The World Indoor Bowls Championship is an international bowls competition held annually at Potters Resorts in Hopton on Sea.
In recent history matches are streamed live on YouTube & Facebook, attracting around four million views annually. 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.
History 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. 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. The mixed pairs competition was added to the championship in 2004.
Men's/Open singles champions
YearWinner 1979 David Bryant (1/3) 1980 David Bryant (2/3) 1981 David Bryant (3/3) 1982 John Watson 1983 Bob Sutherland 1984 Jim Baker 1985 Terry Sullivan 1986 Tony Allcock (1/3) 1987 Tony Allcock (2/3) 1988 Hugh Duff (1/2) 1989 Richard Corsie (1/3) 1990 John Price 1991 Richard Corsie (2/3) 1992 Ian Schuback 1993 Richard Corsie (3/3) 1994 Andy Thomson (1/3)
YearWinner 1995 Andy Thomson (2/3) 1996 David Gourlay 1997 Hugh Duff (2/2) 1998 Paul Foster (1/5) 1999 Alex Marshall (1/6) 2000 Robert Weale 2001 Paul Foster (2/5) 2002 Tony Allcock (3/3) 2003 Alex Marshall (2/6) 2004 Alex Marshall (3/6) 2005 Paul Foster (3/5) 2006 Mervyn King 2007 Alex Marshall (4/6) 2008 Alex Marshall (5/6) 2009 Billy Jackson 2010 Greg Harlow
YearWinner 2011 Paul Foster (4/5) 2012 Andy Thomson (3/3) 2013 Stewart Anderson (1/3) 2014 Darren Burnett 2015 Alex Marshall (6/6) 2016 Nick Brett 2017 Paul Foster (5/5) 2018 Mark Dawes (1/2) 2019 Stewart Anderson (2/3) 2020 Robert Paxton (1/2) 2021 Mark Dawes (2/2) 2022 Les Gillett 2023 Jamie Walker 2024 Stewart Anderson (3/3) 2025 Jason Banks 2026 Robert Paxton (2/2)
Wins by individual (Open Singles only) NameTitlesRunners upWinning Years Alex Marshall62 1999, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2015 Paul Foster53 1998, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2017 Richard Corsie34 1989, 1991, 1993 Andy Thomson32 1994, 1995, 2012 David Bryant31 1979, 1980, 1981 Stewart Anderson31 2013, 2019, 2024 Tony Allcock3- 1986, 1987, 2002 Robert Paxton23 2020, 2026 Hugh Duff21 1988, 1997 Mark Dawes2- 2018, 2021 John Price13 1990 Mervyn King13 2006 Greg Harlow13 2010 Ian Schuback12 1992 Jim Baker11 1984 David Gourlay11 1996 Robert Weale11 2000 Nick Brett11 2016 Jason Banks11 2025 John Watson1- 1982 Bob Sutherland1- 1983 Terry Sullivan1- 1985 Billy Jackson1- 2009 Darren Burnett1- 2014 Les Gillett1- 2022 Jamie Walker1- 2023
Performance by country (Open singles only)
CountryTitles Scotland24 England19 Wales3 Australia1 Northern Ireland1 Total48
Women's singles champions
YearWinner 1988 Margaret Johnston 1990 Fleur Bougourd 1991 Mary Price 1992 Sarah Gourlay 1993 Kate Adams 1994 Jan Woodley 1995 Joyce Lindores 1996 Sandy Hazell 1997 Norma Shaw 1998 Caroline McAllister (1/2) 1999 Caroline McAllister (2/2) 2000 Marlene Castle 2001 Betty Brown
YearWinner 2002 Carol Ashby (1/3) 2003 Carol Ashby (2/3) 2004 Carol Ashby (3/3) 2005 Ellen Falkner (1/3) 2006 Ellen Falkner (2/3) 2007 Caroline Brown 2008 Ceri Ann Davies 2009 Debbie Stavrou (1/2) 2010 Debbie Stavrou (2/2) 2011 Alison Merrien 2012 Karen Murphy 2013 Rebecca Field 2014 Katherine Rednall (1/7)
YearWinner 2015 Laura Daniels (1/2) 2016 Ellen Falkner (3/3) 2017 Katherine Rednall (2/7) 2018 Katherine Rednall (3/7) 2019 Julie Forrest (1/3) 2020 Julie Forrest (2/3) 2021 Laura Daniels (2/2) 2022 Katherine Rednall (4/7) 2023 Katherine Rednall (5/7) 2024 Katherine Rednall (6/7) 2025 Julie Forrest (3/3) 2026 Katherine Rednall (7/7)
Open pairs champions The Open Pairs (formerly the Men's Open pairs) allows anyone to compete, this is not to be confused with the Mixed Pairs. It was a men's only competition until 2012.
