The World Bowls Series’ first ranking list of 2025 has two brand new No 1 players.

Scotland’s Jason Banks heads the men’s ranking list for the first time following his phenomenal achievement in winning four of the World Bowls Tour’s events – Scottish International Open and Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Bowls Championships open singles, open pairs and mixed pairs at Potters Resort in Hopton-on-Sea.

The 28-year-old rockets from 24th place to the leader’s spot with 935 points – a commanding 151 points clear of his nearest rival the inaugural No 1 Aron Sherriff, of Australia, who is second on 781.

Also making the top 10 for the first time are Australia’s Joseph Clarke, 19, who won gold in the men’s fours at the Oceania Challenge, as well as winning the City of Dubbo Fours and the Australian Open pairs and Scotland’s Darren Gualtieri who won the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic men’s pairs with Ian McLean who lies in seventh place.

Malaysia’s Nor Farrah Ain Abdullah, winner of the World Bowls Indoor Championships women’s singles, claims the No 1 female ranking position for the first time following her performances at the Lion City Cup and Hong Kong International Bowls Classic. She is 40 points in front of Scotland’s Julie Forrest who moves up five places to second after winning the Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Bowls Championships ladies’ match-play. Inaugural No 1, Australia’s Kelsey Cottrell, who was a member of the Gold Coast Hawks who won Bowls Australia’s BPL21, is just eight points adrift in third place.

Joining the top 10 in the latest list to be revealed are Cottrell’s fellow Jackaroos Chloe Stewart (No 7) and Dawn Hayman (No 9), while sandwiched between them is South Africa’s Esme Kruger who won a gold medal at the South African Masters. Laura Butler, Switzerland, is No 10.

Players will be keenly following the rankings this season with the prospect of the season ending World Bowls Series finals, to be held in December 2025, for the 12 top ranked women and men respectively. The hosts for the finals are currently being finalised along with an exciting prize package for the winners. There are also several other initiatives planned to facilitate financial return opportunities for WBS participants.

Events included in the latest ranking list include Singapore’s Lion City Cup, Hong Kong International Bowls Classic, Oceania Challenge, Scottish International Open, Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Bowls Championships, South African Masters and Bowls Australia’s BPL21.

The World Bowls Series, launched in 2024, is the official year-long calendar of sanctioned events connecting to the official world rankings. It is a joint venture between World Bowls and Tier 5 Ventures. The sanctioned events occur across the globe and will feature a mixture of existing and new events.

The 2025 calendar has just been launched and sees 30 sanctioned events. Each WBS event will belong to a different tier having different ranking points based on the size, location, and stature it presents for the sport.

The purpose of WBS is to build the profile and brand of bowls, showcase the best players in the game and increase their earnings potential, accelerate the legitimacy of the sport on the global stage and launch world rankings that will help create clarity and interest in the sport of bowls.

There have so far been three men’s No 1 ranked players – Aron Sherriff (Australia), Izzat Shameer Dzukelple (Malaysia) and Stewart Anderson (Scotland), while holding the kudos as women’s No 1’s have been Kelsey Cottrell (Australia) and Kelly McKerihen (Canada).

A para ranking list is to be launched in the coming weeks.

See World Bowls Series website for more information.

Male rankings:  Here

Female Rankings: Here

For more information regarding the World Bowls Series, contact: Neil Dalrymple, CEO, World Bowls, [email protected]

Ceris Hewlings, World Bowls media officer