2016 world open singles champion Nick Brett is keen to return to the winners’ enclosure at Potters Resort, with promising opportunities in all three events that he is competing in this year.
In addition to the blue ribbon singles event, Brett will once again partner Greg Harlow in the open pairs as they look to replicate their successes of 2014 and 2020, while also teaming up with Nicole Rogers in the mixed pairs for the first time.
“I’m playing alright at the moment and was pleased with my performance recently at the Scottish Open,” Brett told Bowls International ahead of the World Indoor Championships.
“I lost on the last bowl of a tie break to Stewart [Anderson] who obviously went on to win it.
“You can’t guarantee you’re going to be brilliant all of the time, but all in all I’m pretty happy with how my form is.
“It would be nice to win another world title that’s for sure and I’ve got three chances at it with really good partners in both of thepairs events.
“Ultimately everyone’s aim in the competition is to win the singles each year, but that’s not an easy task. First port of call is to win another world title though.”
Brett will face former top-16 bowler Jonathan Ross in the opening round at Potters Resort, with the Northern Irishman coming through the keenly contested Belfast qualifier.
“It’s always good to see former top-16 players want to get back and qualify for the world championships. It definitely won’t be easy as he has so much experience of playing there so there’s no advantage for me at all and I’m certainly going to have to play my ‘A game’ to beat him.”
ONE GAME AT A TIME
The Huntingdon native, who is expected to be one of the bookies favourites for the title, is situated in a tricky quarter of the draw which also features David Gourlay MBE, Sam Tolchard, Mark Dawes and Michael Stepney, but Brett insists that he doesn’t look too far ahead.
“I do take each game at a time, but from the outset of the World Indoor Championships at Potters you know if you’re going to be red or green in advance and you know what the schedule is of your games in advance,” he said.
“You can’t obviously plan your opponents all of the time, but you are able to plan your practise times and things like that.
“At the recent Scottish Open which was an open draw each round, you could be drawn to play right there right then, or your match might not be until the following day.
“At Potters, the green changes depending on if you’re playing in the morning or evening, so you certainly get the preparation time because you know when you’re going to be playing furtherin advance.”
Also in the same quarter of the draw as Brett is Aussie Sean Mawdsley, a former New South Wales Under 18 gold medallist and Bowls Australia’s Under 18 male bowler of the year award winner just over a decade ago.
“It’s massive to have overseas representation at the event,” said Brett.
“We want to attract a worldwide audience and all of the best players from all over the world competing at the event. World championships should be exactly that – the best players from all over the world.”
Mawdsley will be somewhat of an unknown quantity to UK viewers of the event, who will be more familiar with Australia’s Commonwealth Games stars such as Aaron Wilson, Barrie Lester and Ellen Ryan.
“I don’t know the exact reason why they don’t play,” said Brett.
“Perhaps it’s a busy calendar for them and they have bigger fish to fry back home.
“The standard of the Aussies in the last few events has been really good, but I don’t know what needs to be done to get their elite squad playing in the event – whether that is financial or just commitment time.
“The two Aussie qualifiers at the Scottish Open were both relatively unknown but both did very well. The young lad [Jack East] in particular played fantastic from what I saw.”
PARTNER PLAUDITS
The mixed pairs sees Brett and Rogers face Stewart Anderson and Ceri Ann Glen in their quarter-final clash in the mixed pairs, but Brett is looking forward to playing with Rogers for the first time.
“I’ve seen a lot of Nicole over the years in junior teams and trials and she’s certainly won a lot of stuff over the recent past so I’m looking forward to teaming up with her and hopefully I can play my part and get to a final and beyond.
“She’ll know what bowls to pick and what the surface is like and what to expect when she gets there with that experience and she’s quite a relaxed person so she’ll just go out there and play her game, I’m sure of that.
“She beat a very strong field at the Huntingdon qualifier for the ladies matchplay at Potters and she played very well to get past some very good players in good form.”
The highlight of the indoor bowls calendar, Potters Resort at Hopton-on-Sea, Norfolk, will be hosting bowls’ biggest tournament for the 25th year running, as the world’s best players compete for the most prestigious titles in the sport over 17 days of championship action.
The full daily schedule and draws can be found at the following links:
World Indoor Championships preview
World Indoor Open Singles draw
World Indoor Ladies Matchplay draw
World Indoor Under 25 Singles draw
We will be posting regular updates throughout the championships on our website and social media channels. Make sure you follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date.
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