Commonwealth Games: Alex Marshall and Paul Foster seal bowls gold with thumping win
Last Updated: 28/07/14 6:16pm
Alex Marshall and Paul Foster stunned Malaysia 20-3 to hand Scotland their first Commonwealth Games bowls gold in eight years.
It took the dominant duo just 90 minutes to claim their medals as they won with three ends to spare in the pair's final at Kelvingrove.
Skip Marshall - a record 19-time world champion - celebrated that victory with an emotive first-clenched gesture to the crowd.
The duo hit the Malaysians with an early blitz picking up an astonishing 14 shots in the first seven ends to leave opposing pair Fairul Izwan Abd Muin and Muhammad Hizlee Abdul Rais looking badly out of their depth.
The Scots romped 19-0 ahead - just two shots shy of an automatic win but Malaysia ensured they did not suffer total humiliation as they picked up three shots over the 13th and 14th ends.
Marshall then wrapped up a near-flawless victory in the 15th exchange with a single before the Malaysians finally admitted the game was up and conceded.
Games record
The win also takes Scotland to 12 golds - a new Games record. The triumph is Marshall's third Commonwealth title after pairs victories in 2002 and 2006 but he said winning in front of a home crowd was his biggest achievement to date.
I have won two golds before but this one tops the lot. Playing in your own back yard, in front of your own fans - you just can't beat it. Simply the best.
Alex Marshall on victory
"This is just fantastic," said the 49-year-old from East Lothian. "I have won two golds before but this one tops the lot. Playing in your own back yard, in front of your own fans - you just can't beat it. Simply the best.
"It's definitely one of the highlights of my career. That is our 12th gold medal of the games for Team Scotland, so that is another record broken, which is fantastic.
"We got off to a good start. Paul was phenomenal from start to finish and that makes my job a lot easier.
"But even so, there was still a lot of pressure on us. We just had to keep going and that's what we did."
Meanwhile, England claimed bronze in the pairs contest as Andrew Knapper and Sam Tolchard beat Namibia's Douw Calitz and Wilem Erasmus Esterhuizen 19-12.
Earlier in the day, Northern Ireland had seen hopes of a first gold medal at Glasgow 2014 crushed when Neil Booth's triples team fell to South Africa 19-10 as the Rainbow Nation collected their sixth gold.
In the bronze-medal match, the Welsh trio of Marc Wyatt, Jonathan Tomlinson and Paul Taylor bounced back from their semi-final defeat to the Northern Ireland to beat Australia's Matt Flapper, Nathan Rice and Wayne Ruediger 16-13.
