High Performance

2025 IBF World Championships – Team Australia: Day 1 Preview

By Matt Stevens

November 25, 2025

2025 IBF World Championships – Top Bowl, Kowloon, Hong Kong

The 2025 IBF World Championships officially came to life last night as 32 nations were welcomed at a vibrant Opening Ceremony at Top Bowl. Colour, music, and energy filled the venue as athletes from around the world stepped into 12 days of elite competition.

The Opening Ceremony set the perfect stage for the Championships, blending tradition, colour and spectacle. The famous Hong Kong dragon made multiple vibrant appearances, weaving through the venue in striking puppet form. Adding a uniquely modern twist, the crowd was also treated to robotic pets dressed as dragons, roaming the floor and delighting teams with their playful movements. It was a celebration that captured Hong Kong’s rich culture and its futuristic flair, the ideal launch to twelve days of world-class bowling.

Team Australia has spent the past few days settling into Hong Kong after arriving on Friday, using both unofficial and official practice sessions to fine-tune their reactions on the championship lanes. Confidence is growing across the group and today, the big show begins.

The opening event of the Championships is the Men’s Singles, with all three qualifying squads taking place across Day 1.

👀What to Watch Today

Six Aussies make their World Championships Singles debut, spread across three squads.
Cut line pressure – Only the Top 32 advance after today’s six-game blocks.

🎳Singles Event – Format Overview

Round 1- Qualification

All six athletes in each team will bowl six games in one block across 12 lanes. Each game shall be played on a different pair of lanes.

Round 2 – Top 32

The Top 32 athletes in the final standing after round 1 will qualify for the second round. They will be divided into 4 groups of 8 athletes by seeding and evenly.
Athletes will bowl 7 games round robin and will be awarded 3 points for a win, and 1 point for a draw

Semi-Finals

The winner of each group will proceed to the semi-finals, they will be seeded according to their points in Round 2.
SF1 – 1v4
SF2 – 2v3
Best of three games. The winners will proceed to the finals.
The losers of the semi-finals will each be awarded bronze medals

Finals

Winner from each semi-final will proceed to the finals
Final: Winner of SF1 vs Winner of SF2
Best of three games.

🧪 Oil Pattern

The championships are conducted on the 46 feet oil pattern – 2025 IBF World Championships

OIL PATTERN

🗓️Tuesday 25 November 2025 – Day Schedule (AEST)

(The times below are AEST e.g. Brisbane. Hong Kong is 2 hours behind Brisbane)

09:30-11:00 – Lane Maintenance
11:00-11:10 – Warm Up
11:10-14:30 – Men Singles Qualifying Squad 1 (6 Games)
14:30-15:30 – Lane Maintenance
15:30-15:40 – Warm Up
15:40-19:00 – Men Singles Qualifying Squad 2 (6 Games)
19:00-20:00 – Lane Maintenance
20:00-20:10 – Warm Up
20:10-23:30 – Men Singles Qualifying Squad 3 (6 Games)

🇦🇺 Australian Schedule – Men’s Singles (AEST)

11:10-14:30 – Men Singles Qualifying Squad 1 (6 Games)
- Julian Dinham and Jackson Buckingham
- Lanes 19, 15, 9, 27, 25, 17
15:40-19:00 – Men Singles Qualifying Squad 2 (6 Games)
- Jordan Dinham and Blake Walsh
- Lanes 26, 30, 8, 18, 20, 28
20:10-23:30 – Men Singles Qualifying Squad 3 (6 Games)
- Luke Doyle and Jesse Ellis
- Lanes 16, 20, 26, 8, 10, 18