BOWLS and professional boxing, it seems, have something in common – a proliferation of governing bodies, with a confusing array of world championships – and three Jersey bowlers have recently been going for one of them, the WBL (World Bowls Limited) title in Australia.

Michael Cochrane, who came close to qualifying for the quarter finals of the WBL men’s junior singles World Cup at Warilla in New South Wales, was unfortunately beaten by a couple of world stars in his last two group games.

Malta’s Shaun Parnis, who excelled at the Commonwealth Games, and Canadian Ryan Bester, who picked up the singles bronze in Melbourne, inflicted straight-sets defeats on Cochrane, who played well in both games.

Cochrane was unlucky to be edged into fifth place in his group, level on points with Australia’s Commonwealth Games star Barrie Lester, but adrift on sets wins.

In the senior men’s event, Derek Boswell, who lost his first four matches, defeated John Alderson, from the Isle of Man, in his last group game, and won all three of his matches in the positional play-offs.

His efforts enabled him to finish 17th overall, ahead of England skip Graham Shadwell, whose scalp he took in the play-offs.

Christine Grimes completed her group programme with a win over Hong Kong’s Anna Luk, then clinched second place in the positional play-offs to finish 14th overall in the ladies’ event.