Wales at Glasgow 2026: Bronze for Thomas & James
It's been the biggest 48 hours yet for Team Wales' bowls and para bowls squad at the SEC Centre, with semi-finals on Monday and medal matches on Tuesday morning bringing the curtain down on the competition — and delivering a hard-fought bronze medal for Julie Thomas and Steffan James in the Mixed Para Pairs B2-B3.
Day Four – Monday 27 July: Semi-finals
Mixed Para Pairs B2-B3 – Julie Thomas & Steffan James Wales' unbeaten-then-bounced-back para pairing came up against a rampant England side in the semi-final, going down 2-0 to Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall and Ron Homer, with directors Elizabeth Shipley and Sue Davies guiding the English pair to a clinical performance. The result meant Thomas and James, with their own directors John Wilson and Jamie Jones, dropped into Tuesday's bronze medal match rather than the final.
Women's Pairs – Amy Williams & Lauren Gowen Williams and Gowen's excellent week continued into the semi-final, where they pushed England's Amy Pharaoh and Sian Honnor all the way in a nerve-shredding tiebreak. The Welsh pair narrowly missed out, sending them into the bronze medal match against Northern Ireland on Tuesday.
Men's Singles – Ross Owen Owen's tournament had already been effectively settled by Sunday's tight tiebreak defeat to Scotland's Jason Banks, which left him unable to catch the leaders in his section with no further group matches to play. His campaign in the Men's Singles at Glasgow 2026 ends at the sectional stage, finishing with two wins from four games in a highly competitive group.
Day Five – Tuesday 28 July: Medal Matches
Mixed Para Pairs B2-B3 – Julie Thomas & Steffan James — BRONZE 🥉 An early morning classic at the SEC Centre. Thomas and James lost the first set 7-4 to New Zealand's Sonya Woodrow and Kerrin Wheeler, but battled back to take the second set 6-3 and force a sudden-death tie-break. With Thomas setting up the chance and James landing two brilliant final bowls, Wales held their nerve as New Zealand's last delivery fell agonisingly short — sealing a bronze medal and sweet revenge for their group-stage defeat to the same New Zealand pairing earlier in the week.
Women's Pairs – Amy Williams & Lauren Gowen Williams and Gowen's bid for a second Welsh medal of the morning came up short, going down 2-0 to Northern Ireland's Chloe Wilson and Shauna O'Neill in the bronze medal match, losing the first set 4-2. It's a fourth-place finish for the pair after a superb week that saw them win all four of their group games unbeaten before narrow defeats in the semi-final and bronze match brought their campaign to a close.
The final picture
Wales' bowls and para bowls campaign at Glasgow 2026 concludes with a bronze medal for Julie Thomas and Steffan James in the Mixed Para Pairs B2-B3 — a brilliant achievement built on a string of dramatic tie-break performances throughout the week. Amy Williams and Lauren Gowen can be proud of an unbeaten run through the group stage in the Women's Pairs, agonisingly falling just short of a medal, while Ross Owen competed strongly in a stacked Men's Singles field.
Congratulations to all three Welsh combinations, and to directors John Wilson and Jamie Jones, on a memorable Games.
That closes part one of the bowls and para bowls competition for Wales. We now move into the second half of the programme, with Daniel Salmon and Ross Owen teaming up in the Men's Pairs and Amy Williams flying the flag in the Women's Singles — more to follow as that action gets underway at the SEC Centre.
