Northampton bowler Jamie Walker wins Commonwealth silver after dramatic final
Northampton bowls star Jamie Walker said England were left to rue "one or two bowls" after narrowly missing out on Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow.
Walker, 34, and partner Nick Brett were beaten in a dramatic tie-break by Northern Ireland's Gary Kelly and Andy McKeown in the men's pairs final, leaving the England duo to settle for silver.
The pair had fought back after a slow start to force the match into a tie-break but were edged out by a decisive final bowl from Kelly.
Walker, who also won silver in the men's pairs at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games four years ago, said: "We're happy to put ourselves in a position to do one better – Birmingham was the same, just one or two bowls here or there.
"But that's what our sport is at the top level – players are so good that it's literally just a bowl or two here.
"You can not be doing a lot wrong in the game and still be put under pressure."
Reflecting on the profile the Games has given the sport, he added: "Every time the sport gets coverage like this, you hear things from back home and people who don't play the sport, it reaches wider people and it's great for the sport."
Walker and Brett had reached the final after defeating Canada in straight sets.
Brett said: "It wasn't a vintage performance from us. They got out of the traps quicker than we did and we had to battle back in the second set, which we did.
"We forced it to a tie-break but just couldn't find that one killer bowl early enough to make it really hard for them.
"Silver is fine but right now we'd love to have played an extra good shot."
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