2025 World Bowls Indoor Championships: Day 3 wrap
It was another stellar performance from the Australian pairing of Kelsey Cottrell and Jack McShane at the Aberdeen Indoor Bowls Club, as the 2025 World Bowls Indoor Championships reached the halfway mark.
The day’s play saw the conclusion of sectional play in the mixed pairs discipline, with the green and gold facing off against two composite teams.
In the first match, Cottrell and McShane started strongly to defeat Pakistan’s Muhammad Ayub Qureshi and Scotland’s Lauren Roddie 6-3 7-4.
The second match proved to be more of a struggle, with the composite pairing of Sweden’s Olle Backgren and Malaysia’s Nor Farah Ain Abdullah coming out firing against the Australian duo to win the first set 4-7.
However, Cottrell and McShane steadied their nerve in the second stanza to come out on top 7-2 and send the game to a tiebreaker.
Needing to win their final match to secure top place in the section, and with scores level on the final end of the tiebreaker, McShane played the bowl of the tournament to pick up a two and claim victory.
This meant Australia finished on top of their section and will now face off with Malaysia’s Muhammad Haiqal Bin Azami and Emma Firyana Binti Saroji in the first knockout round.
After having a bye in her section yesterday, Cottrell continued her undefeated streak in the singles to remain on top in her section.
The Queenslander was in cruise control in her first match against Türkiye’s Rashan Akar, defeating her opponent in straight sets 9-4 11-3.
In a tricky matchup against Malta’s Connie Rixon, momentum shifted throughout the entire game.
Cottrell took the first set 6-3 before Rixon tied the ledger by winning the second set 4-7.
However, the Right at HomeJackarooquickly shut down any hope of the Maltese national winning the tiebreak by scoring a three in the first end.
In the end, Cottrell secured the tiebreaker 4-1.
McShane was sublime in his two singles matches, only dropping four shots for the entire day.
In an exquisite display of bowls, the Right at Home Emerging Jackaroo didn’t give Netherland’s Jan Sinnema an inch, thumping his opponent 18-0 18-0.
McShane continued his form against Pakistan’s Qureshi, who was looking for revenge for the earlier mixed pairs loss.
However, the New South Welshman was clinical in his performance, running out as 11-3 15-1 victor.
McShane currently sits in second position in his section behind Scotland’s Stewart Anderson with two rounds to go.
View the day three results and standings, and schedule HERE
The 2025 World Bowls Indoor Championships will take place on April 20-26, 2025, with live streaming to commence during knockout stages on Thursday and Friday via the World Bowls YouTube channel.
View the Programme HERE
