Australia\u2019s Jackaroos are set to stride on to the green at one of the sport\u2019s most prestigious events \u2013 the Commonwealth Games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The road to Glasgow 2026 has presented its challenges for Australia\u2019s elite, but the squad of twelve is primed to add to the stored history of the green and gold in bowls at the multi-sport extravaganza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the first time since Delhi 2010, sets play returns, in a Bowls Premier League-style format, with singles seeing two sets of seven ends with a one-end tiebreak if sets are level, while pairs and para disciplines are contested over two sets of five ends, before a one-end tiebreak if sets are level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0the only change, with the event heading indoors for the first time in history as the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) plays host to the competition \u2013 a stone\u2019s throw away from where the world\u2019s best\u00a0were\u00a0placed at the 2014 Games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each open discipline will consist of four sections, with each section winner going through to the semi-finals, making every contest vital in the group stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s singles \u2013 Aaron Wilson chasing history\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aaron Wilson\u00a0is a man on a quest for history, striving to join\u00a0David Bryant\u00a0as the only bowlers in history to win three consecutive singles gold medals, having already joined the legendary Englishman as the only man to successfully defend the crown at back-to-back Games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s stiffest section challenge come\u00a0from \u202fGuernsey\u2019s\u00a0Jason Greenslade, who is formidable on carpet, as is Jersey\u2019s\u00a0Malcolm De Sousa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Namibia\u2019s\u00a0Ronald Steenkamp, Botswana\u2019s\u00a0Modisaotsile\u00a0Mphotho, Isle of Man\u2019s\u00a0Mark McGreal\u00a0and the Cook Islands\u2019\u00a0Royden\u00a0Aperau\u00a0will also feature in the two-time defending champion\u2019s section.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s Pairs\u00a0<\/p>\n
Corey Wedlock<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Aaron Teys<\/a>\u00a0arrive in\u00a0Glasgowh\u00a0in supremely good form.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wedlock earned the Player of the Tournament accolade at the recent Australian Open, while Teys claimed the blue-ribboned men\u2019s singles title on the Gold Coast last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pair face a tough section, with Northern Ireland\u2019s World Bowls Championships-winning duo of\u00a0Adam McKeown\u00a0and\u00a0Gary Kelly\u00a0looming large, alongside New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Tony Grantham\u00a0and former World Champion\u00a0Ai Forsyth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fiji\u2019s\u00a0Lal\u00a0and\u00a0Surendra\u00a0Prasad,Pakistan\u2019s\u00a0Maqsood Wasim Khan\u00a0and\u00a0Muhammad Ayub Quereshi,\u00a0and Tonga\u2019s\u00a0Chad Nathan\u00a0and\u00a0Liam Hill round out the section.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Australian duo\u00a0are\u00a0no stranger to this format, having won the Bowls Premier League on four occasions as teammates for the Tweed Ospreys.\u00a0<\/p>\n Women\u2019s singles \u2013 Fife returns\u00a0<\/p>\n Women\u2019s singles action will see\u00a0Ellen Fife<\/a>\u00a0return to the tournament that cemented her as an all-time great.\u00a0<\/p>\n At Birmingham 2022, she became the first bowler in history to win the singles and pairs at the same Games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her section is fiercely competitive, headlined by English star\u00a0Katherine Rednall, who excels on indoor surfaces having won the World Bowls Tour\u2019s showpiece event at Potters on a staggering seven occasions.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2023 World Bowls Championships singles silver medallist, Canada\u2019s\u00a0Kelly McKerihen,\u00a0also poses a significant threat, as does Malta\u2019s\u00a0Connie Rixon, a Gold Coast 2018 bronze medallist and 2023 World Championships pairs runner-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fife\u2019s remaining challengers are Jersey\u2019s\u00a0Fiona Archibald, the Cook Islands\u2019\u00a0Emily Jim\u00a0and the Falkland Island\u2019s\u00a0Daphne Archer-Almond\u00a0as the Goulburn native strives to join Malaysia\u2019s\u00a0Siti\u00a0Zalina Ahmad\u00a0and New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Jo Edwards\u00a0as the only other women to successfully defend their singles crown.\u00a0<\/p>\n Women\u2019s pairs\u00a0<\/p>\n Dawn Hayman<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Kelsey Cottrell<\/a>\u00a0were gold medal winning teammates at the 2023 World Bowls Championships and will look to add to their impressive list of accolades in the women\u2019s pairs Scotland.