2025 World Cup - Day One Report
The inaugural World Bowls World Cup got underway today at Bukit Kiara National Lawn Bowl Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with Scotland winning a total of six of their 12 contests across the men’s, women’s and para disciplines.
Caroline Brown suffered a difficult day in the women’s singles, losing out in all three of her respective matches. The Scot was narrowly defeated by Ireland’s Chloe Wilson 6-7 & 5-8 in her opening fixture before agonisingly being beaten by Anneke Scheepers in a one end tie break in her second game. Caroline rounded off day one with a difficult defeat at the hands of Malaysia’s Emma Firyana Saroji. The first set could have gone either way with Caroline just coming up short 4-5. Using the momentum from the opening set victory, the home nation player dominated the second set 0-13.
Scotland’s other women’s singles representative Sophie McGrouther also faced a challenging first day, chalking up one victory from her three sectional matches. Sophie lost out in her opening contest 2-12 & 8-9 to Lara Reaney from Ireland. The reigning World Bowls Indoor Championships women’s singles champion bounced back strongly in her second game to defeat South Africa’s Bridget Herselman in straight sets. In her final group game of the day, the Scot came up short 4-8 & 4-6 against Malaysia’s Alyani Jamil.
In the men’s pairs, Jason Banks and Paul Foster MBE delivered the perfect first day, winning all three of their games. The Scottish duo got the better of Malaysia’s Izzat Shameer and Soufi Rusli 2-5, 11-0 & 1-0 in a high-quality encounter to get their campaign underway. Taking confidence from their earlier win, Jason and Paul defeated Finbar McGuigan and Keanu Darby in straight sets in their second group match. Closing out the day with a 100% winning record, the Scots picked up a hard-fought tie break victory over South Africa’s Wayne Roberts and Jason Evans.
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallists Pauline Wilson and Garry Brown joined forces in the para mixed pairs to good effect, winning two of their three sectional fixtures on day one. The Scottish pairing got the better of Wales’ Sue Jones and Rob Sawyers 0-8, 6-3 & 1-0 in their opening match. Next up was the challenge of New Zealand’s Teri Blackbourn and Kurt Smith, who Pauline and Garry lost out to 5-6 & 2-8. Utilising their experience, the Scots responded well to notch up a crucial straight sets victory over Wai-Lin Tang and Wai-Sum Tong from Hong Kong in their final group game of the day.
Keep up to date with the 2025 World Cup via the following links below:
A full breakdown of Scotland’s scores from day one can be found below:
Session 1:
- Women’s Singles Group Match 1/5: Caroline Brown lost to Ireland 1 (Chloe Wilson) 0-2 (6-7 & 5-8)
Session 2:
- Women’s Singles Group Match 1/5: Sophie McGrouther lost to Ireland 2 (Lara Reaney) 0-2 (2-12 & 8-9)
- Men’s Pairs Group Match 1/5: Jason Banks & Paul Foster MBE beat Malaysia (Izzat Shameer & Soufi Rusli) 2-1 (2-5, 11-0 & 1-0)
Session 3:
- Women’s Singles Group Match 2/5: Caroline Brown lost to South Africa 1 (Anneke Scheepers) 1-2 (9-3, 2-10 & 0-1)
- Men’s Pairs Group Match 2/5: Jason Banks & Paul Foster MBE beat New Zealand (Finbar McGuigan & Keanu Darby) 2-0 (5-2 & 7-2)
- Para Mixed Pairs Group Match 1/5: Pauline Wilson & Garry Brown beat Wales (Sue Jones & Rob Sawyers) 2-1 (0-8, 6-3 & 1-0)
Session 4:
- Women’s Singles Group Match 3/5: Caroline Brown lost to Malaysia 1 (Emma Firyana Saroji) 0-2 (4-5 & 0-13)
- Women’s Singles Group Match 2/5: Sophie McGrouther beat South Africa 2 (Bridget Herselman) 2-0 (9-1 & 6-4)
- Men’s Pairs Group Match 3/5: Jason Banks & Paul Foster MBE beat South Africa (Wayne Roberts & Jason Evans) 2-1 (2-5, 7-3 & 1-0)
- Para Mixed Pairs Group Match 2/5: Pauline Wilson & Garry Brown lost to New Zealand (Teri Blackbourn & Kurt Smith) 0-2 (5-6 & 2-8)
Session 5:
- Women’s Singles Group Match 3/5: Sophie McGrouther lost to Malaysia 2 (Alyani Jamil) 0-2 (4-8 & 4-6)
- Para Mixed Pairs Group Match 3/5: Pauline Wilson & Garry Brown beat Hong Kong China (Wai-Lin Tang & Wai-Sum Tong) 2-0 (4-1 & 8-4)