Team Malta completed its competitive commitments at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Saturday, with Shaun Parnis and Troy Lorimer ending their men’s pairs lawn bowls campaign with a convincing victory.
The Maltese pair defeated Niue’s Tifaga Tupuiliu and Keith Papani in straight sets, winning 6–4 and 11–0 to secure fourth place in their group.
Connie Rixon also completed her women’s singles programme, while Friday’s action included performances from Rachela Pace in athletics and James Zahra in judo, alongside Katryna Esposito’s bronze medal.
Parnis And Lorimer End Campaign In Style
Parnis and Lorimer made a strong start against the Niue pair, consistently placing their bowls around the head during the opening set.
Lorimer led accurately throughout, creating opportunities for Parnis as Malta claimed the first set 6–4.
The pair carried that momentum into the second set and dominated from start to finish.
They scored 11 shots without reply to complete an 11–0 set victory and finish fourth in their group.
Rixon Faces Canada In Final Group Match
Connie Rixon began her final round-robin match positively against Canada’s Kelly McKerihen, taking the opening ends before her opponent settled into the contest.
McKerihen narrowly edged the first set 8–7.
The Canadian then controlled the second set, winning 11–0 to secure the match.
Pace Comes Close To Long Jump Final
Rachela Pace competed in Group B of the women’s long jump qualification on Friday.
Her opening jump of 6.16 metres placed her in contention for one of the 12 available final positions. She followed it with a second-round effort of 6.06 metres.
Pace needed 6.23 metres or better with her final attempt to qualify.
Her third jump improved on her earlier efforts but was ruled a foul, leaving her in 14th place among the 24 competitors — two positions outside the final.
The performance brought her close to her season’s best of 6.30 metres.
Zahra Starts Strongly In Judo Contest
James Zahra faced Vanuatu’s Alan Monthouel in judo and made a positive start to the match.
Zahra combined an uchi-mata inner-thigh throw with a ko-uchi-gake inner minor hook, earning a yuko when Monthouel landed on his side.
The contest later moved to the ground, where Monthouel secured a yoko-shiho-gatame side hold for the required 20 seconds to win the match.
Rixon Wins Against Jersey
Rixon opened Friday’s lawn bowls programme with a victory against Jersey.
She won the first set 7–4 before Jersey responded by taking the second 5–4, forcing a deciding tie-break end.
Rixon held her nerve and scored two shots to win the tie-break 2–0.
She later faced England’s Katherine Read, the section leader and a seven-time indoor champion.
Rixon controlled the opening set to win 8–5 and also began the second positively. Read recovered to take it 8–7 and force another tie-break.
One decisive bowl secured the match for Read in a closely fought finish.
Closing Ceremony To Conclude Malta’s Commitments
Team Malta’s final official commitment at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games is the closing ceremony on Sunday evening.
The ceremony follows a campaign that included Katryna Esposito’s bronze medal and Maltese representation across lawn bowls, athletics and judo.
