John Bell (bowls)

John Bell

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	(1947-01-14) 14 January 1947 (age 78)
Sport
Sport	Lawn bowls
Club	Wigton BC (outdoors) Cumbria BC (indoors)
Medal record Representing   England World Outdoor Championships 1980 Melbourne Men's team 1984 Aberdeen Men's fours 1988 Auckland Men's team 1988 Auckland Men's triples 1988 Auckland Men's fours 1996 Adelaide Men's fours British Isles Championships 1984 singles 1992 pairs 1992 triples

John Nicholson Bell (born 14 January 1947) is a former English lawn and indoor bowler, commentator and World Bowls President. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Bowls career

World Championships

Bell won his first gold medal as part of the England team that won the team event (Leonard Cup) at the 1980 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Melbourne. ^[4] Four years later he won another gold at the 1984 World Outdoor Bowls Championships. ^[5] Following a team gold and double bronze in the triples and fours at the 1988 Auckland Bell won a fourth gold medal in the fours with Andy Thomson, Brett Morley and David Cutler at the 1996 World Outdoor Bowls Championship. ^[6]

Commonwealth Games

Bell represented England at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in the fours at the 1994 Commonwealth Games ^[7] and the fours at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. ^[8]

National

Bell made his first appearance in the National Championships at Mortlake in 1966 when he was just 18. He won National Championship titles in the singles in 1983, ^[9] the triples in 1976 ^[10] and pairs ^[11] and triples in 1991. ^[12] He also won the singles at the British Isles Bowls Championships in 1984. ^{[13] [14]} In 2016, he won the senior pairs title.

He bowled for the Wigton Club (outdoors) and the Cumbria Club in Carlisle (indoors). ^[15] In the mid-1980s he joined the BBC bowls commentary team. ^[4]

Business career

Bell was the Head of Tourism for Carlisle City Council. ^[3] He was appointed as the President of World Bowls on 6 December 2012, a position he held until 2021. ^{[2] [3] [16]}

References

1. "Profile". Bowls Tawa.
2. "Board Structure". World Bowls. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
3. "Inside Bowls August 2021". Inside Bowls. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
4. Newby, Donald (1987). Daily Telegraph Bowls Yearbook 88. Telegraph Publications. ISBN   0-86367-220-5.
5. "Gordon Allan. "Bowls." Times [London, England] 28 July 1984". The Times .
6. "David Rhys Jones. "Successful defence puts Allcock on top of the world." Times [London, England] 1 Apr. 1996". The Times .
7. "Athletes and Results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
8. "1998 Athletes". Team England.
9. "Bell's On" . Daily Mirror. 20 August 1983. Retrieved 19 August 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Sheene admits it's gloomy" . The People. 15 August 1976. Retrieved 25 August 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Bowls" . Kent Evening Post. 22 August 1991. Retrieved 22 August 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Past Records". Bowls England.
13. "Previous Winners". British Isles Bowls Council.
14. Sullivan, Patrick (1986). Guinness Bowls Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN   0-85112-414-3.
15. Warters, Bob (1984). Fifth World Bowls Championship Official Souvenir. Key Publishing Ltd.
16. "AUSTRALIA'S DARRYL CLOUT ELECTED WORLD BOWLS PRESIDENT". Bowls Australia. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2022.