Alison and Ian Merrien have brought home a bronze medal from the World Bowls Indoor Championships 2025.

Representing Guernsey, the pair were pitted against players from 32 countries in their Mixed Pairs and Individual competitions.

Ali Merrien topped her singles group, winning all of her games in the run up to the Quarter Finals. 

In the Quarter Final she faced eventual winner Sophie McGrouther from Scotland, who beat the Sarnian bowls star on the tiebreak. 

Ian came third in his singles group and beating New Zealand 2-0 in a play off for a place in the Quarter Final. In the QF itself, Ian faced Jason Evans of South Africa, which was a repeat of their game at the World Championships in 2022. South Africa came out on top of this one again in the tie break.

Undeterred, Ian and Ali found more success in the Mixed Pairs when they came second to Australia on a countback in their group, setting up a playoff against New Zealand. 

Ian and Ali showed their skill in this game, defeating the New Zealand pair 2-0 to reach the Quarter Final.

In this match they faced their friend – locally based Scottish International Kim Watt, who was paired with an Israeli player. 

The Guernsey pair took this one 2-0 to guarantee themselves a medal before entering the Semi Final against Lauren Gowen and Ross Owen from Wales.

The Merriens said “Gowen was on fire from the very first bowl”. 

“This pressure was relentless, but it made for good viewing,” they added.

In the end, Guernsey lost 2-0 confirming their bronze medal.

“It’s been a good week of bowls but I was slightly disappointed to go out on a tiebreak after a good run in the singles,” acknowledged Ali. 

“I’m extremely happy with a bronze in the mixed pairs, which is three medals out of three appearances together in this competition with Ian.”

Ian added that he was also proud of their “fantastic achievement” in the Mixed Pairs.

“The scorecards will remain as fact, but a better result from one or two shots could have been a different colour medal, as well as one in the singles for both of us,” he said. 

“Either way, the top eight for singles and top four in the pairs is a fantastic achievement.”