Christchurch woman wins bowling gold medal with Team England

Lynn Squibb, from Christchurch, was part of Team England at the IBF Super Senior (over 65s) World Championships in Cali, Colombia.

She was a part of the gold medal-winning team which defeated the home team in a thrilling final, emerging victorious 2-1 despite the home crowd willing their team on.

Lynn said it was an ‘amazing feeling’ to take home the gold medal.

“[It is] something I’d never ever dreamt that I’d be a part of, but [it was] absolutely amazing,” Lynn said.

“All of the medals that I’ve won are a part of the team, not as an individual. It’s the team that I was with, and the spirit that that team had was just amazing.”

As well as winning gold alongside teammates Angie Brown, Carole Orange and Diane Johnson, Lynn took home bronze in the pair’s competition with Carole.

After the initial round of bowling, Lynn and Carole were sat in second place, behind their compatriots.

“We were both guaranteed a medal, it just depends on which one,” Lynn said. “We then played in the quarter-finals and were beaten, so we came away with bronze, which was amazing.

“I never dreamt I’d win a bronze medal so that was just fantastic.”

In the team’s competition, the England four were top of the pile heading into the knockout rounds.

After beating fourth-placed Puerto Rico in the semi-finals, they faced home favourites Colombia and edged them out 2-1 in a close final.

“[It was] an absolutely amazing feeling, to know that you’ve won a world championship medal,” Lynn said.

“We bowled as a team, and it was such a fantastic feeling working as a team together.

“It wasn’t one individual, we worked as a team to do it.”

She also finished sixth in the individual standings, taken from her bowling across all competitions at the championships in December.

England and Dorset teammate Angie Brown emerged victorious in the individual rankings, with Lynn describing her achievements as ‘amazing’.

Lynn began bowling 30 years ago when she was in the Wrens in Portsmouth.

She represented both Hampshire and later Dorset, and first bowled for Team England in 2022 at the Triple Crown in Dublin.