and Ireland’s Sarah Kelly share third on three wins.

Section two is led by India’s Nayan Moni Saikia unbeaten after five rounds from Australia’s Laini McGorman on four wins with Cook Islands’ Teokotai Rahui Jim and Hong Kong China’s Gloria Ha sharing three wins.

Section three is led by defending champion Anne Nunes (USA) unbeaten on five wins with Stefanie Branfield (England), who has remarkably prevailed in the tiebreak in each of her five victories.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are all on Saturday.

Caption: Aiden Takarua in action at the Browns Bay Bowling Club today. (Credit: David Allen, Inside Bowls Magazine)

Results:

Men: Here

Women: Here

WORLD BOWLS SERIES:

The World Bowls Champion of Champions event is sanctioned by the World Bowls Series (WBS). The WBS is the official year-long calendar of sanctioned events connecting to the official world rankings. It is a joint venture between World Bowls and Tier 5 Ventures.

WBS currently has 29 sanctioned events. Each WBS event will belong to a different tier having different ranking points based on the size, location, and stature it presents for the sport.

The purpose of WBS is to build the profile and brand of bowls, showcase the best players in the game, accelerate the legitimacy of the sport on the global stage and launch world rankings that will help create clarity and interest in the sport of bowls.

For more information regarding the World Bowls Series, contact: Neil Dalrymple, CEO, World Bowls, [email protected]