Gibraltar compete at IBF World Cup in Munich

Gibraltar was represented by a four-man team at the 2026 IBF World Cup in Munich earlier this month, with Anthony Galea, Jamie Hickey, Michael Wood and Dion Webber competing in the men's singles event. Gibraltar did not field a women's team.

The tournament featured 44 federations in the men's division and 26 in the women's division, with 176 men and 104 women competing.

The four Gibraltar representatives competed across the opening two rounds. Hickey recorded the strongest individual finish among the Gibraltar players in Round One, placing 10th in his pool of 12. Galea finished 11th in his pool, while Wood and Webber also competed in their respective groups.

The competition brought together players from across the world, with the federation leaderboard following Round One determining the groups for the second round.

Sweden topped the federation leaderboard after the opening round, ahead of Hong Kong, China, and Singapore. Gibraltar finished 47th in the standings, with eight wins, one tie and 35 defeats from 44 matches, accumulating 25 points.

In the second round, Gibraltar competed in Group B, where Hong Kong, China, topped the standings with nine wins from 11 matches. The Czech Republic finished second, followed by Canada and Macao, China, with the top four progressing to the Last 16.

Gibraltar finished 12th in the group, recording no wins from 11 matches.

The tournament concluded with a final between Australia and France. Australia made a strong start, but France recovered to take a 2-1 lead before Australia levelled the contest. The deciding game settled the final, with a score of 204 against 163 giving France the victory by three games to two.

Gibraltar's participation provided its players with experience against international opposition at a major competition, offering an opportunity to measure themselves against bowlers from a wide range of federations.

Gibraltar's standings

Men's singles – Round One

Group A – Pool 4, Lanes 13–24

Tobias Börding (Germany) – 2206

Lukas Jelinek (Czech Republic) – 2313

Konstantinos-Marios Kitsos (Greece) – 2203

Andrew Anderson (United States) – 2177

Tuna Böncü (Türkiye) – 2164

Marc Dylan Custodio (Philippines) – 2072

Ruben Orche Rodriguez (Spain) – 2068

Loick Coolen (France) – 2015

Sukky Gill (Wales) – 1913

Aidar Kapalbayev (Kazakhstan) – 1822

Anthony Galea (Gibraltar) – 1763

Seif Hossam (Egypt) – 1862

Top two progress to the Top 32.

Group B – Pool 1, Lanes 1–12

Zachary Wilkins (Canada) – 2351

Nu'man Syahmi (Singapore) – 2282

Kristoffer Berg Nilsen (Norway) – 2292

Tun Ameerul Luqman Al Hakim (Malaysia) – 2219

David Maycock (Bermuda) – 2175

Hamad Ahli (United Arab Emirates) – 2118

Tommaso Radi (Italy) – 2162

Ivan Dominic Malig (Philippines) – 2041

Ondrej Trojek (Czech Republic) – 1942

Jamie Hickey (Gibraltar) – 1835

Antreas Christoforou (Cyprus) – 2095

Noah Taimanglo (Guam) – 2053

Top two progress to the Top 32.

Group C – Pool 2, Lanes 13–24

Gregory Rius (France) – 2228

Walter Alessandro Santu (Italy) – 2144

Marvin Marlon Danilo Leon Urbina (Guatemala) – 2180

Nicolai Mallia (Malta) – 2176

Orestis Papadopoulos (Cyprus) – 1928

Danylo Mazikin (Ukraine) – 1992

Ziyad Al Towereb (Saudi Arabia) – 1952

Oliver Schwarzbauer (Austria) – 1887

Bartosz Sowinski (Poland) – 1842

Ruben Fuentes Sanchez (Spain) – 1958

Songqi Li (China) – 1978

Michael Wood (Gibraltar) – 1700

Top two progress to the Top 32.

Group D – Pool 4, Lanes 13–24

Ryan Barnes (United States) – 2483

Aseel Alroomi (Kuwait) – 1939

Liav Yehene (Israel) – 2227

Taygun Erkeskin (Türkiye) – 2086

Siim Henrik Saar (Estonia) – 2025

Sultan Al Qubaisi (United Arab Emirates) – 2191

Nicholas Muscat (Malta) – 2185

Levinc Samuels (Bermuda) – 2062

Dennis Grünheid (Germany) – 2058

Nabeel Abdallah Shahin (Jordan) – 1909

Dion Webber (Gibraltar) – 1831

Andreas Leb (Austria) – 1859

Top two progress to the Top 32.

Federation leaderboard after Round One

The combined federation standings determined the groups for Round Two.

Sweden – 111 points (Group A)

Hong Kong, China – 96 (Group B)

Singapore – 96 (Group C)

Netherlands – 93 (Group D)

United States – 90 (Group D)

Germany – 85 (Group C)

Slovakia – 85 (Group B)

Australia – 84 (Group A)

Italy – 84 (Group A)

Czech Republic – 84 (Group B)

Greece – 83 (Group C)

Denmark – 81 (Group D)

Guatemala – 79 (Group D)

Iceland – 79 (Group C)

Canada – 78 (Group B)

Peru – 78 (Group A)

France – 78 (Group A)

Macao, China – 78 (Group B)

United Arab Emirates – 75 (Group C)

Israel – 75 (Group D)

Malaysia – 72 (Group D)

Türkiye – 72 (Group C)

Romania – 72 (Group B)

Qatar – 70 (Group A)

Poland – 67 (Group A)

China – 66 (Group B)

Philippines – 66 (Group C)

Norway – 66 (Group D)

Kuwait – 66 (Group D)

Jordan – 64 (Group C)

Bermuda – 61 (Group B)

Malta – 60 (Group A)

Latvia – 58 (Group A)

Estonia – 58 (Group B)

Ukraine – 57 (Group C)

Cyprus – 55 (Group D)

Saudi Arabia – 52 (Group D)

Spain – 51 (Group C)

Croatia – 51 (Group B)

Austria – 51 (Group A)

Guam – 45 (Group A)

Wales – 37 (Group B)

Uzbekistan – 33 (Group C)

Kazakhstan – 33 (Group D)

Serbia – 30 (Group D)

Egypt – 26 (Group C)

Gibraltar – 25 (Group B)

Men's singles – Round Two

Group B standings

Hong Kong, China – 9 wins, 2 defeats, 19 points, 27 total

Czech Republic – 8 wins, 3 defeats, 18 points, 24 total

Canada – 8 wins, 3 defeats, 16 points, 24 total

Macao, China – 8 wins, 3 defeats, 18 points, 24 total

Romania – 7 wins, 4 defeats, 16 points, 21 total

China – 7 wins, 4 defeats, 17 points, 21 total

Bermuda – 6 wins, 5 defeats, 14 points, 18 total

Estonia – 6 wins, 5 defeats, 16 points, 18 total

Croatia – 3 wins, 8 defeats, 11 points, 9 total

Slovakia – 2 wins, 9 defeats, 8 points, 6 total

Wales – 2 wins, 9 defeats, 5 points, 6 total

Gibraltar – 0 wins, 11 defeats, 2 points, 0 total

The top four progressed to the Last 16.

Results sourced from IBF results data