It was another mixed day for the Jackaroos at Glasgow 2026 as Aaron Wilson narrowly missed out on a medal, while three other disciplines opened their campaigns.
Men’s singles
The two-time defending champion Wilson was downed by Northern Irishman and Warrilla’s very own Gary Kelly 4-4 9-2.
Wilson and Kelly exchanged the mat early on in the contest with some sublime shot making from both, and it remained as such with Kelly able to score a one to tie the opener.
The second saw the Australian take the opening end before Kelly made a vital full count to grab the momentum with full force and race to a 5-1 buffer.
Kelly continued to mount the pressure, leaving Wilson needing two full counts to send it to a tiebreak.
While the Australian was able to win the final end, Kelly had done enough to gain some revenge for the gold medal match at Birmingham 2022.
Women’s singles
It was a brilliant start to Ellen Fife’s title defence as she defeated Canadian and Clayton’s Kelly McKerihen 5-8 8-5 1-0 in her first sectional game.
McKerihen came out firing in the opening set, racing to an 8-0 buffer before Fife stormed back to gain the final five shots of the set, it was however to no avail as the Canadian gained the ascendancy.
The second was much closer as Fife emerged with a 6-4 lead with two ends to play as she looked to send it to a tiebreak.
McKerihen pulled one shot back heading into the seventh exchange with the Australian needing to win it to continue the contest.
Fife obliged and played a superb tiebreak to take a vital victory and kickstart her campaign in style.
She will be back in action tomorrow against England’s Katherine Rednall (Wednesday 9:45pm AEST) in what promises to be a tantalising contest.
Para men’s pairs
2023 World Champions Damien Delgado and James Reynolds commenced their Glasgow 2026 tournament in fine fashion with a gritty 5-6 3-2 1-0 salutation against New Zealand’s Kurt Smith and Mark Noble.
The Australians raced out to a 5-0 lead after two before their Trans Tasman rivals levelled proceedings after four.
Smith then played a superb end as lead to set up the final exchange as the Blackjacks gained the lead.
Delgado and Reynolds took the first two ends of the second set as well, and like a complete carbon copy of the first, Smith and Noble drew level ahead of the fifth and final end.
Noble drew a brilliant shot with his second before Reynolds played the bowl of the match to trail the jack into the ditch to send the contest to a tiebreak.
The one-end shootout was a tense battle, with Delgado and Reynolds managing to hold a few before Noble’s final delivery.
Chasing his bowl down, the New Zealander was urging and willing his bowl home but it dropped just short as determined by a nerve wracking measure.
Delgado and Reynolds will be back in action tomorrow against England’s Joe Peplow and Kieran Rollings (Wednesday 9:45pm AEST).
Para women’s pairs
Australia’s oldest athlete at Glasgow 2026, Louise Hoskins, and Serena Bonnell suffered a less than ideal start to their event with a 7-1 … loss to New Zealand’s 2023 World Bowls Championships winning pair in Julie O’Connell and Teri Blackbourn.
The opening set saw the New Zealanders quell any shot that the green and gold would hold, running out to set victory.
Set two was more of the same as the Blackjacks maintained the pressure to down the Australians in straight sets.
Hoskins and Bonnell will be back in action tomorrow against England’s Michelle White and Helen Wood (Thursday 2:50am AEST).
Men’s pairs
Corey Wedlock and Aaron Teys will play their first sectional game tomorrow against Pakistan’s Maqsood Wasim Khan and Mohammed Ayub Quereshi (Wednesday 8:20pm AEST).
