England’s Sam Tolchard has made an excellent start to his Champion of Champions singles campaign at Naenae BC in Wellington, New Zealand.

After two days of action the Devon-based 33-year-old heads Section One – where he is undefeated on +73 – following four impressive wins.

Tolchard recorded Day One wins over Fiji’s Kushal Pillay (11-3, 14-3) and Samoa’s Iva Lealaiauloto (17-3, 10-6) before continuing with a pair of equally commanding performances on day two when he beat Guernsey’s Steve Williams 11-4, 13-3 and Niska Benguric from South Africa 14-2, 9-2.

In Section Two, defending champion Lee Schraner from Australia is also unbeaten in his four starts where he has +101 shots.

According to World Bowls’ press release, “Avid bowls fans are salivating at the possibility of a head-on collision between the two young stars for gold.”

However, Schraner was seemingly unimpressed by this speculation and is reported to have told a local journalist: “Let’s not get carried away with this. This week’s men’s event features the national champions of 30 nations, so there’s a mountain of talent and five more days of competition to come.”

Results Round-Up

Men’s Section One:

Round One: Niksa Benguric (RSA) bt Billy Nicholls (CYP) 17-2 22-3, Gordon White (SCO) bt Edwin Nyoka (BOT) 8-6 8-5, Kelvin Scott (NZL) bt Gary McCloy (IRE) 8-5 11-8, Sam Tolchard (ENG) bt Kushal Pillay (FIJ) 11-3 14-3.

Round Two: Scott bt Cecil Alexander (FLK) 15-0 14-5, Pillay bt Benguric 7-7 7-4, Anthony Loh (SIN) bt Nyoka 11-6 11-4, Trevor Gow (NFI) bt Steve Williams (GUE) 8-5 14-2.

Round Three: Gow bt Alexander 6-10 9-8 4-0, Tolchard bt Iva Lealaiauloto (SAM) 17-3 10-6, Williams bt McCloy 9-5 6-15 4-2, Loh bt Matt Mercer (ZAM) 3-12 12-7 2-1, Nicholls bt White 7-9 12-4 3-2.

Round Four: Iva Lealaiauloto (SAM) bt Anthony Loh (SIN) 8-7 5-10 6-0, Kelvin Scott (NZL) bt Billy Nicholls (CYP) 16-5 10-4, Niksa Benguric (RSA) bt Matt Mercer (ZAM) 8-7 12-6, Kushal Pillay (FIJ) bt Trevor Gow (NFI) 8-5 8-4, Sam Tolchard (ENG) bt Steve Williams (GUE) 11-4 13-3.

Round Five: Tolchard bt Benguric 14-2 9-2, Gordon White (SCO) bt Lealaiauloto 11-7 16-4, Cecil Alexander (FLK) bt Edwin Nyoka (BOT) 9-5 10-2, Gow bt Nicholls 19-4 12-4.

Round Six: Gary McCloy (IRE) bt Alexander 9-9 12-2, White bt Mercer 20-1 9-8, Nyoka bt Williams 7-8 10-6 5-3, Scott bt Pillay 7-4 5-8 5-1.

Section One Table:
Tolchard 12 points +73 shots, Scott 12 +47, White 9 +35, Loh 9 +18.8, Gow 9 +28, McCloy 6 +26.5, Benguric 6 +19, Pillay 6 -9, Lealaiauloto 6 -20, Alexander 3 -19, Mercer 3 -9.5, Nyoka 3 -24, Williams 3 -42, Nicholls 3 -68.

Section Two Table:
Schraner 12 points +101 shots, James 12 +19, Aperau 9 +16.5, Herbert +3.8, Dzulkeple 6 +28, Cheung 6 +2, Bäckgren 6 -3, Waelti 6 -22, Krahenbuhl 6 -1, Pavelka 6 -23, Davis 3 +5.5, Tafatu 3 -36, Leong 3 -13, Amar 3 -46.

England’s Stef Branfield who is the reigning European champion, has won just one of her four starts, but retains hopes of reaching the final six at completion of the qualifying stage.

Australia’s Carla Krizanic, the recently retired Commonwealth and world champion, has taken the lead in the women’s competition, being one of three unbeaten contenders, the others being Mel Thomas from Wales and USA’s Anne Nunes.

Women:

Round One: Esmé Haley (RSA) bt Petal Jones (NFI) 11-6 9-10 5-4, Marea Modutlwa (BOT) bt Daphne Arthur-Almond (FLK) 12-4 3-8 2-1, Carla Krizanic (AUS) bt Diana Viljoen (NAM) 9-4 7-6, Anne Nunes (USA) bt Stef Branfield (ENG) 13-5 13-2, Mel Thomas (WAL) bt Nooroa Mataio (CKI) 7-6 10-7.

Round Two: Thomas bt Branfield 17-1 6-14 2-1, Krizanic bt Modutlwa 21-1 7-6, Nunes bt Jennifer McClure (IRE) 6-8 9-6 3-1, Tayla Bruce (NZL) bt Elly Dolieslager (NED) 13-3 16-1.

Round Three: Jones bt McClure 9-3 9-5, Ain Tarmizi (MAS) bt Haley 7-7 12-5, Dolieslager bt Arthur-Almond 4-13 12-7 4-0.

Round Four: Carla Krizanic (AUS) bt Elly Dolieslager (NED) 6-10 15-2 6-0, Anne Nunes (USA) bt Nooroa Mataio (CKI) 4-14 8-6 4-0, Ain Tarmizi (MAS) bt Jennifer McClure (IRE) 12-7 3-9 5-0, Marea Modutlwa (BOT) bt Diana Viljoen (NAM) 8-5 7-10 2-1.

Round Five: Mataio bt Petal Jones (NFI) 2-12 9-4 5-0, Mel Thomas (WAL) bt Viljoen 9-8 14-2, Stef Branfield (ENG) bt Tarmizi 5-10 8-6 4-3, Tayla Bruce (NZL) bt Esmé Haley (RSA) 13-2 9-10 2-1.

Round Six: Jones bt Branfield 10-4 7-6, Haley bt Daphne Arthur-Almond (FLK) 12-4 11-5, McClure bt Bruce 8-7 8-4, Dolieslager bt Modutlwa 7-9 9-5 3-2.

Table:
Krizanic 12 points +43 shots, Thomas 12 +28, Nunes 12 +15.8, Tarmizi 9 +23.5, Bruce 9 +34.3, Jones 6 +18, Haley 6 +1, Mataio 6 +13.5, Modutlwa 6 -20, Dolieslager 6 -36, McClure 3 -5, Arthur-Almond 3 -9.3, Viljoen 3 -14.7, Branfield 3 -40.