2023 World Bowls Indoor Championships preview
The world turns to the Warilla Bowls & Recreation Club ahead of the 2023 World Bowls Indoor Championships, featuring a cavalcade of top class bowlers from all four corners of the globe.
At the forefront of the respective fields will be Australia’s very own Right at Home Jackaroos in Aron Sherriff and Kelsey Cottrell after both claimed the Australian Indoor Championships titles in 2022.
Sherriff has been drawn in Section G, pitted against the likes of the USA’s Scottie Marzonie, Namibia’s Carel Olivier, Philippines’ Christopher Dagpin and Cook Islands’ Royden Aperau.
Other notable names within the men’s draw include Malaysia’s Izzat Dzulkeple who claimed a silver medal at the 2022 World Champion of Champions in December, Blackjacks Commonwealth Games representative Andrew Kelly and Wales’ dual Commonwealth Games champion Daniel Salmon.
Cottrell’s draw has placed her in Section E, which includes the Glasgow 2014 gold medallist Colleen Piketh from South Africa and Norfolk Island’s Shae Wilson, who claimed fourth in the women’s singles at the recent Multi-Nations in addition to the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Rounding out the group is Macau China’s Pian Lai and Tonga’s Milika Nathan.
There is plenty of pedigree in the women’s field, which consists of names such as New Zealand’s Katelyn Inch and Guernsey’s former World Champion of Champions conqueror Alison Merrien MBE.
The singles format will see players contest two sets of seven ends with a one-end tiebreak to determine the winner should it be needed.
Qualification for the round of 16 in the respective singles draws will see the top two bowlers in each of the six groups automatically progress, with the four remaining allocations awarded to the next best third placed participants.
The Australian duo will team up for the mixed pairs competition, with their section of five containing Scotland 2’s Connor Milne and Lorraine Craig, the USA’s Marzonie and Dee McSparran, Thailand’s Wattana Kadkhunthod and Palita Gangur and finally the Falkland Island Israel combination of Cecil Alexander and Amalia Levy.
Sherriff and Cottrell will not be the only Australians within the mixed pairs competition, with four fill in players assisting nations that have not brought a second player to the event.
Para Jackaroo Serena Bonnell will team up with Hungary’s Zoltan Pavelka to do battle against Canada’s Jerome Kirby and Linda Ng, Ireland’s John Nicholl and Lesley Mills and Namibia’s duo of Olivier and Petronella Breedt.
Emerging Jackaroo Grace Moloney will join Jamaica’s Martin Edwards in the competition, with their section containing the Welsh duo of Salmon and Amy Williams, Kenya’s Benson Wambugu and Ester Ndungu, Japan’s Masahiro Kawamoto and Yoko Goda and Sri Lanka’s Susil Ramanayake and Kumari Mangos.
Moloney’s fellow Emerging Jackaroo Chloe Morrison will line up with Sweden’s Pontus Palmkvist against the likes of England’s Martin Puckett and Kirsty Hembrow, Singapore’s Anthony Loh and Li Li Leng, Turkey’s Ozkan Akar and Pinar Kaygusuz and the Dutch combination of Frank de Vries and Ineke Spangenberg.
Finally, Tasmania’s Lauren Banks will form a pair with Fiji’s Zainal Mohammed ahead of their clashes with Malysia’s Dzulkeple and Nurul Alyani Jamil, Botswana’s Pako Sephetsolo and Lebogang Makhupe and Jersey’s Malcolm de Sousa and Megan Kivlin.
The format for the mixed pairs event is two sets of five ends with a one-end tie-break to determine the winner, with the number of ends increasing to seven per set in the knockout rounds.
Qualification for the mixed pairs knockout stage sees each sectional winner progress to the quarter-finals.
The World Bowls Indoor Championships runs from May 7-12 at the Warilla Bowls & Recreation Club, and will be live streamed on World Bowls’ Facebook page on the final two days of the competition.
Australia’s sectional fixtures (all times AEST):
Men’s Singles:
Game 1 – Aron Sherriff v Scottie Marzonie (USA) – May 8, 2pm
Game 2 – Aron Sherriff v Carel Olivier (Namibia) – May 9, 8:30am
Game 3 – Aron Sherriff v Christopher Dagpin (Philippines) – May 10, 8:30am
Game 4 – Aron Sherriff v Royden Aperau (Cook Islands) – May 10, 1:45pm
Women’s singles:
Game 1 – Kelsey Cottrell v Milika Nathan (Tonga) – May 8, 12:15pm
Game 2 – Kelsey Cottrell v Shae Wilson (Norfolk Island) – May 8, 7:15pm
Game 3 – Kelsey Cottrell v Colleen Piketh (South Africa) – May 10, 12pm
Game 4 – Kelsey Cottrell v Pian Lai (Macau China) – May 10, 7pm
Mixed Pairs:
Game 1 – Sherriff/Cottrell v Alexander/Levy (Falkland Islands/Israel) – May 7, 8:30am
Game 2 – Sherriff/Cottrell v Milne/Craig (Scotland) – May 7, 12:15pm
Game 3 – Sherriff/Cottrell v Kadkhunthod/Gangur (Thailand) – May 7, 5:15pm
Game 4 – Sherriff/Cottrell v Marzonie/McSparran (USA) – May 7, 7:45pm
Bonnell/Pavelka:
Game 1 – Bonnell/Pavelka v Olivier/Breedt (Namibia) – May 7, 11am
Game 2 – Bonnell/Pavelka v Kirby/Ng (Canada) – May 7, 1:30pm
Game 3 – Bonnell/Pavelka v Nicholl/Mills (Ireland) – May 7, 6:30pm
Moloney/Edwards:
Game 1 – Moloney/Edwards v Wambugu/Ndungu (Kenya) – May 7, 8:30am
Game 2 – Moloney/Edwards v Ramanakaye/Mangos (Sri Lanka) – May 7, 11am
Game 3 – Moloney/Edwards v Salmon/Williams (Wales) – May 7, 2:45
Game 4 – Moloney/Edwards v Kawamoto/Goda (Japan) – May 7, 7:45pm
Banks/Mohammed:
Game 1 – Banks/Mohammed v Dzulkeple/Alyani Jamil (Malaysia) – May 7, 9:45am
Game 2 – Banks/Mohammed v Sephetsolo/Makhupe (Botswana) – May 7, 12:15pm
Game 3 – Banks/Mohammed v de Sousa/Kivlin (Jersey) – May 7, 4pm
Morrison/Palmkvist:
Game 1 – Morrison/Palmkvist v Akar/Kaygusuz (Turkey) – May 7, 8:30am
Game 2 – Morrison/Palmkvist v de Vries/Spangenberg (Netherlands) – May 7, 4pm
Game 3 – Morrison/Palmkvist v Loh/Leng (Singapore) – May 7, 5:15pm
Game 4 – Morrison/Palmkvist v Puckett/Hembrow (England) – May 7, 7:45pm
