2025 World Bowls Champion of Champions - Day Three Report

Courtesy of a hat-trick of wins on day three, Scotland’s Iain McLean has qualified for the quarter final stage of the 2025 World Champion of Champions with a game to spare. In the women’s singles, Jaclyn Neil requires a victory in her final group match and rely on other results going in her favour if she is to advance to the knockout phase.

Iain McLean opened the day with a win over Namibia’s Allan Langenstrassen. In the first set, he built an early lead and maintained pressure throughout, clinching the set 10-4. The second set followed a similar pattern with the Scot sealing a routine 7-2 victory.

Session two brought a much tougher challenge for the Scot in the form of Ozkan Akar from Turkey. Trailing 0-5 after two ends in the first set, McLean managed to fight his way back to draw the set 7-7. With the match now resting on the outcome of the second set, Iain raced into a 5-1 lead after four ends and was able to maintain his advantage at the completion of the seven ends.

Completing day three in style, Iain produced a dominant performance in his final group match of the day. The Scottish internationalist was consistent throughout and secured a convincing straight sets win against Stanley Tafatu of Niue.

Despite having one group game remaining, Iain has already secured his qualification through to the quarter final stage of the competition. The Scots final sectional match will be against Ireland’s David Copeland before advancing to his knockout tie.

In the women’s singles, Jaclyn Neil had a day of mixed fortunes, coming away with one win and one loss from her two respective contests.

Jaclyn struggled to settle into her opening match against South Africa’s Bridget Herselman with the first set slipping away 1-7. The 2024 Bowls Scotland Ladies Singles winner responded well in the second set and held a 4-3 advantage going into the last end. Unfortunately, her opponent played the crucial shots at the right time to win the last end and take the match.

The Scot bounced back strongly to overcome Milika Nathan from Tonga in her second and final game of the day. There was nothing to separate the two players in the first set with the scoreline tied at 5-5 going into the last end. Jaclyn used all her experience to win this crucial end and clinch the first set. The second set was also fiercely contested with Jaclyn coming from 0-3 behind to lead 6-3 heading into the last end and doing enough to close the game out.

With one group game also remaining in the women’s singles, Jaclyn needs to beat Argentina in her final sectional match and hope South Africa’s Bridget Herselman loses against Betty Van Walleghem of Canada if she is to qualify from Section 3.

Keep up to date with all the scores and standings from the 2025 World Champion of Champions here: https://results.mc.worldbowls.com/event/78811cdd-5676-40c7-9750-4dcebb8fe5f1?fbclid=IwY2xjawM8q3xleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFsSjRqaHA0dE5sQ3VqR24xAR4K--y9rXpOyr66qzZvtp9W-sGR7k6HxRkCpsD0V2h7R5K2QbODFYOEoP5ApQ_aem_euCcvFSVgtSAnxYB0YR7IA

A full breakdown of Scotland’s scores from day three can be found below:

Session 1:

• Men’s Singles Group Match 5/8: Iain McLean beat Namibia (Allan Langenstrassen) 2-0 (10-4 & 7-2)
• Women’s Singles Group Match 7/9: Jaclyn Neil lost to South Africa (Bridget Herselman) 0-2 (1-7 & 4-5)

Session 2:

• Men’s Singles Group Match 6/8: Iain McLean beat Turkey (Ozkan Akar) 1.5-0.5 (7-7 & 7-5)
• Women’s Singles Group Match 8/9: Jaclyn Neil beat Tonga (Milika Nathan) 2-0 (7-5 & 6-4)

Session 3:

• Men’s Singles Group Match 7/8: Iain McLean beat Niue (Stanley Tafatu) 2-0 (13-7 & 13-3)