Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple
Thirty-four nations from around the world will compete for a world title in the men’s and women’s singles at the 2026 World Bowls Champion of Champions.
cluBarham in New South Wales, Australia, will host the prestigious global event for the second consecutive year, with 32 men and 26 women competing at one of the premier clubs in New South Wales.
The updated field will feature a total of 58 competitors, the most in the past four years, with one more nation taking part than 12 months ago.
The event brings together men and women who have all found their way to the pinnacle of their singles journey in their home countries — the best of the best among their peers.
There is also extra incentive in the form of World Bowls Series (WBS) Platinum ranking points, with players ranked inside the top 10 on October 31, 2026, having the opportunity to secure a place at the WBS Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from November 30 to December 5.
The Champion of Champions is celebrating its 22nd anniversary, having first been staged at Moama, around 190 kilometres east of cluBarham, in 2003.
Stellar field assembled for 2026
It is a strong player field for the 2026 event, including 10 athletes who represented their nations at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and will be looking to build on that momentum and keep bowls in the international spotlight.
Headlining the men’s field is World Bowls Series No. 3 Iain McLean of Scotland and No. 5 Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple of Malaysia, who was recently crowned men’s singles silver medallist at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
McLean is the highest-ranked player in the event and will be looking to regain the Champion of Champions title he won in 2014.
He arrives at cluBarham having also claimed the World Bowls Indoor Championship men’s singles title just a few months ago and currently holds both the Bowls Scotland and Scottish Indoor Bowling Association singles titles.
Dzulkeple, meanwhile, is a former WBS No. 1 and was the silver medallist at the Champion of Champions in 2022.
India’s Putul Sonowal, currently ranked No. 27, will also be making a strong bid for the title after winning men’s singles gold at the Asia Lawn Bowls Championship.
Former champion returns in women’s field
The women’s line-up features 2023 Champion of Champions winner Anne Nunes of the United States, currently ranked No. 38, who also finished runner-up in 2024.
Hong Kong, China’s Helen Cheung is the highest-ranked woman in the field at No. 8, while New Zealand’s Mandy Boyd, ranked No. 29, arrives as the current national singles and pairs champion.
Malta’s Rebecca Rixon, winner of the 2024 World Bowls Junior Indoor Championship, is also part of the field.
England’s Stef Branfield returns to the event after competing in the 2024 edition and the 2025 WBS Finals. Branfield is a World Bowls and Commonwealth Games medallist as well as an English national champion.
Canada’s Pat Bird and Joanna Cooper also arrive with a notable achievement behind them, with both having won their national singles titles in both the indoor and outdoor codes in the same season — a rare feat made even more remarkable by the fact they are husband and wife.
New representatives for defending nations
Ireland’s David Copeland and Norfolk Island’s Shae Wilson claimed the men’s and women’s Champion of Champions titles respectively in 2025.
Ireland’s Richard Leonard will represent the defending men’s champion nation this year, while Norfolk Island will be represented in the women’s event by Debra Adams.
Australia, hosting the Champion of Champions for the 10th time, will be represented by Max Kleinig and Natalie Lewis.
Champion of Champions history
Across the history of the event, 42 Champion of Champions titles have been won by players representing 14 different countries.
Australia holds the bragging rights for the most titles, with seven men’s champions and four women’s champions.
New Zealand sits second with eight titles — three men and five women — while England is third with four, made up of three men’s champions and one women’s champion.
