THE World Indoor Bowls Championship is back for 2024 and so is player Darren Weir.
Weir has competed at the tournament several times in the past and the young sportsman is hoping for success at his fourth appearance at the competition.
Who is World Indoor Bowls Championship player Darren Weir?
Darren Weir is a Scottish bowler from Prestwick.
The sportsman, who was born in 1999, plays both international lawn and indoor bowls.
Weir, who works as a Communications Officer for Bowls Scotland, became interested in the sport when he was just seven years old.
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The star told Bowls International of his early years: "I first got involved in bowls in 2007 when I was at my local outdoor club, Prestwick Bowling Club.
"My dad had been a member of the club for over 20 years and my older brother, Andrew, had already joined the junior section at that time.
"I was always down at the club watching them compete, so I guess it was only a matter of time before I got involved myself."
Has Darren Weir won the World Indoor Bowls Championship?
Weir is yet to win a World Indoor Bowls Championship but he has come very close.
He made his debut at the tournament back in 2021, but was knocked out in the first round of the Open Singles after being defeated by Englishman Mark Dawes.
Dawes went on to win the entire event that year.
In 2022, Weir returned to the World Championship to compete in the Under 25 Category.
After beating Lyndon Sham in the semi-finals, Weir took on fellow Scot Daniel Pool in the final but just missed out on the title.
He suffered a similar fate in 2023 when Pool once again just pipped him to the post to be crowned the Under 25 winner.
Despite missing out on a World Indoor Bowls Championship title in the past, Weir is no stranger to success.
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He won the Scottish under-18 title in 2016 and was named the Scottish under-21 champion (indoors) for three consecutive years from 2018–20.
Then, in 2019, Weir was selected for the European Bowls Championships.
At the biennial event, which took place in Guernsey in 2019, Weir won two silver medals.
At the 2024 World Indoor Bowls Championship Weir competed in both the Open Singles and Under 25 categories, something he says is "certainly not a feat that [he takes] for granted."
He told Bowls International: "The PBA qualifiers are getting harder and harder each year and the standard of players entering the qualifiers has been as high as it's ever been."
As of January 18 Weir has been knocked out of the Open Singles - after losing to Robert Paxton on January 16 - with the Under 25 games still to come.
When is the World Indoor Bowls Championship on?
The 2024 World Indoor Bowls Championships takes place over 17 days from January 5 - January 21 2024.
Much of the competition is available to watch on BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and BBC Sport website and app.
Some matches are also being shown on BBC Two.
The Open Singles quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday January 19, followed by the semi-finals the next day, January 20.
The Under 25 final takes place on the evening on January 20.
The Open Singles final, meanwhile, is scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday January 21.
Players are competing for a cash prize but the 2024 World Indoor Bowls Championship amount is yet to be announced.
Reports have suggested that the winners will take home the same amount of money as the champions in 2023.
Last year's Open Singles winner Jamie Walker pocketed £50,000, as did the Women's Singles winner Katherine Rednall.
Open Pairs winners Greg Harlow and Nick Brett won £20,000 to split, with Mixed Pairs winners Stewart Anderson and Ceri Ann Glen taking home the same.