ABBEYVIEW Bowling Club is preparing to host some of the sports top names when a prestigious series comes to West Fife.

The Dunfermline based club will be the venue for the 2023 British Isles Indoor Bowls Council (BIIBC) International Series, which began today (Friday), and runs until Saturday March 18.

Three separate competitions – the ladies international series, the British Isles Championships, and the gents international series – will take place, featuring bowlers and teams from Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.

Around 500 people per day will be able to take in the action, which will see the likes of Alex 'Tattie' Marshall and Paul Foster, amongst others, compete for prizes.

In the ladies international series, which takes place from tomorrow until Sunday, Scotland are defending champions, having lifted the trophy in Belfast last year, with their team featuring four West Fife stars.

Abbeyview's Sophie McGrouther, Lynn Lees and Kara Lees, and Sarah Jane Ewing, a member of Abbeyview for outdoor bowls, but a member of Headwell Bowling Club for indoor, were all part of the successful squad that won each of their matches.

Following that success, Sarah, who won Commonwealth Games gold last year in her role as a director in the B2/B3 classification mixed pairs, said: "It would be lovely to compete for Scotland in my home town in the club I learned to play bowls in, in front of my family and friends.

"It would be quite nice to play in a home event. I've never actually represented Scotland, indoors, at the senior level, in Scotland. I played in Wales, England and Belfast, but I've never actually had a home game!

"It is proper home as it's in Dunfermline."

Stuart Roxburgh, Abbeyview's club secretary, said: "Without the support of Fife Council, we wouldn't be able to do it.

"We're catering for 500 people a day. It's the first major event in Scotland, since COVID-19, in the bowls. I was at Paisley in 2018 when they held it and, the Scotland v England game on the Saturday, you couldn't shift your arms above your head!

"It's got all the top players in Britain playing. You've got your English champions, and Tattie Marshall, Paul Foster. You've got the two boys that played the world final at Potters in January who are both playing; one plays for Scotland, one plays for England.

"All the top names in men's and women's bowls is playing there."

For more details on the event, which will see the British Isles Championships take place from Monday (March 13) to Wednesday (March 15), followed by the gents international series from next Thursday (March 16) to Saturday (March 18), visit Abbeyview Bowling Club's Facebook page.