2023 World Bowls Championships team announcement
Bowls Scotland is delighted to announce the players that have been selected to represent Scotland at the 2023 World Bowls Championships which will be held on the Gold Coast, Australia, from Tuesday 29th August to Sunday 10th September.
Scotland’s team will feature a full contingent of 18 players across the men’s, women’s, and para events. No less than 13 debutants feature in the Scottish line-up in the first World Bowls Championships held since 2016.
In the men’s squad, Alex Marshall MBE will once again be in the medal hunt looking to add to his record seven World Bowls Championships gold medals. Paul Foster MBE is also included in the team and will now compete in his third World Bowls Championships later this year.
Alex and Paul will compete in the Triples alongside two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Derek Oliver. A debutant for this event, Derek will be hoping to collect more silverware on the Gold Coast five years on from his sensational double gold medal heroics.
The trio will be joined by fellow debutant and 2023 World Indoor Singles runner-up, Jason Banks, in the Fours. Despite only being 26, Jason is no stranger to major events having also won gold in the Fours and bronze in the Pairs at last summer’s Bowls Europe Championships.
Iain McLean completes the men’s line-up and will once again compete in the blue-ribbon singles event, aiming to build on the bronze medal he won at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The two-time Bowls Scotland national singles champion will also team up with Jason Banks in the Pairs.
The women’s squad will be spearheaded by former World Bowls Championships gold medallist, Caroline Brown, who was victorious in the Fours at the event in Adelaide, Australia in 2012.
Caroline will be accompanied by fellow 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Stacey McDougall. The duo will team up with debutants Carla Banks in the Triples and Carla and Claire Anderson in the Fours respectively.
Both Carla and Claire have previous experience of competing in the Southern Hemisphere as Carla competed at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa and also the Ultimate Bowls Championship held at Moama Bowling Club in December 2022. Meanwhile, Claire previously competed in the World U25 Championships at Broadbeach and returned home with a silver medal in the Mixed Pairs.
Emma McIntyre rounds off the women’s team and will compete in the Singles following her silver medal in the same discipline at last year’s Bowls Europe Championships. This will be Emma’s event debut and she joins forces with Claire Anderson in the Pairs.
For the first time in World Bowls Championships history, para disciplines will be included. After a historic gold medal haul in all three para events at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games it is no surprise to see the majority of the same players included in this year’s team.
Seven of the eight gold medallists from the Commonwealth Games will take to the Gold Coast greens later this year. The only change comes in the Men’s B6-B8 Pairs which sees 2022 Bowls Scotland Para Open Pairs winner, Danny Porter, link up with Garry Brown.
Rosemary Lenton and Pauline Wilson will go again in the Women’s B6-B8 Pairs and the Visually Impaired B2-B3 Mixed Pairs also remains unchanged courtesy of Melanie Inness and Robert Barr’s selections. Fellow Commonwealth gold medallists, George Miller and Sarah Jane Ewing, have once again been selected as Directors for the Visually Impaired Mixed Pairs discipline.
Looking ahead to his first major championships as Men’s Head Coach, Frazer Muirhead, said: “We have selected an excellent blend of top-class players with a vast experience of representing Scotland at the highest level.
“The selection process proved difficult given the huge talent pool that we have within the High Performance squad and it was not an easy decision to leave players out. I am happy with the team selection and feel the team is strong in all disciplines. I am confident that we will bring back medals to make Scotland proud.”
Wendy Purdie, Bowls Scotland Women’s Head Coach, added: “Congratulations to the players that have been selected for this year's World Championships.
“We have such a depth of talent within our current women's High Performance squad and I am confident with the selections made that this team will be strong competitors in these championships. This is an exciting new look team, and we are looking forward to the build up towards the event in the coming weeks.
“I have no doubt the team has the ability to challenge for medals in every discipline and it will be important for them to start off their campaign strongly right from the first game.”
Para Head Coach, Bob Christie, commented: “This is a great opportunity for our players to perform at the first inclusive World Bowls Championships.
“The talented squad of players within the High Performance programme made the selection very difficult as they pushed everyone during all the training days to be the ones on the flight to Australia.
“It will be another learning curve for those selected in their careers. We as coaches are confident that the players will deliver consistent performances on the world stage and reach the highest level that we know they are capable of.”
47 nations are expected to compete at the 2023 World Bowls Championships with more than 1,300 individual matches expected to be played throughout the event. More information can be found here: https://world2023.bowls.com.au/. Bowls Scotland will be covering the championships on our website and social media channels.
Scotland’s full 2023 World Bowls Championships line-ups can be found below:
Men’s Singles: Iain McLean
Men’s Pairs: Jason Banks & Iain McLean
Men’s Triples: Paul Foster MBE, Derek Oliver & Alex Marshall MBE
Men’s Fours: Jason Banks, Derek Oliver, Paul Foster MBE & Alex Marshall MBE
Women’s Singles: Emma McIntyre
Women’s Pairs: Emma McIntyre & Claire Anderson
Women’s Triples: Carla Banks, Stacey McDougall & Caroline Brown
Women’s Fours: Carla Banks, Claire Anderson, Stacey McDougall & Caroline Brown
Para Men’s B6-B8 Pairs: Danny Porter & Garry Brown
Para Women’s B6-B8 Pairs: Rosemary Lenton & Pauline Wilson
Visually Impaired B2-B3 Mixed Pairs: Melanie Inness (Director: George Miller) & Robert Barr (Director: Sarah Jane Ewing)