A strong US$75,000 Victorian Open campaign by Australia’s Olivia Cartwright sees here clinch the No 2 spot in the World Bowls Series female ranking list.
Winning the clean sweep of events at the Victorian Open – the women’s singles, the women’s pairs (with Lisa Phillips), the women’s triples (with Lisa Phillips and Tayla Bruce) and the mixed pairs (with Sam Rogers) – has propelled Cartwright 11 places higher in the rankings from 13th to second with 721 points to sit behind her Aussie colleague Dawn Hayman who retains top spot with a 139-point lead over her nearest challenger on 860.
Cartwright’s inclusion in the frontline pushes inaugural No 1, Jackaroo Kelsey Cottrell, to 11th place in what is the only significant change this month.
In addition to the Victorian Open, the newly published list includes the Americas Region World Championships Qualifier in California and the PBA South Africa WBT Qualifier – all three events holding silver points.
Paul Foster MBE, Scotland, continues his reign at the top of the men’s list with 774 points with the update producing two changes to the top tier.
Winner of the open singles at the World Indoor Bowls Championships, England’s Robert Paxton, makes his debut in the Top 10 coming in at No 9 with 540 points, while mixed pairs champion at that event, his English colleague Jamie Walker is No 6 on 564.
Those changes come at the expense of World Bowls Indoor Championship men’s singles holder Jack McShane (Australia) who slips to 12th and mixed pairs champion at that event England’s Dominic McVittie who now sits in 18th place.
Next month’s Ranking List update will feature results from the silver ranked Asian Lawn Bowls Championships, the silver South African Open (women and men) and the platinum World Bowls Indoor Championship.
ABOUT THE WBS RANKINGS
The World Bowls Series, launched in 2024, 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. The sanctioned events occur across the globe and will feature a mixture of existing and new events.
The 2026 calendar has a record 41 sanctioned events. Each WBS event belonged 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 and increase their earnings potential, 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.
Foster is the fifth No 1 ranked male player to hold the No 1 spot with the previous holders being Aron Sherriff (Australia), Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple (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 Selina Goddard (New Zealand) prior to Hayman who is currently serving her second term as the No 1.
See World Bowls Series website www.worldbowlsseries.com for more information.
For more information regarding the World Bowls Series, contact: Neil Dalrymple, CEO, World Bowls, ceo@worldbowls.com