At Bristol Indoor Bowls Club, 25-29 April, 2022
This exciting and brand new event brings together the World Cup, organised by World Bowls (WB), and the World Championships of the International Indoor Bowls Council (IIBC) under one banner.
It involves 64 players from 29 countries, playing in men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed pairs. The 29 countries are (in alphabetical order):- Australia, Botswana, Canada, England, Falkland Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Jamaica, Jersey, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, USA and Wales.
DAY ONE Monday, 25 April
A plucky pair from the Falkland Islands, Daphne Arthur-Almond and Cecil Alexander, notched up an exciting tiebreak win over Namibia’s Ronan Olivier and Marietjie Van den Bergh in the first round of the World Bowls mixed pairs championship in Bristol (England) today (MON).
“We are proud to be the first genuine residents of the Falklands to compete in a global bowls event,” said Alexander. “The guys who represented the Falklands in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, actually lived in New Zealand, so we are proud to be achieving an historic ‘first’.”
Losing the first set, 4-9, the Islanders stormed back to take the second, 8-4, before edging home with a single on a tense tiebreak.
Reigning IIBC world indoor singles champions Alison Merrien (Guernsey) and Stewart Anderson (Scotland), joined forces to beat Singapore’s Zoher Motiwalla & May Lee, 11-3, 19-0, and cemented their status as favourites to win the mixed pairs title.
“The score doesn’t tell the whole story,” said Anderson modestly. “Zoher and May played well, but we had all the luck.”
In the women’s singles, Welsh champion Amy Williams edged past hotly-tipped Aussie Genevieve Delves, trailing the jack with the last bowl of a tense tiebreak, Devon another Welsh star Kerry Packwood, who was expecting a tough match with England superstar Devon Cooper, cruised to a 5-3, 8-3 straight sets victory.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, Irish-born Gary Kelly, who now lives in Australia, and is the holder of the WB World Cup, notched up an 11-2, 9-2 win over Falklands star Cecil Alexander, and Scotland’s Stewart Anderson, sped to a 21-0, 14-2 demolition of Hungary’s Zoltan Pavelka.
The biggest shocks of the opening day came in the final session, when two home favourites, Guernsey’s Alison Merrien and Scotland’s Julie Forrest, suffered group defeats against opponents from the USA and Malaysia in the women’s singles.
Talented Californian Anne Nunes, an aeronautical engineer, defeated Merrien on a hotly-contested tiebreak, 5-6, 4-3, 1-0, and methodical Malaysian Nurul Alyani Jamal upstaged serial winner Forrest, 3-6, 4-3, 1-0, winning a last-gasp measure by a fraction of an inch on the tiebreak.
The Channel Islander and the Scot can still qualify if they can finish in the top two in their respective groups.
RESULTS
Note – players marked * are holders of the WB and IIBC titles. Gary Kelly is the holder of the WB World Cup, while Stewart Anderson and Alison Merrien were the last winners o f the IIBC men’s and women’s world indoor championships.
MIXED PAIRS:-
Section 1:
Lara Reaney & *Gary Kelly (Ireland) bt Selwyn Hare & Ruthy Gilor (Israel) 4-4, 10-5;
Garrett & Mark McGreal (Isle of Man) bt Rahsan Akar & Oskan Akar (Turkey) 9-1, 8-5.
Section 2:
Marea Modutlwa & Remmy Kebapetse (Botswana) bt Nurul Alyani Jamal & M Fairus Jabal (Malaysia) 10-7, 7-5;
Rose Ogier & Ian Merrien (Guernsey) bt Amy Williams (Wales) & Olle Backgren (Sweden) 7-4, 7-6.
Section 3:
*Alison Merrien, MBE (Guernsey) & *Stewart Anderson (Scotland) bt Zoher Motiwalla & May Lee (Singapore) 11-3, 19-0;
Ayub Qureshi (Pakistan) & Julie Forrest (Scotland) bt Robert Briglia & Genevieve Delves (Australia) 11-2, 10-6.
Section 4:
Ruby Hill & Andy Walters (England) bt Tanida Kachanthornpak & Wattana Kadkhunthod (Thailand) 7-3, 6-10, 1-0;
Daphne Arthur-Almond & Cecil Alexander (Falkland Islands) bt Ronan Olivier & Marietjie Van den Bergh (Namibia) 4-9, 8-4, 1-0.
Section 5:
Kerry Packwood & Robert Chisholm (Wales) bt Arosha Jayasundara & Susil Don-Ramanayake (Sri Lanka) 6-6, 27-1;
Bill Brault & Anne Nunes (USA) bt Devon Cooper (England) & Zoltan Pavelka (Hungary) 11-2, 9-7.
