Iain Donald Smith McLean (born 8 October 1983) is a Scottish international
lawn bowler
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...
. He reached a career high ranking of world number 3 in December 2024.
Bowls career
McLean won a bronze medal in the
fours at the
2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship
The 2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at the Burnside Bowling Club in Avonhead, Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban a ...
in Christchurch, with
Alex Marshall,
Paul Foster and
Ronnie Duncan
Ronald Duncan (born 22 September 1983) is a Scottish international lawn bowler.
Bowls career
He won the indoor National Pairs Championship in 2014, partnering Colin Walker. During the 2016 World Indoor Bowls Championship pairs they were b ...
.
In 2013, he won the
Hong Kong International Bowls Classic
The Hong Kong International Bowls Classic is a highly prestigious event in the lawn bowls calendar. It began as a men's pairs competition in 1981, with a men's singles event added in 1983. In 2008, the program was expanded to include singles an ...
pairs title with Robert Grant and he also won the gold medal at the 2015
World Cup Singles
World Cup Singles
The World Cup Singles was an event inaugurated in 2005 by the organisation known as World Bowls and was held until 2019. It was contested annually between bowlers from national bowls organisations. The competition was seen as th ...
in Warilla,
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and in 2014 he became the World Singles Champion of Champions defeating
Fairus Jabal of Malaysia in the final.
He won the singles at the
Scottish National Bowls Championships
The Scottish National Bowls Championships is one of the oldest bowls competitions in the world. In 1892, James Brown of Sanquhar Bowling Club and Dr Clark of the Partick Bowling Club formed the Scottish Bowls Association and organised the first ...
in both 2013 and 2015, when bowling for Blackwood Victoria BC.
In 2022, he competed in the
men's singles and the
men's triples at the
2022 Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...
. After winning his singles section he went on to win the bronze medal play off defeating
Fairul Izwan Abd Muin
Fairul Izwan Abdul Muin (born 3 November 1982) is a Malaysian lawn bowler.
Bowls career World Championships
Muin won a pairs bronze medal at the 2008 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2020 he was selected for th ...
.
In 2023, he was selected as part of the team to represent Scotland at the
2023 World Outdoor Bowls Championship
The 2023 World Outdoor Bowls Championship is the 14th edition of the World Bowls Championship, held on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia from 29 August to 10 September.
The event was long-awaited by the sport because the 2020 World Out ...
. He participated in the
men's singles and the
men's pairs events. In the pairs with
Jason Banks, they won their group undefeated but were then knocked out in the quarter finals by Australia and one week later in the singles, he won a bronze medal after reaching the semi final stage, where he lost to
Ryan Bester
Ryan George Peter Bester (born 7 December 1984 in Hanover, Canada) is a Canadian lawn bowler.
Bowls career World Outdoor Championships
Bester won the gold medal in the pairs with Keith Roney at the 2004 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in A ...
.
In 2024, McLean won his third national singles title, which equalled the all-time record of four other bowlers,
Robert Sprot,
David Dall,
Joseph Black
Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a British physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glasgow ...
and
Darren Burnett
Darren William Burnett (born 27 May 1976 in Arbroath) is a Scottish lawn bowler and indoor bowler.
Bowls career Commonwealth Games
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he won a gold medal in men's singles after defeating Canada's Ryan Bester. In ...
. Later that year in November, McLean won the
Hong Kong International Bowls Classic
The Hong Kong International Bowls Classic is a highly prestigious event in the lawn bowls calendar. It began as a men's pairs competition in 1981, with a men's singles event added in 1983. In 2008, the program was expanded to include singles an ...
singles and pairs events (the latter with
Darren Gualtieri
Darren Gualtieri (born 26 March 1990) is a Scottish international lawn and indoor bowler. He reached a career high ranking of world number 10 in March 2025.
Bowls Career
Gualtieri reached the semifinal of the SIBA national singles in 2013, ...
).
County, national and world honours
Outdoor representing Blackwood Victoria BC
*Lanarkshire Singles Championship 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2023
*Lanarkshire Champion of Champions 2004, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 & 2023
*Scottish Junior Singles Champion 2002 & 2007
*Scottish Singles Champion 2013, 2015 & 2024
*World Singles Champion of Champions 2014
Indoor representing Blantyre MW
*SIBA Junior Singles Champion 2007
*SIBA Mixed Pairs Champion 2024
*SIBA 2 Bowl Pairs Champion 2009 & 2023
*SIBA Singles Champion 2007, 2012 & 2014
*SIBA Triples Champion 2011, 2014, 2020 & 2022
*SIBA Fours Champion 2006, 2017, 2022 & 2023
*BIBC Singles Champion 2007
*BIBC Triples Champion 2012 & 2022
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Iain
1983 births
Living people
Scottish male bowls players
Bowls European Champions
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Scotland
Bowls players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
21st-century Scottish sportsmen
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in lawn bowls