First defeat for McIlroy

New Zealand men’s bowls singles rep Shannon McIlroy’s run through his draw came to a halt today when he went down to Englishman Robert Paxton.

McIlroy, 31, a veteran of the Glasgow and Delhi Commonwealth Games and the 2016 world singles champion, ended the day with a win and a loss, meaning he has had three wins in the tournament.

First up he beat Cephas Kimani of Kenya 21-10, and later he dealt to Englishman Robert Paxton.

He cautioned about reading too much into the final score of some matches. “Even though the scoreboard gives me an 11-shot win in the match against the Kenyan, it was tricky out there. I started well but the wind came up and the lines changed. I just had to be patient.”

Paxton was thought to be one of the stronger medal contenders but in one of the ironies of sport, he lost his first match today to Jamaican Andrew Newell 21-16. Yet yesterday McIlroy demolished Newell 21-0. Such is sport.

It was a relatively quiet day for the New Zealand bowlers.

The women’s pair of Jo Edwards, fresh from her singles gold medal, and Val Smith kept their unbeaten record intact, beating Tonga 29-6.

And in the women’s triple, New Zealand’s Tayla Bruce, Katelyn Inch and Mandy Boyd had one match late in the day. They beat Jersey 24-8 to keep their unbeaten record.