Section 6:
Claire Anderson & Mike Stepney (Scotland) bt Maureen Caesar & Robert Simpson (Jamaica) 15-2, 20-1;
Gloria Ha & Arthur Lam (Hong Kong) bt Tom Schneiter & Marianne Kuenzle (Switzerland)11-10, 12-2.
Section 7:
Henk Veenstra & Saskia Schaft (Nederland) bt Megan Kivlin & Alex Stewart (Jersey) 10-5, 7-10, 1-0;
Sandra Bailie & Andy Duncan (Ireland) bt Sophy Kihuyu & Benson Wambugu (Kenya) 15-2, 11-5.
Section 8:
Colleen Piketh & Jason Evans (South Africa) bt Carol Broomfield & Graham Cathcart (Spain) 6-3, 6-8, 1-0;
Bobbi Charlton & Hirendra Bhartu (Canada) bt Janice Pilling (Isle of Man) & David Bolt (England) 6-6, 9-6.
MEN’S SINGLES
Section 1:
*Stewart Anderson (Scotland) bt Zoltan Pavelka (Hungary) 21-0, 14-2;
Arthur Lam (Hong Kong China) bt Remmy Kebapetse (Botswana) 10-2, 6-5.
Section 2:
Ian Merrien (Guernsey) bt Wattana Kadkhunthod (Thailand) 8-2, 7-4;
Robert Briglia (Australia) bt Robert Simpson (Jamaica) 11-2, 8-1.
Section 3:
Robert Chisholm (Wales) bt Mark McGreal (Isle of Man) 6-3, 11-4;
Ayub Qureshi (Pakistan) bt Benson Wambugu (Kenya) 9-4, 11-0.
Section 4:
Jason Evans (South Africa) bt Zoher Motiwalla (Singapore) 7-4, 9-1;
Alexander Stewart (Jersey) bt Olle Backgren (Sweden) 13-0, 4-6, 1-0.
Section 5:
Mike Stepney (Scotland) bt Graham Cathcart (Spain) 17-1, 8-4;
David Bolt (England) bt Ronan Olivier (Namibia) 16-1, 7-4.
Section 6:
*Gary Kelly (Ireland) bt Cecil Alexander (Falkland Islands) 11-2, 9-2;
Mohamad Fairus Abd Jabal (Malaysia) bt Hank Veenstra (Netherlands) 10-5, 9-5.
Section 7:
Andy Walters (England) bt Bill Brault (USA) 9-4, 17-0;
Selwyn Hare (Israel) bt Ozkan Akar (Turkey) 7-5, 7-6,
Section 8:
Andrew Duncan (Ireland) bt Tom Schneiter (Switzerland) 12-3, 13-2;
Hirendra Bhartu (Canada) bt Susil Don-Ramanayake (Sri Lanka) 14-0, 13-2.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Section 1:
Sandra Bailie (Ireland) bt Maureen Caesar (Jamaica) 11-4, 15-2;
Marietjie Van den Bergh (Namibia) bt Bobbi Charlton (Canada) 5-11, 6-2, 1-0.
Section 2:
Megan Kivlin (Jersey) bt M area Modutlwa (Botswana) 8-3, 11-4;
Amy Williams (Wales) bt Genevieve Delves (Australia) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0.
Section 3:
Ruthy Gilor (Israel) bt May Lee (Singapore) 8-6, 7-4;
Kerry Packwood (Wales) bt Devon Cooper (England) 5-3, 8-3.
Section 4:
Saskia Schaft (Netherlands) bt Tanida Kachanthornpak (Thailand) 9-5, 7-3;
Janice Pilling (Isle of Man) bt Ruby Hill (England) 6-3, 3-13, 1-0.
Section 5:
Gloria Ha (Hong Kong) bt Rose Ogier (Guernsey) 10-3, 10-2;
Colleen Piketh (South Africa) bt Daphne Arthur-Almond (Falkland Islands) 8-4, 11-2.
Section 6:
Paula Garrett (Isle of Man) bt Arosha Jayasundara (Sri Lanka) 11-0, 10-3;
Claire Anderson (Scotland) bt Lara Reaney (Ireland) 14-1, 14-1.
Section 7:
Carol Broomfield (Spain) bt Sophy Kihuyu (Kenya) 17-1, 11-3;
Nurul Alyani Jamal (Malaysia) bt Julie Forrest (Scotland) 3-6. 5-3, 1-0.
Section 8:
Anne Nunes (USA) bt *Alison Merrien, MBE (Guernsey) 5-6, 4-3, 1-0;
Marianne Kuenzle (Switzerland) bt Rahsan Akar (Turkey) 7-6, 6-4.
