Scotland had a superb day at the World Bowls Indoor Championships
Scotland had a superb day at the World Bowls Indoor Championships at Ocean’s Grove with their competitors winning seven matches out of seven and progressing to one final and three semi finals to be played on the final day.
In the final round of singles Group action, Julie Forrest and Iain McLean both beat Israeli opposition by 2 sets to nil. Iain had already qualified but Julie would need to wait until the end of the Malta v Canada match to see if she made it through. Malta won the first set but Canada came back to win the second. The tiebreak was dramatic and when Malta failed to get the shot with the last bowl, Julie had booked her spot in the Ladies Singles quarter finals.
In the Mixed Pairs event, Julie and Iain faced off against Canada in their quarter final. The Canadian pair are both deliberate players and the match last over 2hours 45 minutes. Scotland won the first set before the Canadian ski[ played an excellent last bowl in the secon set to make it to the Tie Break. Scotland though played all the big bowls in the Tie Break to reach the semi finals.
The Semi Final opponents in the Mixed Pairs were Ireland with Shauna O’ Neill and Adam McKeown. Scotland started brightly and then hung on to win the first set 6-5. The second set looked like it could be equally tight before Scotland edge away to win the set and match and book their place in the final. They will meet Australia (Kelsey Cottrell and Corey Wedlock) in the final at around 11am (2am UK time) tomorrow. Australia beat Jersey/Australia and England in todays knockout round.
The quarter finals of the Ladies Singles saw two great matches for the Scottish players. Sophie McGrouther continued on her way to defending the title after overcoming Sian Honnor from England. Sophie lost the first set before dominating the second and the Tie Break to move through. Julie played Kelsey Cottrell from Australia. She edged a high quality first set before losing the second to the corwd favourite. The Tie Break was tight with both players exchaning ones before Julie’s second bowl got on top of the jack and managed to lie there throughout to bag a semi final slot. The two Scottish players now meet each other in the semi final with Mangos Kumaris from Sri Lanka taking on Alison Merrien MBE in the other semi final.
Iain McLean had only dropped two sets in the whole of the singles competition and battled through today in the Quarter Final with a 2-0 win over Pete Bonsar from Spain. The first set was extremely tight and Iain managed to control the final end to take the lead. In the second a failed draw to the ditch from Pete gave Iain the advantage and one that he held on to throughout the remainder of the match. Iain now meets Carl Wood from Wales in the semi final tomorrow morning with Corey Wedlock and defending champion Jack McShane, both Australian, meeting in the other semi final.
Scotland are now guaranteed at least two silvers and two bronze from this championships with the potential for more from tomoroows play.
Order of Play for Saturday –
9am (Midnight) – Gents and Ladies Singles Semi Finals
TV Rink – Corey Wedlock (Aus) v Jack McShane (Aus)
Iain McLean (Sco) v Carl Wood (Wal)
Sophie McGrouther (Sco) v Julie Forrest (Sco)
Kumari Mangos (Sri Lanka) v Alison Merrien MBE (Gue)
11am (2am) – Mixed Pairs Final
Kelsey Cottrell & Corey Wedlock (Aus) v Julie Forrest & Iain McLean (Sco)
1.30pm (4.30am) – Ladies Singles Final
S McGrouther (Sco) or J Forrest (Sco) v K Mangos (Sri Lanka) or A Merrien MBE (Gue)
3.30pm (6am) – Mens Singles Final
C Wedlock (Aus) or J McShane (Aus) v I McLean (Sco) or C Wood (Wal)
All of the finals along with one of the Mens Singles Semi Finals will be shown on the World Bowls Youtube page –
https://www.youtube.com/@world_bowls
All result scan be viewed on the World Bowls results page –
https://results.mc.worldbowls.com/event/9156f156-7f91-4634-a542-6a8d40f876b5