Sam Tolchard of England, right, and Tayla Bruce of New Zealand won the men’s and women’s gold respectively at the World Bowls World Singles Champion of Champions event ©World Bowls

Sam Tolchard of England and Tayla Bruce of New Zealand won the men’s and women’s gold respectively at the World Bowls World Singles Champion of Champions event.

Tolchard defeated Malaysian Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple 12-3, 4-6, 3-2 in the men’s final at the Naenae club in Wellington.

The women’s final saw Bruce get the better of Australia’s Carla Krizanic 8-6, 10-9.

Tolchard won nine of his 10 starts in the round-robin matches, including impressive wins against home favourite Kelvin Scott and Scotland’s Gordon White.

In the semi-finals, he beat Irish Gary McCloy while Dzulkeple shocked defending champion Lee Schraner from Australia.

Bruce, who is a four-time national champion, showed early signs of grabbing the top prize in the tournament.

She won two elimination matches against Marea Modutlwa from Botswana and the United States champion Anne Nunes in the semi-final.

The confidence from winning the women’s four bronze at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games helped her in the home tournament.

With the win, Bruce joined an elite list of former champions like Jan Khan, Jo Edwards, Sandra Keith, Ali Forsyth, Tony Grantham and Shannon McIlroy.

Meanwhile, her final opponent Krizanic topped the group stages and beat Mel Thomas from Wales in a semi-final.