Laura Daniels (née Laura Thomas; born 31 May 1985) is a Welsh lawn and indoor bowler.

Bowls career

World Outdoor Championship

In 2016, Daniels won the gold medal with Jess Sims in the

pairs Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...

at the

2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at the Burnside Bowling Club in Avonhead, Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Ch ...

in Christchurch. In 2020, she was selected for the

2020 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 2020 World Outdoor Bowls Championship was to be the 14th edition of the World Championships to be held at the Broadbeach Bowls Club, Musgrave Hill Bowls Club and Club Helensvale on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. There were to be ei ...

in Australia but the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2023, she was selected as part of the team to represent Wales at the

2023 World Outdoor Bowls Championship 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. She participated in the women's triples and the women's fours events. In the fours, her team reached the quarter final before being beaten by England.

Commonwealth Games

She was selected as part of the

Welsh team Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

for the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

where she claimed a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the

Singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

losing out to

Jo Edwards Joanna Edwards (born 5 February 1970) is a New Zealand international lawn bowls competitor. She has won two world titles and three Commonwealth Games gold medals. Bowls career Outdoors At the 2002 Commonwealth Games she won a gold medal along w ...

in the final. In 2022, she competed in the women's singles and the women's triples at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

World Indoor Championship

Laura won the Women's singles title at the

2015 World Indoor Bowls Championship The 2015 Just Retirement World Indoor Bowls Championship was held at Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton on Sea, Great Yarmouth, England, from 09-25 January 2015. The men's singles title was won for a record-extending sixth time by Scotland's Alex Mar ...

defeating defending champion

Katherine Rednall Katherine Rednall (born 7 January 1996) is an English lawn and indoor bowler from Stowmarket. She is record five times women's world indoor singles champion. Bowls career Indoors Rednall became the youngest ever winner of a World Indoor Bowls ...

in the final. Daniels claimed a second singles title in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

by beating Katherine Rednall again, in a repeat of the 2015 final. Additionally she partnered with Paul Foster to win World Indoor Bowl's Mixed Pairs titles in 2013 and 2014.

National

After her 2016

Welsh National Bowls Championships The Welsh National Bowls Championships is organised by the Welsh Bowling Association The Welsh Bowling Association (WBA) is the governing body for men's outdoor bowling clubs in Wales. It has 10 affiliated counties and 286 affiliated clubs. The W ...

singles success she subsequently won the singles at the

British Isles Bowls Championships The British Isles Bowls Championships is a tournament held between the champions of their respective nations, England Scotland, Wales, combined Ireland and more recently Guernsey and Jersey. It was first held in 1960 although the triples event did ...

in 2017. She also won the Welsh National singles title in 2018.

Personal life

Her brother Ben Thomas is also a multiple

title winner.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Laura 1985 births Living people Welsh female bowls players Bowls World Champions Indoor Bowls World Champions Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Wales Commonwealth Games medallists in lawn bowls Bowls players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games