| Sam Tolchard | |
| Nationality: | British (English) |
| Birth Date: | 27 May 1989 |
| Birth Place: | Torquay, England |
| Sport: | Bowls |
| Club: | Torquay Utd (indoors) Kings BC (outdoors) |
| Highestranking: | 16 (August 2024)[1] |
Sam Tolchard (born 27 May 1989) is an English international lawn and indoor bowler.[2] [3]
In 2009, he won the singles and triples silver medals at the Atlantic Bowls Championships[4] [5] and the following year in 2010, he won the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic pairs title with Robert Newman.[6]
He competed for England in the men's pairs at the 2014 Commonwealth Games[7] where he won a bronze medal.[8] [9]
He was selected as part of the English team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Queensland[10] where he claimed a bronze medal in the Fours with David Bolt, Jamie Chestney and Louis Ridout.[11] [12]
In 2019, he won the triples bronze medal at the Atlantic Bowls Championships[13] and in 2020, he was selected for the 2020 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Australia but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] In 2022, he competed in the men's pairs and the men's fours at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[15] Partnering Jamie Walker he won the pairs silver medal, losing out to Wales in the final and in the fours he also secured a bronze medal.[16]
In November 2022, he won the gold medal at the World Singles Champion of Champions in Wellington, New Zealand.[17]
In 2023, he was selected as part of the team to represent England at the 2023 World Outdoor Bowls Championship.[18] He participated in the men's singles and the men's pairs events.[19] [20] In the singles, he won his group undfeated but then lost to Iain McLean at the quarter final stage.
He has won eight National Championship titles, including six singles titles.[21] [22] He bowls outdoors for Kings BC, who have won the Top Club championship four years running from 2016 to 2019.[23]
National titles
Tolchard is the brother of England international bowler Sophie Tolchard.[24] His father, Ray Tolchard, played cricket for Devon and was a first-class cricket umpire, and his uncle Roger Tolchard played Test cricket for England and county cricket for Leicestershire. Another uncle, Jeffrey Tolchard, also played cricket for Leicestershire and played football for Torquay United and Exeter City.[25]