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"ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING IN BOWLS!" SAYS 2024 OSC GRAND FINAL WINNER SAM TOLCHARD |
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The 35-year-old electrician was drawn in a tough round-robin group
featuring Martin Puckett, Pat Briscoe and Martin Shepherd. After
finishing day one unscathed, he faced a tough quarter final match
against Mickey Titcombe then beat eat Scott Edwards 2-0 in the semi
final. His opponent in the final was emerging talent Finley Williamson, who Sam says has a great future in the sport: "Finn played really well and has a great attitude so his time is just around the corner and I'm sure he will go far. I haven't played in the OSC for around 15 years but I've enjoyed the four tournaments I've played in this year, the atmosphere is always really good. "The Grand Final was a really well-run event. It was a busy and long weekend for me with lots of games, but after winning my three group games I felt confident going into day two. I had some tight games and some tie breaks but I was really happy to win this for the first time." A well-known name around the world, Sam, a father-of-three, started bowling at Teignbridge IBC at the age of five, following his late father Ray and uncles Roger and Jeff, who were all successful cricketers previously. Younger sister Sophie has also enjoyed much success, most recently being part of the four that won gold in the 2023 World Bowls Championship in Australia. Sam said: "I used to go and watch Dad, who'd started a few years earlier, play and wanted to get involved myself. It went from there. I started outdoors a few years later. "I don't think there's any other game that offers as much for everyone. You can compete, you can play socially, you can join bowls after playing another sport and you can play at any age. It's very appealing for everyone." In terms of his approach to singles games, Sam says he treats every end as if it's the most important one he's ever played. "I don't change what I do in singles whether it's 21 shots or sets, my approach is the same - I just try to play the best I possibly can. "I absolutely hate dropping counts and in sets, if you do that you're in a bit of trouble. If you can keep a count to one two maximum, you're not going to lose many games. "The first set is the most important in sets, getting off to a good start and giving yourself an extra point going into the second because you can afford to draw the set. However, I think sometimes it's easy to relax a bit too much having won the first. "If you lose a set, you can just reset for the next with a 0-0 scoreline and that's the greatest thing about that format. In the tie break it's slightly different, I think about each end as if I'm 20-20 in a game of singles." Sam, who has a clutch of national and British Isles titles to his name, both indoors and outdoors, lists his greatest achievement on the green as winning the World Champion of Champions in New Zealand in 2022. "It meant a lot because it's so hard to win the national singles in England and there are so many good players who never get to do that, so to even have the chance to play in this competition is pretty special. When I won the singles the first time I couldn't play in it. I also think that bowling in New Zealand is the most different from our greens in England, even more so than in Australia. The field that year was also really tough so it meant a lot."  The title was Sam's first major international gold, having narrowly missed out in the final of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in the pairs just weeks before. He also has three Commonwealth bronze medals to his name since making is debut in Delhi in 2010. Other successes that Sam regards as extra special are winning both the Bowls England two wood and four wood singles in 2021, being part of the four times winning Top Club team with Kings BC and winning the national pairs indoors and outdoors with Louis Ridout, including both British Isles titles. Sam's aims now in the game are 'to keep getting better and to keep winning.' "I would love to play in the BPL in Australia and I'm looking forward to playing in the World Indoor Singles Championship at Potters in January," he added. "Indoor bowls is the purest form of the sport we can get in the UK: it's so precise and you have to be accurate, that's what I enjoy about it, the challenge. If you don't play well, you won't win and generally the better player takes the match. I have played okay during certain seasons outdoors and won things and conversely, played really well and won nothing. That doesn't happen indoors." Sam admits that he doesn't always feel motivated, but his drive and determination to keep bowling is derived from playing well and winning. "That will always be my aim for every season," he said. "Generally I love sport and the competitive side, and bowls is what I can compete in at the highest level. If I come in at second or third place I don't see that as success. I always want to be playing in the top competitions against the very best players. "I'm also always trying to improve upon my own game, make little tweaks so I get better. Tiger Woods once said, "No matter how good you get you can always get better, and that's the exciting part," and that's what it's all about for me. I definitely think I can keep doing that and I work at my game to make that possible. I take no pleasure in beating a club bowler by a high score, that's not what bowls is about for me. Attitude and mentality is everything in sport and you can always improve - whether that's mentally or tactically." Sam will be playing in this weekend's EIBA international trial at Northampton IBC. He said: "I'm English and I'm patriotic so playing for my country is a great feeling; you're playing in a team and working towards a common goal. The standard is always high so it's a good test and that's what top level sport should be: seeing how you fare against the best." Sian Honnor. We' d love to know what bowls means to you, get in touch at info@eiba.co.uk Previous Article - Interview with Liz Gilham |
November 2024
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