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Richard Corsie

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It would be perhaps inaccurate to describe Richard Corsie as a reluctant sporting hero but it would be fair to say that he never appeared completely comfortable with his role as a bowling superstar.

Many argue that excellence on the green, whether indoor or outdoor, came too easily to Corsie and indeed many of his loyal followers eventually came to be frustrated, believing he could have achieved much more in his relatively short career than he actually did. However, the record shows that the two decades he strode the bowling greens of the world were literally strewn with major honours.

In many people's opinion, Corsie, born on 27 November 1966, is the greatest Scottish bowler of all time. When you consider that no fewer than six other Scots – Bob Sutherland, John Watson, Hugh Duff, David Gourlay, Paul Foster and Alex Marshall - have won the principal prize in the sport, the World Indoor Singles, and such as Willie Wood have appeared in seven Commonwealth Games and eight World Outdoor Championships, that is no mean claim.

Yet Corsie, by common consent, is considered the most natural talent and able exponent of them all. His first national success came outdoors when he won the Scottish Junior singles at Queen's Park in 1983 going on to add the British Isles junior title.

He was first capped outdoor in 1984 and appeared in every Scotland team from then until 1998. In his home city of Edinburgh in 1986 he made his Commonwealth Games debut at the tender age of 19, winning bronze in the singles, before repeating the achievement in Auckland four years later then finally striking gold in Victoria, Canada in 1994 defeating England's Tony Allcock in the singles final.

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Corsie was on the medal trail with a vengeance at the World Outdoor Championships in Worthing in 1992, teaming up with fellow Lothians star Alex Marshall to claim gold in the pairs and lifting silver in the singles.

Four years later he again won two medals at these championships, this time silver in the pairs with Marshall and bronze in the singles. One of his many attributes was the consummate ease with which he adapted to conditions overseas. His firsr major success furth of Scotland was in Hong Kong in November 1987 and two months later he celebrated another triumph, this time in Australia.

He once proudly claimed: "Every time I represented Scotland abroad in major events I returned with a medal!"

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Indoors he was Scottish junior champion in 1985 and 1989 but, surprisingly, never won the senior national title. However, he added the British Isles junior crown in 1989 and was capped continuously from 1989 to 1998.

Without doubt it was at the indoor code that he gained greatest fame with the millions who watch bowls on television. In 1989 at the Preston Guildhall he captured the first of three world singles title defeating his mentor and fellow Scot Willie Wood in the final.

Two years later he was back, seeing off the challenge of Australia's Ian Schuback before adding a record-equalling third title in 1993 when he enjoyed victory over Blantyre's Jim McCann. In 1994 and 1995 he finished runner-up, both times to Scots-born Londoner Andy Thomson and when the event switched from Lancashire to its present venue in Norfolk was runner-up twice again in 2001 and 2002 to Troon's Paul Foster and old adversary Tony Allcock.

The last two appearances in the final were remarkable in that Corsie competed at a time when he was hardly playing any bowls at all, such were the pressures of his business commitments.

Corsie was always an enigmatic character, someone of enormous talent and ability who did not hide the fact he would rather have possessed such skills on the golf course than the bowling green! He could appear distant and detached from his peers yet socially could be good company, possessing an instinctive understanding of how the media worked and what their needs were.

Veteran bowls writer and BBC TV commentator David Rhys Jones followed Corsie's progress throughout his career and considers him the "most naturally gifted player I have seen."

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Rhys Jones adds: "His record speaks for itself but it could have been even more impressive had he possessed the dedication and powers of application of such as David Bryant and Ian Schuback. The truth is he found bowls too easy and would often start like a well-oiled machine before seeming to lose interest. However when in the mood and firing on all cylinders he was a joy to behold and I count myself priviledged to have watched and commentated on most of his principal triumphs."

Awarded an MBE, Corsie "retired" from the sport in 2003, at the age of 37, to concentrate on his extensive business interests in the leisure industry leaving thousands of Scots bowlers saddened by his decision but much the richer for having enjoyed such a marvellous talent at its peak.

Written by: Ron Wyllie