Willie Wood (bowler)

William Walker Wood MBE (born 26 April 1938[1] in Haddington, East Lothian[2]) is a former Scottish professional bowls player, who has mainly competed in the outdoor or lawn form of the game. He is regarded as one of the leading bowlers of his generation and his list of achievements include appearing at eight Commonwealth Games and winning two gold medals and eight World Bowls Championship gold medals.

For other people named Willie Wood, see Willie Wood (disambiguation).
Willie Wood
Personal information
Nationality Scotland
Born (1938-04-26) 26 April 1938
Gifford, East Lothian
Sport
SportBowls
ClubGifford BC
Medal record
Representing  Scotland
World Outdoor Championships
1980 Melbourne Men's fours
1980 Melbourne Men's team
1984 Aberdeen Men's singles
1984 Aberdeen Men's team
1988 Auckland Men's singles
1988 Auckland Men's triples
1992 Worthing Men's triples
1992 Worthing Men's team
1992 Worthing Men's fours
1996 Adelaide Men's triples
1996 Adelaide Men's team
2000 Johannesburg Men's triples
2000 Johannesburg Men's fours
2004 Ayr Men's triples
2004 Ayr Men's team
2008 Christchurch Men's triples
Commonwealth Games
1974 ChristchurchMen's singles
1978 EdmontonMen's pairs
1982 BrisbaneMen's singles
1990 AucklandMen's fours

Early life

Wood took up bowls at the age of 12,[3] perhaps unsurprisingly as his father, grandfather and mother all played the sport. With little else to occupy his time, Wood says he elected to bowl in his home village of Gifford, rather than brave the bus journey to the swimming baths at nearby North Berwick.

Wood undertook his national service with the British Army, joining aged 18, serving in Germany with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.[3] He later ran his own garage before concentrating on bowls.[3]

Bowls career

World Championships

Wood has won sixteen medals at the World Outdoor Bowls Championship including eight gold medals.[4] He first won two medals at the 1980 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Melbourne in the fours and team event (Leonard Trophy).

He competed in the finals of the 1984 and 1988 World Bowls Championship singles (held every four years), missing out by millimetres to Peter Belliss of New Zealand in 1984 on home soil in Aberdeen. He was back in the final four years later in Auckland, New Zealand but was beaten by England's David Bryant. He did however win team gold.[5] During the 1988 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Auckland he won two silver medals and four years later picked up two golds and one bronze at the 1992 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Worthing.

Two further gold medals were added during the 1996 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Adelaide and two bronze medals were won at the 2000 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Johannesburg. On home turf in Ayr at the 2004 World Outdoor Bowls Championship he won two golds. Wood competed in nine World Championships in total and most recently a gold medal in the triples at the 2008 event in Christchurch, New Zealand.[3]

Commonwealth Games

Wood first represented his country in 1966 and in 2002 became the first athlete to compete in a 7th Commonwealth Games.[6] His Commonwealth Games career included a singles bronze in 1974, a silver in the pairs in 1978, individual gold in 1982 and a captain's role in the 1990 winning fours team.[6] The feat is even more remarkable as, had internal politics not forced him out of the 1986 games (held, ironically, in Scotland), Wood could have competed in more.[7] After refusing to be reclassified as an amateur, the Scotland team decided not to select the World Championship runner-up, denying him the chance to compete in Edinburgh, at a bowling green just metres from Tynecastle Park – home of his beloved Heart of Midlothian FC. In 2002, Wood was reported to be disappointed that Team Scotland athletes voted to give cyclist Craig MacLean the honour of carrying the flag at the opening ceremony, despite Wood's record-breaking achievement. Aged 72, Wood was included in Scotland's team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, extending his record to an eighth games, and making him the oldest competitor at the games.[3][8][9]

National

Wood also competed in over forty home international events and won the 2006 national pairs title for Gifford BC.[10]

Awards

In 2007, Wood became the first bowler to be inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.[7] Wood retired from international bowls in 2011, although he intends to continue to compete at national level.[7][11] His final act as an outdoor internationalist was to help Scotland retain the Home Internationals Series for a recording breaking forty-second time. Woods retired with an impressive total of 134 outdoor caps to his name.[12]

Wood was awarded the MBE for services to sport in 1992.[7] He has also written an instructional book, A Bias to Bowls, which was published in 1990.

References
  1. Newby, Donald (1987). Daily Telegraph Bowls Yearbook 88. Telegraph Publications. ISBN 0-86367-220-5.
  2. "Willie Wood", Commonwealth Games Scotland, retrieved 7 July 2011
  3. Cyriac, Biju Babu (2010) "Great Scot! At 72, Willie Wood oldest athlete at CWG", Times of India, 29 September 2010, retrieved 7 July 2011
  4. "Profile". Bowls Tawa.
  5. Sullivan, Patrick (1986). Guinness Bowls Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-414-3.
  6. Lindsay, Clive (2002) "Wood and Wilkins enjoy records", BBC, 27 July 2002, retrieved 7 July 2011
  7. Berkeley, Sam (2011) "Willie Wood hangs up his Scotland cap", East Lothian Courier, 30 June 2011, retrieved 7 July 2011
  8. Hannan, Martin (2010) "Veteran Willie Wood unfazed as first Scots head to India", The Scotsman, 26 September 2010, retrieved 7 July 2011
  9. "Athletes and Results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  10. Woods, Jon (2007) "Evergreen Wood to celebrate milestone", Daily Telegraph, 27 June 2007, retrieved 7 July 2011
  11. "The End Of An Era – Willie Wood Bows Out", Commonwealth Games Scotland, 1 July 2011, retrieved 7 July 2011
  12. "WILLIE WOOD BOWLS OUT ON A HIGH". Taylor Bowls. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
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