\u00a0<\/p>\n The duo\u00a0have\u00a0played\u00a0numerous\u00a0singles classics against each other in recent years, and the prospect of them teaming up has always excited Australian and neutral bowls fans alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hayman will make her Games debut, while Cottrell notches up her fourth appearance at the event, having tasted gold in the fours at Gold Coast 2018 along with silver and bronze in previous editions, with the Queenslander aiming to claim a pairs medal, the only discipline she is missing from her collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n In their section are the dangerous Northern Ireland pairing of\u00a0Shauna O\u2019Neill\u00a0and\u00a0Chloe Wilson, and the Guernsey combination of\u00a0Rose Ogier\u00a0and superstar\u00a0Alison Merrien MBE.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also looming in the group are the Isle of Man\u2019s\u00a0Caroline Whitehead\u00a0and\u00a0Paula Garrett, Niue\u2019s\u00a0Christine Ioane\u00a0and\u00a0Catherin Papani, Singapore\u2019s\u00a0Janice Tan\u00a0and\u00a0Cheo Ai Lin\u00a0and Zambia\u2019s\u00a0Mildred Mkandawire\u00a0and\u00a0Gertrude Siams.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vision Impaired Mixed Pairs\u00a0<\/p>\n The para disciplines\u00a0operate\u00a0under a slightly different\u00a0format \u202f\u2013\u00a0with just one section of six teams in each discipline\u2019s draw, with\u00a0ofur\u00a0sides advancing to the semi-finals before the gold medal matches, or bronze medal deciders for those defeated.\u00a0<\/p>\n The vision impaired mixed pairs reunite 2023 World Bowls Championship-winning teammates\u00a0Jacky Hudson<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jake Fehlberg<\/a>\u00a0as they look to make more history.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fehlberg already has a Commonwealth Games gold medal to his name, earned alongside\u00a0Lynne Seymour<\/a>\u00a0at Gold Coast 2018, making him the only para bowler in history to have won gold at the sport\u2019s two greatest events.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hudson \u2013 one of Australia\u2019s oldest ever debutants at the Games \u2013 will look to join Fehlberg in that exclusive category, with former superstars\u00a0Karen Murphy AM<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Claire Turley guiding them as directors, the pair will back themselves to create more joy for Australian bowls.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their section sees Scotland\u2019s defending champion\u00a0Robert Barr\u00a0line up with\u00a0Mary Stevenson, with England\u2019s hopes resting on\u00a0Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall\u00a0and\u00a0Ron Homer.\u00a0<\/p>\n New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Sonya Woodrow\u00a0and\u00a0Kerrin\u00a0Wheeler, \u202fSouth\u00a0Africa\u2019s\u00a0Nozipho\u00a0Schroder\u00a0and\u00a0Keith Orrell,\u00a0and\u00a0Wales\u2019\u00a0Julie Thomas\u00a0and\u00a0Steffan James complete the draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n Physical Disability Men\u2019s Pairs\u00a0<\/p>\n Damien Delgado<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0James Reynolds<\/a>\u00a0hold the tantalising prospect of joining Fehlberg as joint holders of the Commonwealth and World Championships gold, as they look to\u00a0maintain\u00a0their grip on the international events.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 2023 World Bowls Championships-winning teammates have both earned Games medals \u2013 Delgado a runner-up in Birmingham 2022 and Reynolds a bronze medallist at Manchester 2002.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their stiffest challenge will come from of Scottish defending champion\u00a0Garry Brown\u00a0and his teammate in\u00a0Stuart Sloan, with South Africa\u2019s\u00a0Gareth Rees-Gibbs\u00a0and\u00a0Jarid James\u00a0also in contention.\u00a0<\/p>\n England\u2019s\u00a0Joe Peplow\u00a0and\u00a0Kieren Rollings, and New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Mark Noble\u00a0\u2013 Australian Open physical disability men\u2019s singles champion \u2013 and\u00a0Kurt Smith round out the draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n Singapore\u2019s first para team in Commonwealth Games history will also compete, with the pioneering pairing of\u00a0Khimern\u00a0Bin Mohamad\u00a0and\u00a0Mawjit\u00a0Singh\u00a0set to make their mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n Physical Disability Women\u2019s Pairs\u00a0<\/p>\n Louise Hoskins<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Serena Bonnell<\/a>\u00a0will look to etch their names into Commonwealth Games folklore as they launch their campaign in Glasgow.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hoskins makes her debut and at 76, placing her among her\u00a0among \u202fthe\u00a0oldestdebutants\u00a0in Games history, meanwhile Bonnell will be aiming to go one better than the silver medal she earned in Birmingham 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pair will face stiff challenges from World Bowls Championship winners New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Julie O\u2019Connell\u00a0and\u00a0Teri Blackbourn, while Scotland\u2019s defending champion\u00a0Pauline\u00a0Wilson\u00a0and teammate\u00a0Mary Wilson\u00a0represent another formidable matchup for the green and gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n England\u2019s\u00a0Michelle White\u00a0and\u00a0Helen Wood, Canada\u2019s\u00a0Anne Hibberd\u00a0and\u00a0Jean Stairs,\u00a0and Malaysia\u2019s\u00a0Jaria Zakaria\u00a0and\u00a0Norazian\u00a0Daud\u00a0complete the section.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s Jackaroos are set to stride on to the green at one of the sport\u2019s most prestigious 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