Format

2022 Format

Groups

The nine participating nations will be divided into three groups. Each group will contain three countries.

The draw will be seeded, with the combined ranking points of each nation’s top four players at the end of the 2019-20 season used to determine each nation’s seeding.

The team ranked first at the end of the season will be seed 1 and will be in Group A. The second and third seeds will be in Group B and Group C. The remaining six teams will be split into two pots and will be drawn alternatively, with the first team drawn from each pot placed in Group A and the second team drawn from each pot placed in Group B and then the third team into Group C, until the three groups are complete.

Games

Each team will see its players play in a pre-determined order. The top ranked player in the team will be player one, the second ranked player will be player two and so on.

All games will be played in the following format:
Player 1 v Player 1
Player 2 v Player 2
Player 3 v Player 3
Player 4 v Player 4

In every game the teams are competing for the six points on offer. Each player will earn one point for their team by winning their own match, therefore a total of four points will be awarded for individual player wins. A drawn match will result in half a point awarded to both players. An additional two points will be awarded to the team with the highest aggregate shot difference from across all four matches.

Group positions will be determined by the following: points, mats won, shot difference, shots for, head to head.

Knockout Stages

The winners from each group will qualify for the semi-finals plus the best runner-up from the three groups.

The draw for the Knockout Stages is pre-determined. The winner of Group A will play the best runner-up unless the runner-up is from Group A, they will then face the winner of Group B. The two remaining group winners will the play each other.

Should any game in the knockout stages end in a 3-3 tie, each mat will play a tie-break based on that used in SMPT ranking events.

Official Sponsors
Bowls Trader
Nordic Caravan
Crowne Plaza Belfast
Bowls is Bowls
Techniheat Plant Services