HALL OF FAME
As a country, Wales have a long history of success on the International stage. From Home Internationals through to World Championships and more recently the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.
There are far too many to list here but some of the highlights are included on the page below and further information can be found on the links.
There was even one Paralympic appearance for bowls and Great Britain won Gold and Bronze with Welsh representatives.
International Blind Bowls World Championships
Past winners (Welsh)
The first championships were held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1977 but Wales did not compete until the 1980’s.
1989:
B3 Ladies singles: Silver - Mary Elias
B3 Men’s singles: Bronze - Keith Brenton
B3 Pairs: Silver - Mary Elias & Keith Brenton
1993
B1 Men’s singles: Bronze - Edward Angove
B3 Pairs: Bronze - Mary Elias & George Edmunds
1997
B1 Pairs: Bronze - Gloria Hopkins & Glyn Shoesmith
B2 Pairs: Bronze - Cynthia Myles & Ron Ursell
2001
B1 Men’s singles: Silver - Neville McTavish
B3 Men’s singles: Gold - Keith Brenton
B3 Pairs: Gold - Rosa Crean & Keith Brenton
2005
B2 Men singles:Gold - Keith Brenton
B2 Pairs: Bronze - Mary Gittens & Keith Brenton
B3 Pairs: Bronze - Rosa Crean & Allan Jones
Summer Paralympics
Bowls was included in a summer Paralympic Games and Great Britain proved to be very successful.
1996-Atlanta
Women’s singles LB7/8:
Gold: Rosa Crean (Great Britain)
Bronze: Mary Elias (Great Britain)
Men’s singles LB7/8:
Bronze: Keith Brenton (Great Britain)
Home Internationals
Singles Championships have been held annually (Indoor then outdoor ) across all categories ( B1-4 ) until recently with a break for Covid.
GOLD : Our digital records do not go back before 2003 but prior to this medals were won by :
B1 Ladies Singles - Gloria Hopkins
B1 Men’s Singles - Edward (Ted) Angove
B3 Men’s Singles - Keith Brenton
B3 Ladies Singles - Mary Elias
2003: B3 Ladies singles - Rosa Crean
2005: B3 Ladies singles - Rosa Crean
2007: B3 Ladies singles - Rosa Crean
2015: B2 Ladies singles - Julie Thomas
2016: B2 Ladies singles - Julie Thomas
2017: B2 Ladies singles - Julie Thomas
2017: B2 Men’s singles - Jack Lloyd
2018: B2 Ladies singles - Julie Thomas
2022: B2 Men’s singles - Allan Jones
Commonwealth Games
Wales begun a very successful Parabowls programme in 2015 and the VI bowlers have achieved medal success at the last two games amongst tough competition.
2018 Gold Coast, Australia
Mixed para-sport pairs : Bronze
Julie Thomas & Gilbert Miles
2022 Birmingham, England
Mixed para-sport pairs : Silver
Julie Thomas & Gordon Llewellyn
European Championships
First time that Para bowls has been included in the European Championships. Historic and game changing
2024 Ayr, Scotland
Mixed para-sport pairs : Gold
Julie Thomas & Steffan James
Directors
It is important to note that at every one of these events listed above, the bowler would have been assisted by a director. The director would have been instrumental in the medal success of the player and in nearly all cases would have received the same medal.