World Cup 2025 Day One Wrap

Seventy-two of the best bowlers from 12 countries are writing themselves into the history books as they compete to be the first ever gold medallists in the inaugural World Cup.

This global championship is a new addition to the calendar and is one of the sport’s highest-ranked international competitions outside the Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

Bowls Malaysia are making history as the inaugural hosts of this exciting competition which is a prelude to the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Bringing together the best players and teams from across the globe to compete for a world title, the seven medal competition is also celebrating the culture, passion, and community that bowls represents in the vibrant city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It is an important event for the sport globally with an objective to deliver an event that attracts strong broadcast and media exposure that will assist in improving the profile and standing of the sport across the world.

It is also unique featuring para and able bowlers in a team event played under a short and fast sets play format.

A platinum tier event in the World Bowls Series (WBS) rankings calendar, the tournament is being played at Bukit Kiara National Lawn Bowl Centre – the highly-acclaimed bowls venue which staged the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.

And what’s more, it’s unprecedented in it is being played entirely indoors using four purpose-built portable rinks and the already established eight-rink covered green at the sports complex mirroring the surface expected in Glasgow and reflecting the ongoing evolution of the sport.

The 12 countries participating are the host country, Malaysia, plus the 11th highest overall countries from the 2023 World Championships – Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong China, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, USA and Wales.

Each nation is fielding six athletes – two open men, two open women, one male para and one female – all of whom will contest singles and pairs making seven gold medal events in total.

Singles is two sets of seven ends with a one-end tiebreak, while the three-bowl pairs is two five-end sets with a one end tiebreak.

Teams feature players with proven international experience, recent success and a balance of leadership and form.

The star-studded player list really is a who’s who of bowls and includes the current WBS current No 1 ranked male and female players, Jason Banks (Scotland) and Selina Goddard (New Zealand).

The new ranking list sees Banks retaining his leader’s spot in the men’s list and Goddard take the honours in the female list for the first time.

She’s the first New Zealander to hold the position going into the World Bowls Series finals being staged at cluBarham in December where the current Top 10 players will compete for the ultimate honours in the first event of its kind.

There have so far been four men’s No 1 ranked players – Aron Sherriff (Australia), Izzat Shameer Dzukelple (Malaysia), Stewart Anderson and Jason Banks for Scotland, while having enjoyed kudos as women’s No 1’s are Kelsey Cottrell (Australia), Kelly McKerihen (Canada), Nor Farah Ain Abdullah (Malaysia), Emily Kernick (England) and Dawn Hayman (Australia) – six of whom are appearing in this tournament.

The championship has opened with the men’s pairs, women’s singles and para mixed pairs.

Sixty-two games were played in total across all three disciplines on day one with the men’s pairs group leaders Wales’ Danny Davies Junior and Ross Owen in section one and Scotland’s Jason Banks and Paul Foster MBE in section two unbeaten in their three games.

The women’s singles saw England’s Katherine Rednall, India’s Ruparani Tirkey, host country Malaysia’s Nurul Alyani Binti Jamil and Australia’s Kelsey Cottrell all recording 100 per cent records to top their sections respectively.

England and New Zealand are the ones to beat in the para mixed pairs with the English pair of Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall (with director Elizabeth Shipley) and John Greaves recording three out of three wins in section one and Kiwi’s Kurt Smith and Terri Blackburn sitting in first place in section two. The latter section with three countries on two out of three wins – Hong Kong, China, and Scotland are just half a set each apart in second and third place.

As part of the World Cup festival of bowls, the event will also feature a Malaysia v Rest of the World Bowls for Brisbane showcase match on Thursday, November 6, which will be live broadcast on the World Bowls YouTube channel, while Saturday, November 9, sees the first-ever World Bowls Hall of Fame Awards Night where 31 of the sport’s greatest players will be inducted into the first hall of fame at a glittering celebration of bowls attended by His Royal Highness Al-Wathiqu Billah Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, Sultan of Terengganu and Royal Patron of the Malaysia Lawn Bowls Federation (Bowls Malaysia).

Official Links:

November 4 – 8 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Official Links: