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World Indoor Bowls Championships 
Summary
The World Indoor Bowls Championship is an international bowls competition held annually at Potters Resorts in Hopton on Sea.
Current season, competition or edition: 2024 World Indoor Bowls Championship | |
| Sport | Bowls |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Continent | International (Professional Bowls Association / World Bowls Tour) |
| Most recent champion(s) | 2024 Open Singles Stewart Anderson2024 Women's Singles  Katherine Rednall2024 Open Pairs Stewart Anderson & Darren Burnett2024 Mixed Pairs Nick Brett & Julie Forrest 2024 under 25s singles Darren Weir |
| TV partner(s) | BBC Two, YouTube |
In recent history matches are streamed live on YouTube & Facebook, attracting around four million views annually.[1] The last week of the competition is televised live on BBC where the open singles and open pairs', women's singles and mixed pairs' finals are shown.[2]
History edit
The competition was first held in 1979 in Coatbridge, Scotland as a men's singles only event. The first event was sponsored by Embassy Cigarettes.
In 1986, the men's pairs competition was added to the championship.[3] In 1988, a rule change allowed women to compete for the first time and the women's singles competition was created. This rule change also changed expanded the men's singles and pairs competition and both become open tournaments.
In 1989, the championships moved to the Guild Hall in Preston, England and Churchill Insurance took over the sponsorship. While the competition was being held in Preston, Midland Bank and SAGA were also sponsors at various times.
In 1999, Potters Holidays took over the sponsorship and, as part of the agreement, the event moved to its current home at the company's resort in Hopton-on-Sea.[4] The mixed pairs competition was added to the championship in 2004.
World Indoor Men's/Open Singles Champions edit
Wins by individual (Open Singles only)
| Name | Titles | Runners up | Winning Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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Alex Marshall | 6 | 2 | 1999, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2015 |
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Paul Foster | 5 | 2 | 1998, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2017 |
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Richard Corsie | 3 | 4 | 1989, 1991, 1993 |
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Andy Thomson | 3 | 2 | 1994, 1995, 2012 |
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David Bryant | 3 | 1 | 1979, 1980, 1981 |
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Stewart Anderson | 3 | 1 | 2013, 2019, 2024 |
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Tony Allcock | 3 | - | 1986, 1987, 2002 |
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Hugh Duff | 2 | 1 | 1988, 1997 |
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Mark Dawes | 2 | - | 2018, 2021 |
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John Price | 1 | 3 | 1990 |
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Mervyn King | 1 | 3 | 2006 |
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Greg Harlow | 1 | 3 | 2010 |
|
Ian Schuback | 1 | 2 | 1992 |
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Robert Paxton | 1 | 2 | 2020 |
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Jim Baker | 1 | 1 | 1984 |
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David Gourlay | 1 | 1 | 1996 |
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Robert Weale | 1 | 1 | 2000 |
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Nick Brett | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
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John Watson | 1 | - | 1982 |
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Bob Sutherland | 1 | - | 1983 |
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Terry Sullivan | 1 | - | 1985 |
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Billy Jackson | 1 | - | 2009 |
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Darren Burnett | 1 | - | 2014 |
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Les Gillett | 1 | - | 2022 |
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Jamie Walker | 1 | - | 2023 |
Performance by country (Open singles only)
| Country | Titles | Runners up | Winning Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland
|
23 | 14 | 9 |
| England
|
18 | 16 | 11 |
| Wales
|
3 | 7 | 3 |
| Australia
|
1 | 3 | 1 |
| Northern Ireland
|
1 | 2 | 1 |
 Hong Kong
|
- | 1 | - |
 Israel
|
- | 1 | - |
 New Zealand
|
- | 1 | - |
 Canada
|
- | 1 | - |
| Total | 46 | 46 | 25 |
World Indoor Women's Singles Champions edit
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World Indoor Men's/Open Pairs Champions edit
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.
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World Indoor Mixed Pairs Champions edit
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World Indoor Open Under 25 Champions edit
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Players with 5 or more titles edit
| Name | Open singles | Women's singles | Open Pairs | Mixed Pairs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Marshall
|
6 | N/A | 6 | 2 | 14 |
| Paul Foster
|
5 | N/A | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| Tony Allcock
|
3 | N/A | 8 | - | 11 |
| David Bryant
|
3 | N/A | 6 | - | 9 |
| Stewart Anderson
|
3 | N/A | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| / David Gourlay
|
1 | N/A | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Nick Brett
|
1 | N/A | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Katherine Rednall
|
- | 6 | - | 1 | 7 |
| Andy Thomson
|
3 | N/A | 3 | - | 6 |
| Carol Ashby
|
- | 3 | - | 3 | 6 |
| Richard Corsie
|
3 | N/A | 2 | - | 5 |
| Greg Harlow
|
1 | N/A | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Darren Burnett
|
1 | N/A | 3 | 1 | 5 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "OpticalMedia: Leading the Way in Sports Streaming with Over 4 Million Annual Views". OpticalMedia. 13 January 2024.
- ^ "World Indoor Bowls Championships 2018: Schedule and BBC coverage". BBC Sport. January 2018.
- ^ Newby, Donald (1989). Bowls Year Book 89. the Daily Telegraph. ISBN 0-330-31093-3.
- ^ "World Bowls at Potters: 'There's nowhere else I'd rather be'". BBC News. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "Wales' Laura Daniels wins World Indoor Bowls final". BBC Sport. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- ^ "Dawes And Chestney Win Second Open Pairs Title". Bowls International. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ "Julie Forrest: Borders bowler wins world championships title". Peebleshire News. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
External links edit
- Greg Gottfried (23 January 2020). "This perfect World Indoor Bowls shot is the most electrifying non-darts sports highlight in British history" (Video). Golf Digest.