2025 World Cup - Day Four Report
The penultimate day of the World Cup brought a total of 10 victories from 12 matches for Scotland throughout the men’s, women’s and para categories.
Paul Foster MBE required a perfect day in the men’s singles to have any chance of qualifying for tomorrow’s knockout stages following his two defeats to Sam Tolchard and Ross Owen on day three. The Scot certainly came out firing and produced two outstanding performances to overcome both Ryan Bester of Canada and USA’s Loren Dion in straight sets. Paul now went into his final group game against Ka Ho Lee from Hong Kong China knowing that a win would secure his place in Saturday’s quarter finals. Despite losing the first set, Paul battled back to win the second set to force the match into a tie break but unfortunately came up short by the finest of margins.
Scotland’s other men’s singles representative Jason Banks has booked his place in tomorrow knockout stages following his three wins in as many contests throughout today’s play. The World Bowls Series number one ranked male player was in scintillating form on Friday, boasting a hat trick of straight sets victories over Canada’s John Beazer, USA’s Aaron Zangl and Hong Kong China’s James Po respectively. Jason can now look forward to an exciting match up against Corey Wedlock of Australia in tomorrow’s quarter final.
After winning three of their five respective sectional matches our women’s pairs team of Sophie McGrouther and Caroline Brown were sadly eliminated from the competition. The Scottish duo were tied on points with Ireland’s Lara Reaney and Chloe Wilson in second place but the Scottish team missed out on qualification having won four sets throughout the group phase compared to their Irish counterparts five set wins. Sophie and Caroline began the day strongly, defeating Cheryl Chan and Helen Cheung from Hong Kong China 5-2, 2-7 & 1-0. Scotland’s pair took on Australia’s Kelsey Cottrell and Dawn Hayman in their final group game, narrowly losing out 7-3, 3-5 & 0-1.
In the para men’s singles, Garry Brown picked up two victories from his final two group fixtures. The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist had to dig deep in both matches, coming from behind to defeat both Ireland’s Brian Smyth and John Greaves from England on tie breaks. Garry finished the group phase with a total of three wins from his five respective games, which tied him in second position with Australia’s James Reynolds. Unfortunately for Garry, the Aussie won seven sets throughout the group stage compared to his five set wins, seeing him bow out of the singles event. Garry will be back in action tomorrow in the para mixed pairs final alongside Pauline Wilson as they take on Serena Bonnell and James Reynolds from Australia at approximately 6am (GMT).
Pauline Wilson continued her impressive form in Malaysia, recording two wins from her two remaining sectional matches in the para women’s singles to advance to Saturday’s semi final. The Scot delivered a brilliant comeback to defeat Australia’s Serena Bonnell in a tie break before beating Desiree Lim of USA in a convincing straight sets win. Pauline will face off against England’s Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall in her semi final tomorrow.
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A full breakdown of Scotland’s scores from day four can be found below:
Session 1:
- Men’s Singles Group Match 3/5: Paul Foster MBE beat Canada 1 (Ryan Bester) 2-0 (8-4 & 11-2)
- Men’s Singles Group Match 3/5: Jason Banks beat Canada 2 (John Beazer) 2-0 (8-6 & 7-5)
- Para Men’s Singles Group Match 4/5: Garry Brown beat Ireland (Brian Smyth) 2-1 (4-6, 4-3 & 1-0)
Session 2:
- Women’s Pairs Group Match 4/5: Sophie McGrouther & Caroline Brown beat Hong Kong China (Cheryl Chan & Helen Cheung) 2-1 (5-2, 2-7 & 1-0)
Session 3:
- Men’s Singles Group Match 4/5: Paul Foster MBE beat USA 1 (Loren Dion) 2-0 (8-2 & 8-3)
- Para Women’s Singles Group Match 4/5: Pauline Wilson beat Australia (Serena Bonnell) 2-1 (0-10, 9-4 & 1-0)
Session 4:
- Men’s Singles Group Match 4/5: Jason Banks beat USA 2 (Aaron Zangl) 2-0 (10-1 & 13-1)
- Women’s Pairs Group Match 5/5: Sophie McGrouther & Caroline Brown lost to Australia (Kelsey Cottrell & Dawn Hayman) 1-2 (7-3, 3-5 & 0-1)
- Para Women’s Singles Group Match 5/5: Pauline Wilson beat USA (Desiree Lim) 2-0 (9-1 & 11-1)
Session 5:
- Men’s Singles Group Match 5/5: Paul Foster MBE lost to Hong Kong China 1 (Ka Ho Lee) 1-2 (5-9, 8-5 & 0-1)
- Para Men’s Singles Group Match 5/5: Garry Brown beat England (John Greaves) 2-1 (3-7, 6-4 & 1-0)
Session 6:
- Men’s Singles Group Match 5/5: Jason Banks beat Hong Kong China 2 (James Po) 2-0 (6-5 & 8-2)