YearWinner 1986 Tony Allcock (1/8) & David Bryant (1/6) 1987 Tony Allcock (2/8) & David Bryant (2/6) 1988 Ian Schuback (1/3) & Jim Yates 1989 Tony Allcock (3/8) & David Bryant (3/6) 1990 Tony Allcock (4/8) & David Bryant (4/6) 1991 Tony Allcock (5/8) & David Bryant (5/6) 1992 Tony Allcock (6/8) & David Bryant (6/6) 1993 Gary Smith & Andy Thomson (1/3) 1994 Ian Schuback (2/3) & Cameron Curtis 1995 Richard Corsie & Alex Marshall (1/7) 1996 Ian Schuback (3/3) & Kelvin Kerkow (1/3) 1997 Tony Allcock (7/8) & Mervyn King (1/3) 1998 Richard Corsie & Graham Robertson 1999 John Price & Stephen Rees 2000 David Gourlay & Alex Marshall (2/7) 2001 Les Gillett (1/2) & Mark McMahon 2002 Hugh Duff & Paul Foster (1/6) 2003 Tony Allcock (8/8) & David Holt 2004 Ian McClure & Jeremy Henry 2005 Kelvin Kerkow (2/3) & Mervyn King (2/3) 2006 Billy Jackson (1/2) & David Gourlay (1/2)
YearWinner 2007 Billy Jackson (2/2) & David Gourlay (2/2) 2008 Andy Thomson (2/3) & Ian Bond (1/2) 2009 Kelvin Kerkow (3/3) & Mervyn King (3/3) 2010 Andy Thomson (3/3) & Ian Bond (2/2) 2011 Paul Foster (2/6) & Alex Marshall (3/7) 2012 Paul Foster (3/6) & Alex Marshall (4/7) 2013 Paul Foster (4/6) & Alex Marshall (5/7) 2014 Greg Harlow (1/3) & Nick Brett (1/3) 2015 Robert Paxton & Simon Skelton 2016 Stewart Anderson (1/3) & Darren Burnett (1/3) 2017 Les Gillett (2/2) & Jason Greenslade 2018 Mark Dawes (1/2) & Jamie Chestney (1/2) 2019 Paul Foster (5/6) & Alex Marshall (6/7) 2020 Greg Harlow (2/3) & Nick Brett (2/3) 2021 Mark Dawes (2/2) & Jamie Chestney (2/2) 2022 Stewart Anderson (2/3) & Darren Burnett (2/3) 2023 Greg Harlow (3/3) & Nick Brett (3/3) 2024 Stewart Anderson (3/3) & Darren Burnett (3/3) 2025 Jason Banks (1/1) & Michael Stepney (1/1) 2026 Paul Foster (6/6) & Alex Marshall (7/7)
Mixed pairs champions
YearWinner 2004 Alex Marshall (1/2) & Amy Monkhouse 2005 John Price (1/2) & Carol Ashby (1/3) 2006 John Price (2/2) & Carol Ashby (2/3) 2007 Greg Harlow & Jo Morris 2008 David Gourlay (1/3) & Ceri Ann Davies (1/3) 2009 David Gourlay (2/3) & Ceri Ann Davies (2/3) 2010 Alex Marshall (2/2) & Carol Ashby (3/3) 2011 Simon Skelton & Alison Merrien (1/2) 2012 David Gourlay (3/3) & Debbie Stavrou 2013 Paul Foster (1/3) & Laura Thomas (1/2) 2014 Paul Foster (2/3) & Laura Thomas (2/2) 2015 Robert Paxton (1/2) & Marion Purcell (1/2)
YearWinner 2016 Darren Burnett & Katherine Rednall 2017 Nick Brett (1/3) & Claire Johnston 2018 Jamie Chestney & Lesley Doig 2019 Robert Paxton (2/2) & Ellen Falkner 2020 Nick Brett (2/3) & Marion Purcell (2/2) 2021 Stewart Anderson (1/2) & Julie Forrest (1/2) 2022 Paul Foster (3/3) & Alison Merrien (2/2) 2023 Stewart Anderson (2/2) & Ceri Ann Glen (3/3) 2024 Nick Brett (3/3) & Julie Forrest (2/2) 2025 Jason Banks (1/1) & Beth Riva (1/1) 2026 Chloe Wilson (1/1) & Jamie Walker (1/1)
Open under–25 champions
YearWinner 2016 Joseph Mower 2017 Ellen Ryan 2018 Chloe Watson
YearWinner 2019 John Orr 2020 William Moulton 2022 Daniel Pool (1/2)
YearWinner 2023 Daniel Pool (2/2) 2024 Darren Weir
Players with five or more titles NameOpen singlesWomen's singlesOpen PairsMixed PairsTotal Alex Marshall6N/A7215 Paul Foster5N/A6314 Tony Allcock3N/A8-11 David Bryant3N/A6-9 Stewart Anderson3N/A328 Katherine Rednall-7-18 Nick Brett1N/A337/ David Gourlay1N/A337 Carol Ashby-3-36 Andy Thomson3N/A3-6 Darren Burnett1N/A315 Richard Corsie3N/A2-5 Greg Harlow1N/A315 Julie Forrest-3-25
See also World lawn and indoor bowls events
References
External links