2025 World Bowls Indoor Championships: Day 1 wrap

by Connor Munnings on April 21, 2025

It was a flawless opening day for Australians Kelsey Cottrell and Jack McShane at the 2025 World Bowls Indoor Championships at Aberdeen Indoor Bowls Club in Scotland.

Qualifying for the tournament after conquering last year’s Australian Indoor Championships, the duo have shown why they are a force to be reckoned with after going unbeaten across all three disciplines.

The day commenced with the mixed pairs and the Cottrell McShane combination were pitted against the Norfolk Island team of Shae Wilson and Tom Sheridan.

The Norfolk Island pair gained the ascendancy early in the first set scoring two on three ends in a row before the Australians clawed it back with a four and a five to win the set 13-6.

Cottrell and McShane continued with their momentum in the second set, only dropping one end to run out 12-2 victors.

In the second mixed pairs match of the day, Cottrell and McShane squared off against the formidable Guernsey pairing of Alison and Ian Merrien.

However, the green and gold duo were unfazed during the encounter to win in straight sets 13-2 7-2.

After day one, the Australian pairing have a demanding lead in their section with three games to play.

Cottrell, who was the 2023 mixed pairs champion at the event, played two singles matches for the day and was in exquisite form.

Going up against Canada’s Linda Ng in her first match, the Queenslander was never troubled in defeating her opponent in straight sets 17-0 11-3.

In her second singles match, Cottrell started strongly against USA’s Giulia Gallo to win the first set 10-2.

After a fast start by the Right at Home Jackaroo in the second set to lead by five shots, Gallo rallied late to tie the set 6-6, but it wasn’t enough to send the game to a tiebreaker.

Cottrell currently sits on top of her section with five rounds to go.

Right at Home Emerging Jackaroo McShane just had the solitary singles match against Hong Kong China’s Anthony So, in what was to be a tight contest.

Going end for end, McShane narrowly took out the first set 6-4 before So fought back in the second set.

However, the young Australian superstar, who is also the youngest competitor in the field, held his nerve to tie the set 5-5 and win his opening singles round.

View the day one 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.