World Championships set to give bowls fans a lift
There is finally some good news for the sport as the 2021 World Indoor Championships get underway at Potters this weekend.
The event normally attrac t s 2 0,0 0 0 s p e c tat o r s however it will be played to an empty stadium this year.
In an attempt to protect the players the Potters holiday resort, which is closed to the public until February 12, have put in place extra ventilation systems to constantly turn the air.
The event runs from January 8-24, all games are being either streamed live via the World Bowls Tour YouTube channel or starting January 18 on the BBC red button.
W i t h n o qu a l i f i c at i o n events being able to ta ke place the selection of the top 16 seeded players in the men’s singles was a give me however the selection of the remaining sixteen players has been criticised in various quarters after the PBA’s ranking system was over looked.
The men’s singles event now known as the World Open Singles has suffered a few drop outs, notably former winners Nicky Brett and Scotland’s Darren Burnett both due to injuries plus England’s Ian Honnor has also dropped out.
This has allowed the organizers to replace the trio with three of the best women players hence the change in title – Scotland’s Julie Forrest and the England duo of Katherine Rednall and Ellen Faulkner.
Defending champion E n g l a n d ’s R ob e r t Pa x to n doesn’t get his defence going until the second week when he faces Scarborough’s England Under 25 star and Potters debutant Jack Bird, one of the ties of the first round will see two former winners locking horns as England’s Greg Harlow meets fellow countryman Andy Thomson.
The full draw is as follows - Robert Paxton (England) v Jack Bird (England), Simon Skelton (England) v Connor Milne (Scotland), Mervyn King (England) v Ellen Falkner MBE (England), Mark Dawes (England) v Darren Weir (Scotland), Les Gil
lett (England) v Perry Martin (England), Mark Royal (England) v Damian Doubler (Wales), Michael Stepney ( S c otl a n d ) v Way n e W i l l - gress (England), Paul Foster MBE (Scotland) v Sam Barkley (Ireland), Stewart Anderson (Scotland) v Andrew Walters (England), Jamie Chestney (England) v Daniel Salmon (Wales), Julie Forrest (Scotland) v Jason Banks ( S c otl a n d ) , G reg H a rl ow (England) v Andy Thomson MBE (England), David Gourlay MBE (Scotland) v Scott Edwards (England), Jason Greenslade (Wales) v Stuart Bennett (Ireland), Alex Marshall MBE (Scotland) v James Rippey (Scotland), Katherine Rednall (England) v Stuart Irwin (England)
Contractually the event will still have the World Indoor Championship tag to it however there will be no ranking points awarded.
In the Women’s Match Play Singles defending champion Scotland’s Julie Forrest is attempting to equal England’s Carol Ashby’s feat of
three successful title defences, Forrest is drawn against Hartlepool’s England star Devon Cooper in the quarter-final.
The full draw is as follows - Julie Forrest (Scotland) v D evo n C o o p e r E n g l a n d ) , Katherine Rednall (England) v Ellen Falkner MBE (England), Marion Purcell (Wales) v Rebecca Willgress (England), Laura Daniels (Wales) v Carla Banks (Scotland)
With Nicky Brett missing Wales Marion Purcell will partner England’s Mervyn King in the defence of the Mixed Pairs Matchplay, the defending champions face Potter debutee Carla Banks (Scotland) and Robert Paxton (England), Paxton actually won the title with Purcell in 2015.
The rest of the draw is - Katherine Rednall (England) & David Gourlay MBE (Scotland) v Rebecca Willgress & Greg Harlow (England), Ellen Falkner MBE & Mark Dawes (England) v Julie Forrest & Stewart A n d e r s o n ( S c o tland), Laura Daniels (Wales)
& Paul Foster MBE (Scotland) v Devon Cooper & Les Gillett (England).
The World Indoor Men’s Pairs has now changed to the World Indoor Open Pairs which allows for women to be invited, among the favourites will be the six times men’s pairs champions Scotland’s Paul Foster MBE and Alex Marshall MBE, in their opener the two legends will face fellow Scots Darren Weir & James Rippey.
The rest of the draw is - Ellen Falkner MBE & Greg Harlow (England) v Damian Doubler & Daniel Salmon (Wales), Les Gillett (England) & Jason Greenslade (Wales) v Pe r r y M a r t i n & Way n e Willgress (England), Simon Skelton (England) & Michael Stepney (Scotland) v Scott Edwards & Andrew Walters (England), Mark Royal & Robert Paxton (England) v Devon Cooper & Andy Thomson MBE (England), Mark Dawes & Jamie Chestney (England) v Jason Banks & Connor Milne (Scotland), Mervyn King (England) & David Gour
lay MBE (Scotland) v Sam Barkley & Stuart Bennett (Ireland), Katherine Rednall (England) & Stewart Anderson (Scotland) v Jack Bird & Stuart Irwin (England).
The current covid epidemic has resulted in the p l a n n e d I n d o o r Pa ra n ations championships due to be played at Potters in April being cancelled, it is hoped the event will be re-arranged.
It may be only January but thoughts of how the outdoor season will look like are already in the bowling fraternity’s minds, Sunderland & District are still unsure at this moment in time as to whether they will be able to run a normal league programme in 2021, however all clubs should have received a league enrolment form to fill in, these must be returned by February 8.
Clubs that have paid for league entries and fixture books in 2020 these fees will be carried over to 2021, any club that has not received the form contact league secretary Jim Huntingdon.