The Australian contingent has enjoyed a mostly prosperous opening day at the 2025 World Cup in Malaysia with all athletes taking part in the six sessions well and truly in the mix to progress through to the knockout stages later in the week.
The Arena Lawn Bowls Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur played host to some of the world’s best across an action-packed Tuesday with women’s singles, men’s pairs and para mixed pairs taking centre stage.
Right at Home Jackaroo Kelsey Cottrell enjoyed a superb day out going unblemished from her three contests in section four, while her World Bowls Championships winning teammate Dawn Hayman won two out of her three for the afternoon.
Cottrell’s first clash against Hong Kong China’s Cheryl Chan saw her run away with the opening set 9-2 before being forced to a tiebreak by her stoic opponent.
The Queenslander rallied in the one-end tiebreak to clinch the contest 9-2 4-5 1-0 to gain vital knowledge of the greens for the week.
Up second would be Wales’ Amy Williams and this time she was on the back foot after losing the first and finding herself 1-6 down with four of the seven ends played in the second set.
Cottrell managed to roar back, winning the final three ends of the set to win it by a solitary shot before again saluting in a tiebreak, finishing with a 5-10 7-6 2-0 win.
A familiar opponent was the fixture for the concluding match of the day in the form of Canada and Club Tweed’s Emma Boyd, with the Australian again fighting off a strong challenge to record a 6-4 5-5 win to top section four with two rounds to play.
Hayman kicked off her campaign with a speed bump as Hong Kong China’s Helen Cheung was able to overcome the Australian Open singles winner 10-3 6-5.
However, as usual, Hayman wasn’t down for long with a resounding 8-5 11-3 win over Wales’ Caroline Taylor to even her ledger ahead of her final match against Canada’s Kelly McKerihen.
In one of the highlight clashes of the day, the opening set was tight with only singles scored across the first six ends before McKerihen netted a two to tie the opener.
From there it was all Hayman, who raced away to a 5-0 lead in the second and continued her form to take a 4-4 9-5 victory to sit third in section two.
The men’s pairs saw Corey Wedlock and Aaron Teys win two of their three matchups to sit in strong contention for a quarterfinal berth.
Opening the day against Hong Kong China’s James Po and By Ho Lee in a similar format to what was just played at last week’s Bowls Premier League, the Australians were ahead at the conclusion of the first five ends to take a crucial one-set lead.
Their opponents were able to gain a pivotal foothold, saving the match with a two on the final end of the second set to force a deciding end tiebreak.
However, as they have done so often, the Warilla pair managed to overcome the challenge with a 6-1 5-6 1-0 win ahead of their second game with South Africa’s Wayne Roberts and Jason Evans.
This matchup was more comfortable for the New South Welshmen, taking it 7-2 5-3 leading into a pivotal fixture against Malaysia.
Sufi Rousli and Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple posed a significant challenge to Wedlock and Teys with just singles scored in the opening set and the Australians hanging on to clinch it.
However the tied turned from there with the home nation launching into attack to score a come from behind 2-3 9-1 1-0 win to see Australia sit second in their section behind the undefeated Scotland.
Serena Bonnell and James Reynolds campaign began in solid fashion with two salutations from their three outings, starting mightily against Ireland’s Linda Walsh and Brian Smyth with a 7-1 8-2 win.
Next up would be the USA’s Desirae Lim and Khirmern Mohamadwith the Para Jackaroos again gelling perfectly to record a second successive straight sets victory with a score of 4-2 10-4.
The final clash would be against England’s Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall and John Greaves who were also undefeated.
The English pair were rampant in the first set, storming away to take it before the Bonnell and Reynolds rallied to force the one-end decider.
That fell the way of Lewis-Wall and Greaves, who finished the day unblemished with a 9-3 1-6 1-0 win with the Australians in second position in section one.
View the day one results HERE
Event details and Conditions of Play HERE
The 2025 World Cup runs from November 4-8, 2025, at the Arena Lawn Bowls Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Live streaming will take place on the World Bowls YouTube channel.
