Journalist for the i newspaper, Bowls England National Finals commentator and a name well-known to bowlers, Emily Ferguson will be reviewing most days of the action at Victoria Park.
England’s Jamie Walker and Sam Tolchard began their Men’s Pairs Final on Tuesday morning, and found themselves 10-4 down after six ends in the Gold Medal match against Wales. But once they found the pace of the green, they started to claw the game back. At 13 ends they were just two shots behind and after some superb bowling, they brought it to 16 all in the next end. With just two ends left to play Walker and Tolchard were just one shot behind at 18-17. Despite holding a count on the penultimate end, the Welsh skip fired the jack into the ditch which meant England dropped a single shot. The final end saw some quality bowling, with the situation changing after every bowl. Tolchard left the head holding one and narrowly missed out on drawing another to take it to an extra end. This meant the England duo sadly lost out on the coveted Gold Medal by just a single shot. The final score was 19-18 to Wales.
Walker then had under an hour to get over the disappointment and prepare for his opening round of the Men’s Singles. Just before noon he played Namibia’s Carel Aron Olivier where he got off to an excellent start and led 11-3. Shortly after finishing, he joined Tolchard on the podium for the medal ceremony of the Men’s Pairs. The pair graciously cheered on their opponents as they took to the centre of the podium.
Sophie Tolchard and Amy Pharaoh returned to the greens as the start of the sectional play of the Women’s Pairs on Tuesday morning. They played Northern Ireland at 8:30am in what turned out to be a very close match. Shots were all level at end five, 10 and 17 – when the game could have gone either way. But the English duo managed to sneak over the line and won 14-13. They will play again on Wednesday.
The first rounds of the Women’s Triples also started their sectional play bright and early on Tuesday, which saw Jamie-Lea Winch, Natalie Chestney and Sian Honnor record an impressive result against Niue. After six ends they were 10-1 up and at 13 ends they were 20-7. On the 15th end they picked up a six allowing them to extend their lead. The final score was 26-12. In their second game they faced a strong trio from India, with two of the players winning the gold medal in the Women’s Fours earlier on Tuesday. But despite getting off to a close start the England team continued their fine form from this morning and ended on an excellent win of 24-11.
Alison Yearling and Chris Turnbull continued in the group stage of the Para Mixed Pairs B2/B3. They had a tough match against Scotland in the morning and at the half way point they were 7-6 down. But as the ends went on their opponents started to pull away and they lost the game, 17-9. They will play their last match against New Zealand tomorrow.
Craig Bowler and Kieran Rollings participated in the Bronze Medal Match of the Para Men’s Pairs B6-B8 at 16:15pm against New Zealand, with the duo determined to reach the podium. They got off to an excellent start and were 7-0 up after five ends. Bowler and Rollings managed to extend their win throughout the medal match and won the game 13-4. The pair then took to the stadium later that evening to collect their bronze medals.
A Silver and a Bronze!
Well done Team, a great effort 🥈🥉#AllToPlayFor #PartofthePride pic.twitter.com/ZuBSLdHSlm
— Bowls England (@BowlsEngland) August 2, 2022
The Men’s Fours started their sectional play this afternoon. England’s team, which consists of Louis Ridout, Nick Brett, Jamie Chestney and Sam Tolchard who have all received a medal in the Games so far, played the Cook Islands at 4:15pm. It was Tolchard’s first game since collecting his silver medal in the Men’s Pairs and the team won 25-10.
A third medal match also took place on Tuesday, which saw India and South Africa tussle for the Gold in the Women’s Fours. It was a very tight game but India won the match, securing the country’s first ever Commonwealth medal in the sport. New Zealand and Fiji also played on A Green in the Bronze Medal Match, which saw the Kiwis secure their place on the podium.
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The Commonwealth Games is organised by Birmingham 2022, further information about the event can be found here. The Bowls England Team are currently busy ensuring that we maximise this golden opportunity for our sport. Please be aware that, during this period, we are operating a reduced phone and email service, and responses to queries maybe delayed.