Monday sees the start of the twenty fourth World Under 25 Championships run by the International Indoor Bowls Council. This will also be the third instalment of the event in association with World Bowls.
Eighteen nations will be represented at East Kilbride Indoor Bowling Club in the heart of the strong bowling battleground of the central belt of Scotland. This will be the first major International event for the East Kilbride club after previous experience of hosting Scottish National Finals.
IIBC President Alison Merrien MBE will be hosting the event with Martin Gale acting as Tournament Director in his first competition since replacing David Phillips as IIBC Secretary.
MEN’S SINGLES
England’s Harry Goodwin is looking to follow in the footsteps of Darren Burnett and Stewart Anderson as the only multiple winner of the Men’s Singles title. The current English singles champion won the title at County Antrim last season and will go into this instalment as one of the favourites.
Bronze medallist from last year Bradley Buchan (Scotland) is also back looking for a second chance at lifting the Jimmy Davidson trophy come the final on Friday morning.
19 year old Nathan Black from South Australia in Australia arrives with a strong reputation and he will be looking to bridge a 21 year gap from the last Australian men’s winner.
Muhammad Idham Amin Ramlan was part of the Malaysian pair who captured Bronze at the World Championships in the Gold Coast in September and Jean-Pierre Fouche represented Namibia in the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Mate Dobos (Hungary) showed promising signs at last season’s event at County Antrim and it is good to see Japan represented in this competition for the first time with Yuta Nagamoto playing at the event.
Seventeen competitors are split across four sections with the top two in each section progressing to the knockout stages.
The final of the Men’s Singles is scheduled for 11.30am on Friday morning.
Full sections –
Group A: Ryan Davis (Wales), Kholwani Khanyile (South Africa), John-Pierre Fouche (Namibia), Yuta Nagamoto (Japan), Angel Gomez (USA)
Group B: Josh Bonsall (Guernsey), Harry Goodwin (England), Myles Ng (Macau), Erik Galipeau (Canada)
Group C: Jordy Jones (Norfolk Island), Muhammad Idham Amin Bin Ramlan (Malaysia), Bradley Buchan (Scotland), Mate Dobos (Hungary)
Group D: Jan Klossner (Switzerland), Ryan McElroy (Ireland), Langley Au Yeung (Hong Kong China), Nathan Black (Australia)
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Twelve months ago it was Brianna Smith who claimed the title for Australia. This time the green and gold are represented by Jessie Cottell who will be hoping to also lift the Hilary King MBE trophy when all play is concluded on Friday.
Rebecca Rixon (Malta) and Shauna O’ Neill (Ireland) both won medals at the Gold Coast World Championships and can be expected to be in the mix for the titles at this event.
Jordan Kos (Canada), Gloria Ha (Hong Kong China), Shae Wilson (Norfolk Island) and Aleena Binti Ahmad Nawawi (Malaysia) will provide a strong global challenge for the title alongside the nine UK based participants in the event.
The final of the Women’s Singles opens the play on Friday morning at 9.30am.
Women’s Singles Group Stage –
Group A: Lauren Gowen (Wales), Erin Bedwell (Scotland), Jordan Kos (Canada), Aleena Binti Ahmad Nawawi (Malaysia), Shauna O’ Nell (Ireland)
Group B: Gloria Ha (Hong Kong China), Emily Kernick (England), Shae Wilson (Norfolk Island), Aimee Harris (Scotland)
Group C: Sarolta Schrank (Hungary), Emma Murphy (South Africa), Jessie Cottell (Australia), Estee Parry (Wales)
Group D: Rebecca Rixon (Malta), Rebecca Moorbey (England), Catherine Bonsall (Guernsey), Sophie McGrouther (Scotland)
MIXED PAIRS
There are twelve full National teams in the Mixed Pairs with a further five teams made up from two different nationalities.
Shae Wilson and Jordy Jones are the furthest travelled to the event with the Norfolk Islanders spanning 17,000km to reach East Kilbride.
Jan Klossner from Switzerland will be looking to make a statement for the emerging nations when he teams up with Rebecca Moorbey from England.
Harry Goodwin won the gold in this event last season alongside Ruby Hill and this year the English duo will be Goodwin and Emily Kernick.
Experience full International players Ryan Davies and Lauren Gowen are expected to mount a strong challenge for the Welsh in this event. Lauren’s team mate Estee Parry will team up with Myles Ng from Macau.
Through the years Guernsey have tasted success in this event and this time the challenge will rest on husband and wife pairing of Josh and Catherine Bonsall.
The Mixed Pairs kick starts the whole tournament at 9.30am on Monday morning.
Mixed Pairs Group Stage –
Group A: E Kernick & H Goodwin (England), S Wilson & J Jones (Norfolk Island), R Rixon (Malta) & J Fouche (Namibia), ABA Nawawi & MIAB Ramlan (Malaysia), E Bedwell (Sco) & A Gomez (USA)
Group B: S McGrouther & B Buchan (Scotland); G Ha & L Au Yeung (Hong Kong China); R Moorbey (Eng) & J Klossner (Suisse); C Bonsall & J Bonsall (Guernsey)
Group C: J Cottell & N Black (Australia); S O’ Neill & R McElroy (Ireland); J Kos & E Galipeau (Canada); E Parry (Wal) & Myles Ng (Macau)
Group D: L Gowen & R Davies (Wales); S Schrank & M Dobos (Hungary), E Murphy & K Khanyile (South Afirca), A Harris (Sco) & Y Nagamoto (Jap)
The Opening Ceremony for the event will be held at East Kilbride at 6.30pm on Sunday 3rd December with play commencing at 9.30am on Monday. There ae five sessions of play each day with the finals scheduled for Mixed Pairs at 6.30pm on Thursday, Ladies Singles at 9.30am on Friday and Men’s Singles at 11.30am on Friday.
Entry is free at East Kilbride all week and we would hope to see some supporters come to witness one of the best championships on the calendar.
The Wrong Bias Podcast team will be at East Kilbride for the last two days of the event with Live Streaming throughout the Knockout stages of the competitions and including all finals.
There will be Live Scoring provided on the IIBC Website using the following link – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQ1wugqkKnjGDE04Ab_nbCzXKWgIltmZBTF2iJh2pZ-cHz_MsPt9kawwdh-k8gG837O10QKUvJdoyvA/pubhtml
There will also be a results service on the World Bowls Match Center which can be accessed as follows: https://bit.ly/3AdFYcQ
