Already one of the most decorated sportspeople from the island and long established on the international stage, the 51-year-old bowls star now has an appearance on the Commonwealths podium to add to her extensive CV, which also includes multiple world titles.
‘The World Championships is for me the biggest, but the Commonwealth Games, when you are here as a team, is high up there and getting a medal is just fantastic,’ she said, after revealing that she had been pulled in for a random drugs test after her medal ceremony.
‘The team management and the whole team have been fabulous, supporting each other throughout. It has just been an amazing atmosphere.’
In a ruthless format, Merrien had to top her star-studded group of six to progress to Saturday’s semi-finals in which she beat Malaysia’s Emma Firyana Saroji, who is number one in the World Bowls Series female rankings.
That victory set up a clash of two reigning world champions with Katherine Rednall in the gold medal match, which was close throughout, but the England star emerged victorious 8-6, 8-3.
‘I felt I was playing decently well going into the singles and my hope was to get to a semi-final and anything after that was a bonus,’ said Merrien.
‘In that semi-final I went out and played well. I was enjoying my game and it is a nice feeling to know you have got a medal whatever the outcome the next day.
‘I still went out and gave it my all. I did not quite hit the level I did in the semi-final and there were some close calls – those fine margins make a difference.
‘Obviously it’s disappointing to lose, but I’m happy to have a medal. I had a laugh with Katherine and Shae [Wilson, the bronze medallist from Norfolk Island] on the podium that I am almost twice both of their ages.’
Gold medallist Rednall praised Merrien on TNT Sports after winning the final.
‘I knew that I would have to pull out the best game possible,’ she said.
‘Ali is such an amazing opposition, credit to her because she’s been fantastic this week.
‘I wasn’t looking forward to playing her at all, but just knew that I had to pull out a game running at 90% or 100% and I managed it.’
Having competed in the women’s pairs alongside Rose Ogier earlier in the Games, the women’s singles final was Merrien’s 13th match in Glasgow whereas Rednall, whose solitary focus was the singles, played eight.
In fact, Merrien was in competitive action in Glasgow before she even had the honour of being Guernsey’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, with the bowls having started on ‘day zero’.
‘We still look back [as a pair] a bit disappointed because in a group with Northern Ireland and Australia, all of us had the same number of wins but we placed third, so there is some frustration, but to say we achieved sixth overall is still something to be proud of.
‘In every discipline in the bowls here, we came in the top eight, so we have certainly hit our mark and made a big impression.’
Bowls accounts for a third of Guernsey’s Commonwealth Games medals and all three have been silvers, with Jenny Nicolle and Marie Smith finishing second in the women’s pairs at Edinburgh 1986 while four years ago in Birmingham Lucy Beere was also a women’s singles finalist.
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