It will be the 39th time the competition has been played and all the champions from last year are returning to defend their titles.

Nick Brett of England won the open singles’ crown for the first time in 2016 and is the top seed this year.

He will have to wait until January 23 to begin his defence when he takes on a qualifier from the preliminary singles play-off, a round which will see players battle for a place in the first round.

England’s Ellen Falkner, a lawn bowls women's triples gold medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, will be looking to retain her ladies matchplay title and starts her campaign on January 21 when she faces Claire Johnstone of Scotland.

In the open pairs, Scottish duo Stewart Anderson and Darren Burnett play their first match of their title defence on Saturday (January 14) as they face the winners of a first round game.

They could end up with a tricky tie as this could see them playing the pairing of Mervyn King, a three-time pairs champion along with a singles title win, and Scotland’s David Gourlay, who has won the pairs and mixed pairs three times each plus a singles victory.

Burnett, who won men's singles gold in lawn bowls at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, will also be seeking the retention of his mixed pairs crown with England’s Katherine Rednall.

Their first match will be on January 20 against Gourlay and Karen Murphy of Australia.

The open pairs final will be held on January 23, a day before the mixed pairs final.

On January 26, the ladies final will be played and the competition will be wrapped up three days later with the open singles final.