Gary Kelly has won gold medals at the British, European and World Championships, as well as claiming silver and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games.

The Ballymoney native, who is now based in Australia, is eager to add the one medal missing from his collection - a Commonwealth Games gold – and he will have a chance to do it this summer in Glasgow after being selected to play singles and pairs.

“Commonwealth gold is the only one that's eluded me a little bit but I'm looking forward to it,” he said. "It's my fourth opportunity and I'll have two cracks. I'll have the singles discipline and the pairs discipline, so fingers crossed I can help Team Northern Ireland get gold in at least one of them, if not both of them.”

Kelly won a silver medal in Birmingham four years ago losing in the final of singles to Australia’s Aaron Wilson. He also reflected on claiming a bronze medal at his first Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.

placeholder image — The Team Northern Ireland bowls squad for Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, from left, Adam McKeown, Chloe Wilson, Shauna O’Neill and Gary Kelly. (Photo by Commonwealth Games NI)

“Of course there's disappointment from four years ago...but there's still success there as well,” he added. "I'll definitely use it to motivate me, to inspire me and to obviously, it's made me very hungry and determined to try and achieve that gold medal. Hopefully it's helped me grow and I've gained knowledge and experience from that and I look forward to putting that all on the line and trying to get that gold this time round.

“There'll still be that super excitement, I mean you're representing Team Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, so it's absolutely amazing and it's a massive stage and obviously there's expectations there. Obviously everyone wants you to help our country achieve that success, but there’s a bit more knowledge, a bit more experience now and I've played quite a considerable amount of major events now and hopefully I can use all that experience to help me achieve the outcome that we all want.”

Kelly will team up with 2022 gold medallist Adam McKeown in the pairs, with the duo having won the world title together in the Gold Coast.

“There's a lot of respect there as a friend and obviously as a colleague on the ground you know he's got fantastic ability,” he continued. "I really enjoy playing with Adam. There's a lot of mutual respect there, so looking forward to that, I mean we've been fortunate enough to win the biggest prize. To win a gold medal in the world pairs is an amazing thing for both of us, so we'll use that and we'll take belief and trust in each other's ability and confidence going into this event.”

History is set to be made in Glasgow as bowls will be played indoors for the first ever time at the Commonwealth Games.

Kelly reflected: “Of course it's different but it's got similarities as well and I think both of us have got enough experience playing on carpet, you know we can take that in and have confidence. I'm fortunate enough where I'm based out in Australia we've actually got an indoor complex as well, so I have a lot of experience playing on carpet, so I'm looking forward to the challenge and I've got confidence in both of us to hopefully achieve good things.”

Kelly, who has been playing for 24 years, made from the move from Ballymoney to Australia in 2019.

“I was 12 years old when I started bowls...my school friend Conor Gilmore got me involved and introduced me to the sport and I've loved it ever since,” he explained. “I was at a multi-nations event in Wales in 2018. I met Aaron Teys who was representing Australia and he basically just said look there's an opportunity to potentially come out and play at our club and represent our club.

“A few emails back and forth and we made it happen so that was pretty much how it all happened. I moved there in January 2019 and I've really enjoyed the experience and loved it there and really embraced it. They've given me a very warm welcome and it's been a really, really cool experience.

“I suppose there was a little bit of a culture shock but there's a lot of similarities both here in Northern Ireland and Australia as such and also it wasn't a major, major shock and as I say I've really enjoyed it. The people have been fantastic. I'm the poles coordinator for the club I'm based at, so I've got a fantastic relationship with all the members and everything there and I couldn't have asked them to give me a warmer welcome and I just love it there.”

Playing full-time Down Under has helped develop Kelly as a bowler.

He stated: “I'd say my game has definitely improved and there's been a lot of fantastic players at the club throughout the years since I've been there and it's just one of those ones where you get to play more major events, more regularly and that's pretty much it. I travel the country most weeks playing and participating in different events against the best players in Australia and the best players in the world.

"It's definitely helped me grow as a player, gain more confidence, gain more knowledge and experience within the sport and more belief within myself so I think it's helped me improve. There will be a lot of time put on the green but I'm looking forward to it. I've got a multi-nationals event in Scotland now next week so I'm looking forward to that and then I'll go back to Australia and I actually have our own Warilla Gorilla four-a-side, which will then lead into the Australian Open which is a major event.”

TEAM NI: Gary Kelly (singles & pairs), Shauna O’Neill - (singles & pairs), Adam McKeown - (pairs), Chloe Wilson - (pairs).