Laura Daniels Goes Back Down Under To Mine More Gold

Laura Daniels will be hoping to use the experience of becoming a world champion in Australia last year to steer her to a Commonwealth Games gold medal on the Gold Coast in April.

The Neath bowler struck gold in Sydney when she followed in the footsteps of fellow Welsh international Kathy Pearce in being crowned World Champion of Champions. Now she hopes to turn her Commonwealth Games debut into another golden experience.

Daniels beat Malaysian Emma Firyana Saroji in the final in Sydney two months ago to add the prestigious title to her 2015 World Indoor Singles champion title and her 2016 World Pairs crown in tandem with Jess Simms, who will also be heading down under as part of the 15-strong Team Wales bowls squads.

Simms will be no stranger to the Gold Coast having won a bronze medal there in the World Junior Championships singles event in 2014. She will compete in the Pairs and the Fours.

Marc Wyatt and Jonathan Tomlinson are the only surviving Welsh medalists from Glasgow four years ago, where they won bronze in the triples. He was the youngest member of the bowls squad at the 2002 Games.

Anwen Button took bronze in the pairs in 2002 and 2010. The 45-year-old Carmarthen bowler will be heading to her fifth successive Games and will be joined by Kathy Pearce, with who she struck silver in the pairs at the 2016 World Championships.

Caroline Taylor is another competitor returning from 2014, while 23-year-old Daniel Salmon will be hoping to add to the World Under 25 title he won last year when he makes his Games debut. Salmon is the latest top-class international sportsmen produced by Whitchurch High School, following in the footsteps of Wales and British & Irish Lions skipper Sam Warburton, double Olympic cycling gold medalist Geraint Thomas, Wales and Real Madrid soccer superstar Gareth Bale and rising Glamorgan batting star Kiran Carlson.

 

TEAM WALES LAWN BOWLS

Anwen Butten (Triples / Fours)
Laura Daniels (Singles / Pairs)
Stephen Harris (Triples / Fours)
Jonathan Hubbard (Para-Bowls)
Raymond Lillycrop (Para-Bowls)
Gilbert Miles (Para-Bowls)
Ross Owen (Triples / Fours)
Daniel Salmon (Singles / Pairs)
Jess Sims (Pairs / Fours)
Caroline Taylor (Triples / Fours)
Julie Thomas (Para-Bowls)
Jonathan Tomlinson (Triples / Fours)
Pauline Wilson (Para-Bowls)
Emma Woodcock (Singles / Pairs)
Marc Wyatt (Pairs / Fours)