Sam Harvey beats Dom Reed 11-3 to claim his maiden SMPT title!

James Trott claims the Bronze over Stuart McSorley while Tony Bell wins the Plate over Mark Beattie. James Bucknall takes the Shield against Kirsty Hatch.

Follow all the action from the 2017 UK Open from the Falcon Bowling and Social Club.

Ireland have successfully defended their title in the 2017 Bowls Trader World Cup after defeating England 4-2 in a closely fought final.

On the weekend of the 19th and 20th of August the SMPT heads to its new home venue of Falcon Bowling and Social Club in Chelmsford, England for the UK Open. Which one of the I86 players from 13 nations will ultimately prevail and become the 2017 Champion?

Friday, August the 18th sees the start of the new SMPT season and as usual kicks off with the Bowls Trader World Cup at the Falcon Indoor Bowls Club in Chelmsford, England.

The Short Mat Players Tour would like to thank all the sponsors of this year’s Bowls Trader World Cup which takes place at Falcon Bowling and Social Club on Friday 18th August 2017. In addition to the title sponsors, Bowls Trader, we would like to thank the following team sponsors for their support: Raw Electrical Ltd, BPM Engineering Ltd, Gwrhyd Specialist Stone Quarry and Skien Fritidspark.

The SMPT Show Mat concept was first introduced at the World Masters in 2015 to enable the optimal viewing of special games. The Show Mat has since been used at many events including the Irish Open, Swedish Masters and Norwegian Open. Thanks to our new larger venue, this season's UK Open will also have a Show Mat and as usual a game from each session has been selected which we believe deserves to take centre stage!

The Bowls Trader World Cup & UK Open draws have now been made.

The World Rankings are based on the ranking points earned by players over a rolling 12 event period. Therefore the World Rankings represent performances across a minimum of 1 event and a maximum of 12 events.

We are pleased to confirm that the Potters Grand Prix will be staged for a second time next summer, with the International Arena at Norfolk’s Potters Resort taking centre stage on the 14th and 15th July 2018.

The schedule for the Bowls Trader World Cup 2017 is now confirmed, as detailed below. The venue, Falcon Bowling & Social Club in Chelmsford, will be open to players and spectators from 10am on Friday 18th August.

With the increasing popularity of our pairs events, next season the Short Mat Players Tour is launching a new Pairs World Ranking system.

Alex Kley & Jack Pye have won the Potters Grand Prix pairs after beating Jonathan & Dimitri Payne 12-4 in the final.

The Short Mat Players Tour is excited to announce the launch of a new team competition to be held at Belfast Indoor Bowls Club in Northern Ireland, at the end of the 2017-18 season.

We are delighted to confirm that the Welsh Grand Prix will once again be staged at Cardiff Bowling Club next season, on the weekend of the 24th-25th March 2018.

The nominations for the 2016-17 Players' Player Of The Season award included two Belgians, six Englishmen, six Irish players, two Swedes, a Welshman and a Scotsman. The votes have all been counted and we can now confirm the top three!

The 2017-18 season brings a new event at a new location on the Short Mat Players Tour. The British Open will be the fourth world ranking event and it will be staged in the beautiful city of York, a popular tourist destination.

If you’re thinking of visiting Belfast next season for the Irish Open or World Masters why not consider the two and three bedroom self-catering accommodation located a 25 minute drive from the Irish Open and World Masters venue at Belfast Indoor Bowls Club.

Entries to the Taylor Bowls World Fours Masters and the Taylor Bowls World Pairs Masters open on Thursday 1 June at 6pm.

Congratulations to 14 year old Jonas Hager of Sweden who is the SMPT's Young Player of The Season 2016-17. Jonas, who will be presented with the Ryan O'Neill Award later in the summer, claims the title won last year by Belgium’s Sibe Laureys, by virtue of finishing the season as the highest placed under 18 in the Order of Merit. Sweden's Victor Andersson was in second position with Alex Kley of England finishing third.