Lee Schraner

Lee Schraner

Personal information
Born	(1982-01-31) 31 January 1982 (age 43) Prahran, Victoria, Australia
Years active	1994–present
Sport
Sport	Lawn Bowls
Club	Raymond Terrace Bowling Club
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	20 (December 2024)[1]
Medal record Bowls Representing  Australia World Singles Champion of Champions 2018 Sydney Men's 2019 Adelaide Men's 2022 Wellington Men's 2024 Auckland Men's

Lee James Schraner (born 1982) is a lawn bowls dual World Singles Champion of Champions gold and bronze medalist.[2] He became the number one ranked bowler in Australia in October 2018 and held the ranking until June 2019.[3]

Bowls career

Schraner began bowls in 1994 at Mount Cottrell Bowling Club, located on the outskirts of Melton, Victoria.[4] Schraner represented Australia at Under 25 level and Open Men's Level on numerous occasions, but yielded only one official cap for his Country. He became the 132nd male to represent Australia in Lawn Bowls when he led in the pairs for Mark Jacobsen against England, in the "Battle on the Border" at Moama Bowling Club in February 2010.

Schraner was omitted from the Australian Squad that same year, prior to the Delhi Commonwealth Games. In July 2018 he was named in the Australian Jackaroos Emerging Squad (the tier below the Open squad), but after just one year, he was omitted in June 2019. However, he won the 2019 World Singles Champion of Champions, beating Tony Cheung in the final.[5]

At age 37, he retired from official National duties stating "It is a great thing to chase your dreams but life is too short to chase them forever", clearly related to his lack of opportunity at the highest level.[6] Schraner made himself available for the Australian team again in 2024 after a string of successful results, and was selected in the Australian Jackaroos Squad of 10 men for the 2024/25 season.

Schraner won the World Singles Champion of Champions for the second time in 2024, defeating New Zealander Aiden Takarua in the final.[7]

National and State Championships

Schraner is the only player in history to have won the Australian Champion of Champions singles gold medal four times.[8] These victories came in 2017 in Darwin, 2018 in Hobart, 2022 (for the 2021 event) on the Gold Coast and 2023 in Perth. He won the Australian Open Pairs in 2011,[9] the Australian Fours Gold Medal in 2019[10] and the Australian Pairs Gold Medal in 2020.[11]

Published Author

Published Stories & Books released by Lee Schraner

Title	Year	Comments
Nothing to Prove[12]	2024	Autobiography
In the Zone - Developing Mental Toughness in Lawn Bowls[13]	2014	Non-fiction and educational
In the Zone II - Secrets of a World Champ[14]	2020	Non-fiction and educational

References

1. "Male rankings". World Bowls Series. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
2. "Star recruit Lee Schraner settling in with new club Bendigo East". Bendigo Advertiser. 9 November 2018.
3. "Latest National Rankings for October released". Bowls Australia. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
4. "Mt Cottrell Bowls Club". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
5. "World Singles Champion of Champions, Adelaide Bowling Club, South Australia". World Bowls.
6. "Schraner calls time on Jackaroos career". Bowls Australia. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
7. "Auckland teacher Milika Nathan wins World Bowls Champion of Champions women's singles title for Tonga". RNZ. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
8. "Krizanic, Schraner claim 2021 Australian Champion of Champions title". Bowls Australia. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
9. "Honour roll". Australian Open. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
10. "2019 Australian Championships: Nail-biters aplenty in Fours titles". Bowls Australia. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
11. "Victoria & NSW share pairs honours at Aus Champs". Bowls Australia. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
12. "Nothing to Prove - The Autobiography of Lee James Schraner". Amazon.
13. "In the Zone - Developing Mental Toughness in Lawn Bowls". Amazon.
14. Schraner, Lee J. In the Zone II: Secrets of a World Champ.