Bowls finals serve up a Malaysia v England double-header as a golden chance awaits 'Mary Queen of Shots'
Going into his semi-final against Malaysia's Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple, Australia’s Aaron Wilson had never lost a Commonwealth Games Men’s Singles match, winning consecutive golds at Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022.
That streak did not look like ending when Wilson took Monday's first set 5-2, but the Malaysian bowls team have set their sights on glory in Glasgow and 34-year-old Dzulkeple had clearly understood the brief.
The concluding set was level at 4-4 with two ends to go, but the Malaysian stunned his opponent and the watching crowd by scoring three in the penultimate end and five in the final one to send the match to an unexpected tiebreak which duly delivered a remarkable victory for Dzulkeple.
"For me, Aaron is the favourite in the Singles,” said Dzulkeple.
“I know all about Aaron, but maybe there was no pressure on me because this is my first semi-final, so that’s why I enjoyed the game.”
A huge roar from the Malaysian coaching staff rang out across Hall Three when their man nervelessly won the tie-break, which must have been distracting for Malaysia’s Women’s Pairs, at that point reaching the conclusion of their equally tense match with Northern Ireland.
Chloe Wilson and Shauna O’Neill had topped a group containing favourites Australia, but they were also defeated by a never-say-die Malaysian attitude, their opponents recovering from one set down to win the sudden-death tiebreak.
“We heard all the cheers from the Malaysian supporters and we were so happy for (Dzulkeple) because he beat Aaron Wilson,” said lead Aleena Ahmad Nawawi.
“Tie-breaks make us very nervous, and sometimes you need a bit of luck as well. It is only one end.”
Nawawi’s skip, Syafiqa Abdul Rahman, claimed silver at Birmingham 2022 in the Women’s Triples, and now has an opportunity to upgrade.
“I'm so happy because this is my first Commonwealth Games. I'll do my best to help my partner change the colour of the medal – we want to turn it into gold.”
Malaysia will take on England in the Women’s Pairs and Men’s Singles finals, after Sam Tolchard defeated Northern Ireland's Gary Kelly to reach his first Commonwealth Games singles decider having previously collected three bronzes and a silver medal in the Pairs and Fours.
The bronze-medal match between Wilson and Kelly will be a repeat of the Birmingham 2022 final.
The other Women’s Pairs finalists are England's Sian Honnor and Amy Pharaoh, who brought the run of the brilliant young Wales pair Lauren Gowen and Amy Williams to an end with another tiebreak victory to edge a close match.
“We've played (Wales) so many times and they're excellent,” said Pharaoh. “They've got many years ahead of them, so we wish them all the best."
GOLD for Scotland! 🥇🏴
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) July 28, 2026
The first bowls medal of Glasgow 2026 goes to the host nation in dramatic fashion! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ocuTGO4vvG
No Scotland, no party
The evening’s action also decided the Para Mixed Pairs B2-B3 finalists with Scotland and England to battle it out for gold.
The home nation saw off the challenge of New Zealand, with skip Robert Barr singing the praises of his lead Mary Stevenson.
“It was such a close game and Mary came up really well with the last bowl in the last end. It really is Mary, Queen of Shots (laughs).”
“It was such a close game and Mary came up really well with the last bowl in the last end. It really is Mary, Queen of Shots (laughs).”
“Ecstatic,” she said. “To be honest, I'm just speechless."
England’s hard-fought victory in their last-four match came at the expense of Wales, with skip Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall relieved to have got through the match.
“I can't really put it into words,” she said. “I don't mind being under pressure, but I'd prefer not to be under quite that much pressure if I'm honest.”
The finals begin at 08:30 on Tuesday 28 July.
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