Scotland secure four medals at 2026 European Championships

Scotland completed a successful eight days at the 2026 European Championships in Llandrindod Wells, returning home with one gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

The ten-player team competed across the Men’s and Women’s Singles, Pairs, Triples and Fours from 19–26 September, with Scotland reaching the knockout stages in seven of the eight disciplines.

Women’s Fours crowned European champions

Scotland’s gold medal came through Dawn Anderson, Claire McCurdie, Sarah-Jane Ewing and Gail Notman in the Women’s Fours.

The quartet won five of their six group matches, recording victories over Israel, Portugal, Türkiye, Spain and Switzerland to secure their place in the semi-finals.

A controlled 14-4 victory over Ireland took Scotland into the gold-medal match against Jersey. The final remained closely contested before Scotland prevailed 10-8, with Notman delivering the decisive final bowl to secure the European title.

Bronze for Leah McCloy

Leah McCloy also reached the podium in the Women’s Singles following an impressive competition.

McCloy recorded group victories over Italy, Wales and Israel before progressing through the qualification play-off. She was narrowly beaten 14-12 by the Netherlands in the semi-final but responded strongly in the bronze-medal match, defeating Ireland’s Shauna O’Neill 21-9.

Men’s disciplines reach qualification play-offs

Scotland’s Men’s Pairs of Gordon White and Greg Logan recovered from a difficult opening match to finish second in their section.

Their qualification was secured in dramatic circumstances against Portugal, with Logan producing an excellent bowl to score the three shots Scotland required on the final end. Their run eventually came to an end in the qualification play-off.

Ewan Shearer, Liam Nicolson and Lewis Betts also finished second in their Men’s Triples section. Victories over Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Spain and Hungary earned them a place in the qualification play-off, where they were narrowly denied a semi-final spot.

Unbeaten section campaigns

The second half of the Championships began with another strong series of performances from Scotland.

Ewan Shearer completed the Men’s Singles group stage with a perfect record of five wins from five, including victories over the Czech Republic, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and Cyprus.

Shearer continued his form by defeating Spain 21-12 in the semi-final. His unbeaten run was eventually ended by Ireland’s Stuart Bennett, who won a competitive gold-medal match 21-17, leaving Shearer with a well-earned European silver medal.

The Men’s Fours team of Gordon White, Liam Nicolson, Greg Logan and Lewis Betts were also unbeaten during the group stage, winning all four of their matches against Israel, the Netherlands, Türkiye and Spain.

Scotland defeated Jersey 11-8 in the semi-final before Ireland claimed the title with a 15-4 victory in the final, securing Scotland’s second silver medal of the day.

Women’s Triples narrowly miss the podium

Leah McCloy, Claire McCurdie and Sarah-Jane Ewing produced another strong campaign in the Women’s Triples, winning five of their six group matches to qualify for the semi-finals.

Only one shot separated Scotland and Jersey in the last four, with Jersey edging an 18-17 contest. Scotland then faced Ireland in the bronze-medal match, where a 16-7 defeat left them fourth overall.

The Women’s Pairs of Dawn Anderson and Gail Notman finished their section with three wins from four matches. Scotland ended level on nine points with Ireland and Cyprus but narrowly missed out on the semi-finals by two shots on shot difference.

Scotland’s medal winners

• Gold – Women’s Fours: Dawn Anderson, Claire McCurdie, Sarah-Jane Ewing and Gail Notman

• Silver – Men’s Singles: Ewan Shearer

• Silver – Men’s Fours: Gordon White, Liam Nicolson, Greg Logan and Lewis Betts

• Bronze – Women’s Singles: Leah McCloy

Ireland were presented with the Andy Meekison Trophy as the best-performing nation across the eight disciplines.

Congratulations to all ten Scottish players and the team’s coaches and support staff on their performances throughout the Championships.

Photo credit: Bowls Europe / Sporting Highlights