RACHEL IS ON A BOWLS ROLL Sinclair represents Scotland
A Cambuslang bowler has capped off a glorious month on the greens by representing her country at an international tournament and retaining a domestic honour.
Scottish women’s ace Rachel Sinclair was appearing in her first competition in Belfast as a fully fledged member of the senior squad.
It was her second stint with the national side after turning out last year at the International Series as a reserve which sees the best female bowlers from around Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands compete.
Favourites England performed as expected by ending their campaign with four wins from four, while Sinclair was on top form to bag her nation second spot and bowl a record points tally in the process.
Scotland’s two victories over Jersey and Wales cemented second spot in the competition which delighted Sinclair and her team. She said: “I really enjoyed it and it was good being part of the squad again.
“I’ve played against England before in the past so I knew what we’d be up against; they are a really good team and they always seem to pip us to the post.
“We went out on the Tuesday to come second so we achieved what we set out to do.
“We beat Jersey in the first game and actually broke a record with the highest points scored in a match by winning 179-72, the highest a team has ever scored against another in the competition.
“We did lose to Ireland by a couple of shots with what was the last bowls of the game and got beaten by England.
“But we did win against Wales by 19 shots and we finished second overall.
“England won four out of four games and we had a freak result against Ireland which sort of done for us in the end.”
There was more cause for celebration for the Rutherglen nursery nurse as she retained her title in the East Renfrewshire singles event just days after her turnout for the country.
The bowler, who plays for Kingswood in the outdoors season, will now play in the Bowls Scotland finals at Northfield in the singles and under-25 singles competition next month.
“I retained my title which I’m really happy about,” Rachel continued.
“I’ve also qualified for the Scottish finals at Northfield which is a big competition.
“I enjoy it because it is like the county singles where you play other people from other associations.”
Rachel, who plays indoor bowls with the West of Scotland Bowling Club, is now looking forward to representing the junior ladies Scotland team from July 20-21 in Leamington Spa, England.