Wilf John

Thomas Wilfred Wilf John (25 October 1904 to October 1983) was a Welsh lawn bowler who competed at the Commonwealth Games. He bowled for the Rhymney Royal Bowls Club and in 1956 won the Welsh National Bowls Championships pairs title with Jack Lewis. That win led to their selection for the qualifying tournament in Cardiff for the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, which they won in unusual circumstances: the favourites withdrew because they had already qualified in the fours, and the Melyn pair then forfeited while ahead after the club president William Hughes collapsed and died in the clubhouse. John represented Wales in the pairs at the 1958 Games in Cardiff, where the Welsh team finished ninth. In 1962 he reached the national pairs final with his son Aeron John, losing to Emrys Jenkins and Fred Thomas of Llanelli, and he played for Wales from 1946 to 1963.