2023 World Bowls Championships - Day One Round Up

Scotland made a strong start to the 2023 World Bowls Championships, winning 12 and drawing one of their opening 18 matches across the seven disciplines currently being contested.

In the Women’s Para Pairs, Rosemary Lenton and Pauline Wilson made the perfect start in their quest to add World Championships gold to their Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games triumph. The duo recorded two impressive wins against Hong Kong and England which see’s them sit joint top of the group. Tomorrow, they take on Thailand and New Zealand in another two crucial encounters.

Fortunes weren’t the same in the Men’s Para Pairs as Danny Porter and Garry Brown had a day to forget, suffering two defeats at the hands of South Africa and Singapore. The Scots now face Japan and South Korea on day two and will be hoping to record two victories to get their qualification hopes back on track.

Melanie Inness (with Director, George Miller) and Robert Barr (with Director, Sarah Jane Ewing) also had a tough first day of competition as they lost out to both Australia and New Zealand in their first two group matches. With another three group games remaining and the top four teams qualifying for the knockout stages in the Para Visually Impaired Mixed Pairs, their hopes of advancing are still well within their own hands.

Emma McIntyre made the dream start to her World Championships debut as she chalked up three victories in as many matches in the Women’s Singles. Her day started off with a comfortable 21-6 win over Papua New Guinea before she had to dig deep to see off France 21-12 and Israel 21-19 respectively. Tomorrow brings another three important matches as Emma takes on Brazil, Ireland and Wales, looking to build on her strong start.

Our Women’s Fours team of Carla Banks, Claire Anderson, Stacey McDougall and Caroline Brown had to settle for two wins from their first three group matches on day one. The quartet made a great start to the day by defeating Papua New Guinea 33-6 and Zimbabwe 19-11, however, they lost out 8-17 to Singapore in their final game of the day. Despite this defeat, the Scots still sit in a healthy first position in Section 4 going into day two.

The duo of Jason Banks and Iain McLean will be pleased with their days work as they maintained a 100% record in the Men’s Pairs. It wasn’t all plain sailing as they had to battle hard to get the better of Sweden 18-12 in their opening encounter. They then backed this victory up with another two wins against Cook Islands and Switzerland. Tomorrow, they take on South Africa and Malaysia, who are also both unbeaten, as well as Papua New Guinea in a tough day of fixtures.

Paul Foster MBE, Derek Oliver and Alex Marshall MBE also progressed through day one unbeaten courtesy of two wins and a draw. The trio started off the day in fine form and clinched a 21-11 victory against Malta. However, they came up against a strong Cook Islands team in their second match and dug deep to record a draw before delivering a resounding 48-2 win over Niue in their last match of the day. On day two, the Men’s Triple face Philippines, Japan and their final match against Wales will be shown live on Bowls Australia’s Facebook page at 5.45am (BST).

A full breakdown of Scotland’s scores from day one can be found below. Keep up to date with all the results and standings from the 2023 World Bowls Championships here: https://results.bowlslink.com.au/event/676867aa-a209-4339-a5c4-0b50eab54ae2

Session 1 – 11.30pm (BST):

• Group Match 1/5: Para Women’s Pairs – Rosemary Lenton & Pauline Wilson beat Hong Kong 16-5
• Group Match 1/5: Para Men’s Pairs – Danny Porter & Garry Brown lost to South Africa 13-17
• Group Match 1/5: Para Visually Impaired Mixed Pairs – Melanie Innes (with Director, George Miller) & Robert Barr (with Director, Sarah Jane Ewing) lost to Australia 12-18
• Group Match 1/9: Women’s Singles – Emma McIntyre beat Papua New Guinea 21-6
• Group Match 1/7: Women’s Fours – Carla Banks, Claire Anderson, Stacey McDougall & Caroline Brown beat Papua New Guinea 33-6
• Group Match 1/9: Men’s Pairs – Jason Banks & Iain McLean beat Sweden 18-12
• Group Match 1/7: Men’s Triples – Paul Foster MBE, Derek Oliver & Alex Marshall MBE beat Malta 21-11

Session 2 – 2.30am (BST):

• Group Match 2/5: Para Women’s Pairs – Rosemary Lenton & Pauline Wilson beat England 19-10
• Group Match 2/5: Para Men’s Pairs – Danny Porter & Garry Brown lost to Singapore 7-16
• Group Match 2/9: Women’s Singles – Emma McIntyre beat France 21-12
• Group Match 2/7: Women’s Fours – Carla Banks, Claire Anderson, Stacey McDougall & Caroline Brown beat Zimbabwe 19-11
• Group Match 2/9: Men’s Pairs – Jason Banks & Iain McLean beat Cook Islands 24-13
• Group Match 2/7: Men’s Triples – Paul Foster MBE, Derek Oliver & Alex Marshall MBE drew with Cook Islands 15-15

Session 3 – 5.45am (BST):

• Group Match 2/5: Para Visually Impaired Mixed Pairs – Melanie Inness (with Director, George Miller) & Robert Barr (with Director, Sarah Jane Ewing) lost to New Zealand 8-12
• Group Match 3/9: Women’s Singles – Emma McIntyre beat Israel 21-19
• Group Match 3/7: Women’s Fours – Carla Banks, Claire Anderson, Stacey McDougall & Caroline Brown lost to Singapore 8-17
• Group Match 3/9: Men’s Pairs – Jason Banks & Iain McLean beat Switzerland 19-12
• Group Match 3/7: Men’s Triples – Paul Foster MBE, Derek Oliver & Alex Marshall MBE beat Niue 48-2