British Isles Bowls Championships

British Isles Bowls Championships
Tournament information
SportLawn bowls
Establishedmen (1960)
women (1972)
WebsiteBritish Isles Bowls Council

The British Isles Bowls Championships is a tournament held between the champions of their respective nations, from England, Scotland, Wales, a combined Ireland, and more recently Guernsey and Jersey. It was first held in 1960 although the triples event did not start until 1977.[1][2][3]

The women's events started in June 1972, with the triples starting in 1982.[1] The first women's singles winner was Lilian Nicholas of Wales.[4] The first men's singles winner was Kenneth Coulson of England and the legendary David Bryant MBE holds the record for the most singles titles with four.[5]

The tournament is held the year after each of the National champions have been crowned.[1] The 2020 edition was initially cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic but because there were no National Championships held during 2020 (also due to the pandemic) the 2020 edition was rescheduled for 2021.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Sullivan, Patrick (1986). Guinness Bowls Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-414-3.
  2. ^ Hawkes/Lindley, Ken/Gerard (1974). the Encyclopaedia of Bowls. Robert Hale and Company. ISBN 0-7091-3658-7.
  3. ^ "Big bowls festival begins tomorrow". Belfast Telegraph. 4 July 1960. p. 14. Retrieved 10 April 2021 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ ""Bowls." Times, 23 June 1972, p. 13". The Times. Times Digital Archives. 23 June 1972. p. 13.
  5. ^ "Previous Winners". British Isles Bowls Council. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  6. ^ "STATEMENT: BRITISH ISLES BOWLS COUNCIL". Bowls England. 10 June 2020.