World Indoor Bowls Championships
The World Indoor Bowls Championship was first held in 1979 at Coatbridge in Scotland for men's singles only. The event was sponsored by Embassy in the early years and grew in stature. In 1988 the venue changed to Alexandra Palace and one year later Churchill Insurance took over the sponsorship when the championships were held at Preston Guild Hall. The Midland Bank and SAGA were two more sponsors during the Preston era. In 1999 Potters Holidays came in to take over the sponsorship and the event moved to Potters Resort in Hopton-on-Sea, where it is still held today. The BBC also show live coverage of the championships during the last week which includes all four competition finals.[1]
| Sport | Bowls |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Continent | International (Professional Bowls Association / World Bowls Tour) |
| Most recent champion(s) | 2021 Open Singles Mark Dawes2021 Women's Singles .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Laura Daniels 2021 Open Pairs Mark Dawes & Jamie Chestney2021 Mixed Pairs  Stewart Anderson & Julie Forrest |
| TV partner(s) | BBC Two |
The men's pairs started in 1986, the women's singles in 1988 and the mixed pairs in 2004.[2] Both the men's singles and men's pairs changed to open singles and open pairs following the rule change which allowed women to compete in them. Alex Marshall from Scotland has won the singles event a record six times. Fellow Scot Paul Foster is one win behind with five successes.
World Indoor Men's/Open Singles Champions
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Wins by individual (Open Singles only)
| Name | Titles | Runners up | Winning Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Alex Marshall | 6 | 1 | 1999, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2015 |
|
Paul Foster | 5 | 1 | 1998, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2017 |
|
Richard Corsie | 3 | 4 | 1989, 1991, 1993 |
|
Andy Thomson | 3 | 2 | 1994, 1995, 2012 |
|
David Bryant | 3 | 1 | 1979, 1980, 1981 |
|
Tony Allcock | 3 | - | 1986, 1987, 2002 |
|
Hugh Duff | 2 | 1 | 1988, 1997 |
|
Stewart Anderson | 2 | 1 | 2013, 2019 |
|
Mark Dawes | 2 | - | 2018, 2021 |
|
John Price | 1 | 3 | 1990 |
|
Mervyn King | 1 | 3 | 2006 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
Ian Schuback | 1 | 2 | 1992 |
|
Greg Harlow | 1 | 2 | 2010 |
|
Robert Paxton | 1 | 2 | 2020 |
 |
Jim Baker | 1 | 1 | 1984 |
|
David Gourlay | 1 | 1 | 1996 |
|
Robert Weale | 1 | 1 | 2000 |
|
Nick Brett | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
|
John Watson | 1 | - | 1982 |
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Bob Sutherland | 1 | - | 1983 |
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Terry Sullivan | 1 | - | 1985 |
|
Billy Jackson | 1 | - | 2009 |
|
Darren Burnett | 1 | - | 2014 |
Performance by country (Open singles only)
| Country | Titles | Runners up | Winning Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland |
22 | 11 | 9 |
| England |
16 | 16 | 9 |
| Wales |
3 | 7 | 3 |
| Australia |
1 | 3 | 1 |
| Northern Ireland |
1 | 2 | 1 |
 Hong Kong |
- | 1 | - |
 Israel |
- | 1 | - |
 New Zealand |
- | 1 | - |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada |
- | 1 | - |
| Total | 43 | 43 | 23 |
World Indoor Women's Singles Champions
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World Indoor Men's/Open Pairs Champions
The Men's Pairs (now Open Pairs) allows women to compete, this is not to be confused with the Mixed Pairs. It was a men's only competition until 2012.
World Indoor Mixed Pairs Champions
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World Indoor Open Under 25 Champions
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Players with 5 or more titles
| Name | Nation | Open singles | Women's singles | Open Pairs | Mixed Pairs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Marshall | Scotland |
6 | N/A | 6 | 2 | 14 |
| Paul Foster | Scotland |
5 | N/A | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Tony Allcock | England |
3 | N/A | 8 | - | 11 |
| David Bryant | England |
3 | N/A | 6 | - | 9 |
| David Gourlay | Scotland / Australia |
1 | N/A | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Andy Thomson | England |
3 | N/A | 3 | - | 6 |
| Carol Ashby | England |
- | 3 | - | 3 | 6 |
| Richard Corsie | Scotland |
3 | N/A | 2 | - | 5 |
| Nick Brett | England |
1 | N/A | 2 | 2 | 5 |
References
- "World Indoor Bowls Championships 2018: Schedule and BBC coverage". BBC Sport.
- Newby, Donald (1989). Bowls Year Book 89. the Daily Telegraph. ISBN 0-330-31093-3.
- "Wales' Laura Daniels wins World Indoor Bowls final". BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- "Dawes And Chestney Win Second Open Pairs Title". Bowls International. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- "Julie Forrest: Borders bowler wins world championships title". Peebleshire News. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
External links
- World Bowls Page, Potters Resort Website
- Greg Gottfried (23 Jan 2020). "This perfect World Indoor Bowls shot is the most electrifying non-darts sports highlight in British history" (Video). Golf Digest.