Scotland strike gold and bronze in opening half of European Championships
Scotland have secured one gold and one bronze medal from the opening four disciplines of the 2026 European Championships at Llandrindod Wells Bowling Club.
Dawn Anderson, Claire McCurdie, Sarah Jane Ewing and Gail Notman were crowned European Women’s Fours champions, while Leah McCloy completed an excellent Women’s Singles campaign by claiming bronze.
Women’s Fours crowned European champions
Scotland’s Women’s Fours produced a superb comeback to defeat Jersey 10-8 in Tuesday afternoon’s gold-medal match.
After falling 6-0 behind across the opening three ends, Anderson, McCurdie, Ewing and Notman fought their way back into the contest. With the match going down to the final end, Notman delivered an excellent last bowl to secure the European title.
The quartet had booked their place in the final earlier in the day with a commanding 14-4 semi-final victory over Ireland, with the result confirmed before the final end had to be played.
Scotland began the Championships with convincing section victories over Israel and Portugal, winning 19-4 and 18-4 respectively despite difficult weather conditions and heavy showers on the opening day.
They continued their strong form with a 27-5 victory over Türkiye before suffering their only section defeat, 14-4 against Wales.
A dramatic 11-10 win over Spain followed on Monday. Scotland entered the final end four shots behind but scored a five to turn the match around and secure victory.
A 15-8 win against Switzerland in their final section match completed a record of five victories from six and set up their successful run through the medal matches.
McCloy secures Women’s Singles bronze
Leah McCloy delivered another medal for Scotland with a convincing 21-9 victory over Ireland’s Shauna O’Neill in the Women’s Singles bronze-medal match.
The Cardonald bowler made an excellent start to the competition, recording a dominant 21-2 win against Italy before overcoming Wales 20-18 in a much tighter contest.
A 21-5 victory over Israel secured a third consecutive win before McCloy completed the section with a 21-12 defeat against the Netherlands, finishing second with three victories from four.
After progressing through the qualification stage on Tuesday morning, McCloy faced the Netherlands again in the semi-final. A closely fought match ended in a narrow 14-12 defeat, but she responded brilliantly against Ireland to finish the opening half of the Championships on the podium.
Men’s teams reach qualification play-offs
Scotland’s Men’s Pairs recovered strongly from a difficult start to finish second in their section.
After defeats against Ireland and Israel, the pair kept their qualification hopes alive with an emphatic 25-6 victory over Sweden.
Their final section match against Portugal came down to shot difference. Scotland led 14-9 when they required three shots on the last end and produced exactly that, completing a 17-9 victory and edging Portugal by a single shot on the overall standings.
Their campaign eventually ended in Tuesday morning’s qualification play-off following a closely contested match.
The Men’s Triples also progressed to the qualification play-offs after winning four of their five section fixtures.
Following an opening 16-7 defeat against Ireland, Scotland responded with four commanding victories. They defeated Switzerland 25-6, Czech Republic 30-6, Spain 27-6 and Hungary 27-3 to finish second in their section with an impressive shot difference of plus 79.
They were unable to progress through Tuesday’s qualification play-off, bringing a positive campaign featuring four emphatic victories to an end.
Attention now turns to the second half of the Championships, with Scotland competing in the Women’s Pairs, Women’s Triples, Men’s Singles and Men’s Fours before the remaining medals are decided on Saturday 26 September.