The 2025 World Bowls Indoor Championship sees some of the biggest names in our sport head to Scotland and to Aberdeen IBC
World Bowls and the International Indoor Bowls Council (IIBC) are very pleased that 32 countries have entered to play in this year’s indoor showcase. All five corners of the globe will be represented in the six-day event which pits the European and Oceania powerhouses against those from the America’s, Asia and African regions.
Three of the most sought-after titles are up for grabs in the women’s and men’s singles and mixed pairs competitions.
Defending women’s singles champion Malaysia’s Nor Farah Ain Abdullah, the current World Bowls Series’ No 1 ranked female player, will be back to defend the title she won last year in Guernsey, but she will face tough opposition from a strong field of competitors including Australia’s highly-decorated Kelsey Cottrell, who was the inaugural No 1 ranked female when the ranking list was launched in June 2024 and won the mixed pairs in this championship in 2023 and current No 18, New Zealand’s 2023 World Bowls Championships women’s singles champion Tayla Bruce, Connie Rixon from Malta, who was a silver medallist in this event 12 months ago, WBS No 8, Esme Kruger from South Africa, and Norfolk Island 2022 Commonwealth Games representative Shae Wilson, who is just 26 years of age.
Former back-to-back singles winner Alison Merrien MBE, No 23, immediate past president of the IIBC, will also be in the hunt for glory. She’s won the women’s singles four times (2009, 2015, 2018 and 2019). In 2018, she and husband Ian were runners-up in the mixed pairs. Ian has qualified this year too – can they go one better than seven years ago?
Canada’s Mike McNorton and Linda Ng who were mixed pairs bronze medallists 12 months ago in Guernsey are also back to better their performance, Linda of course also being a bronze medallist in the singles too, while 2024 women’s singles silver medallist Connie Rixon, of Malta, will be hoping to equal her sister Rebecca’s gold medal winning performance in the junior event which was staged in Hong Kong, China, in December.
The men’s field features WBS’ No 3, Australia’s Jack McShane, Scotland’s Stewart Anderson, No 15, a three times World Indoor Bowls Championship open singles champion and multiple former winner of this singles and mixed pairs, No 22, Wales’ World Bowls champion of champions bronze medallist Ross Owen and Andrew Kyle from Ireland, a previous singles champion at this tournament in 2016.
Other countries include Botswana, England, Falkland Islands, France, Hong Kong China, Isle of Man, Spain, Netherlands and Japan.
The World Bowls Indoor Championship is a platinum event on the World Bowls Series (WBS) calendar. The WBS was 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 2025 calendar sees 30 sanctioned events, including the new World Bowls World Cup an exciting new event which is taking place in Hong Kong, China, in November.
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 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.
There have so far been four men’s No 1 ranked players – Aron Sherriff (Australia), Izzat Shameer Dzukelple (Malaysia), Stewart Anderson (Scotland) and current title holder Jason Banks (Scotland), while holding the kudos as women’s No 1’s have been Kelsey Cottrell (Australia) and Kelly McKerihen (Canada) prior to Nor Farah Ain Abdullah.
A para ranking list is being launched this spring. For more information on the WBS, see www.worldbowlsseries.com