British Isles Championships- Under 25 Gents Singles Preview
Next week sees our Scottish champions compete across 14 different disciplines to test their might against their fellow national championship winners in the 2024 British Isles Championships. We have been speaking with all the players and teams prior to the event, to get some insight into their feelings ahead of such an occasion, as well as looking at their journey to Leamington Spa. We also sought some insight on the bowlers, by asking them to pick between one of TVs most divisive duos.
We were able to speak to another highflyer, in Daniel Martin, who is 25 years old and plays out of Dunfermline Northern Bowling Club, in West Fife, will be Scotland’s gents under 25 representative in Leamington Spa, after lifting the 2023 under 25 Scottish title, in a slobber knocker of a final against Troon’s Darren Weir.
The sport is a family affair for Daniel too, with him being inspired to try bowls after watching his father qualify for the national finals at Northfield when he was younger.
The Fifer had a difficult run to get to Northfield in the first place, overcoming his close friend, and clubmate Lyle Robertson (with whom Daniel won the inaugural European Open in 2022) in the District 8 final, in a hotly contested affair. Daniel stood out at Ayr, after a 21-0 win in the second round of the competition, a result which drew a lot of attention, though that never concerned him. In the semi-final, Daniel found himself trailing 16-9, before ploughing through the gears, and getting over the finish line, without his opponent taking another shot. The 25-year-old trailed for the entirety of the final, which was an incredibly close game. Daniel kept himself within touching distance however, and recovered from 20-17 behind, to lift the trophy.
We asked Daniel about his thoughts ahead of the British Isles championships at Leamington Spa, and he expressed delight at the high volume of a Fife contingent who he will be playing alongside:
“It’ll be great seeing so many players from the same area as myself playing. Personally, I only have one goal, to return to Scotland as a British champion”.
Daniel also gave us a great insight on how he manages to stay motivated. He said that the key factor was his love of his local club, Dunfermline Northern. In recent years, they have seen plenty of success, with Daniel at the focal point of it. He tipped his cap to his support too, thanking them all, especially his dad, who also plays at a high level. Martin also expressed a desire to continue his successes, hoping for more titles, and possibly some more international call ups along the way.
Daniel’s favourite bowler is Stewart Anderson, who he admires greatly.
Finally, Daniel opted for the rogue shout of Ant, when asked to choose between him and his counterpart Dec. Daniel’s reason for this, was due to having a close friend with the nickname ‘Dec’, he could not bring himself to pick him!
Daniel will be first in action in the second session of Day 1 (26th June at 13:30), facing Jersey’s Taylor Greechan at the quarter final stage.