Bowls: Silver medal for Taranaki bowler at Games

Grant Hassall

New Plymouth bowler Kurt Smith has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Smith teamed with Hasting’s Mark Noble to make the final of the Para men’s pairs.

But the final was one hurdle too far, with the duo going down to Australia’s Damien Delgado and James Reynolds 8-1, 7-2.

Despite the defeat, Smith was thrilled with the silver achievement, a feat that had captured the attention of many in Taranaki. And deservedly so. Smith had an outstanding tournament, with many observers rating him the best of the five New Zealand leads on display throughout the carnival, including able-body players Tony Grantham and Seline Goddard.

Smith debunked the truism that pairs is a leads game in the final. While Delgado played very well, Smith held the shot on eight of the 10 ends. Reynolds, though, consistently converted the head, with some impeccable play.

Luck was on Reynolds’ side on the opening end twice, when attacking play saw the Australians grab a three. It set the tone for set one.

The second set was much tighter, with Australia just one point in front playing the last end.

After losing their opening game to Australia in a tiebreaker, Smith and Noble won their next three. Aan academic fifth-round loss to England was soon forgotten when the result was reversed 6-5, 5-3 in the semifinals.

Smith admitted after the final that he would have “signed the dotted line” had he been offered a silver medal a few months ago. The support he has received had been huge.

“The phone has been blowing up the whole time. I haven’t been able to keep up with it. A big thank you to all my friends and family back home for all those messages and support. It’s been unreal.”

After the medal ceremony, Smith admitted to feeling emotional. “It’s all just surreal. Just a real special moment. I’ve got a couple of family members in the crowd,” he said. “I’m getting ready to go home and see the rest of my family and friends. It will be awesome.”

A refrigeration engineer, educated at Francis Douglas Memorial College, Smith took up bowls with the Oakura club in 2015. The 36-year-old won the Taranaki junior singles in 2020 and has been a regular member of representative sides, initially with the development and latterly the seniors.

Since becoming part of the Bowls NZ high performance system, his growth has been immense. Among his 2025 achievements were a bronze in the World Cup pairs and victories in the NZ para pairs, the NZ interclub with Paritutu, and the Taranaki champion-of-champions pairs.

Smith’s grandfather, Ron, played bowls at the Toko and Stratford clubs and was runner-up in the 2000 champion-of-champions triples. Brother Chad currently plays for Waimea while father Wayne, a vocal member of the crowd greenside in Glasgow, intends to play this coming season.

In attending the Games, Smith became the eighth Taranaki bowler to do so, and the third one to win silver.

After winning gold in 1974, Dave Baldwin took silver in 1978, a feat repeated four years later when women were introduced to the festival, with Pearl Dymond part of the triples team. Aidan Zittersteijn, representing the Cook Islands, won a bronze in the men’s pairs in 2018.

Other past competitors have included Stratford baker Edward Leach (1930), Maurice Symes and John Murtagh (1986) and Brian Baldwin (1998). Symes, who has been involved in the coaching of Smith over recent times, won a bronze in the pairs in 1990. He was then living in Wellington.