Wales's Daniel Salmon halted the winning momentum of England's Jamie Walker at the World Bowls Atlantic Championships in Cardiff ©Getty Images

England’s Jamie Walker lost his lead in the first section of the men’s singles competition at the World Bowls Atlantic Championships in Cardiff as he suffered his first defeat at the hands of home bowler Daniel Salmon, who won Commonwealth pairs gold last year.

That allowed South Africa’s Pierre Breitenbach, who extended his unbeaten record today against Jersey’s Ross Davis, Argentina's Jose Riveros and France’s Amaury Dumont, to establish himself in the lead.

Scotland’s Commonwealth Games champion Darren Burnett dropped off top spot in the second section as he was held to a 20-20 draw in his match against Malta’s Brendan Aquilina.

Malta's Brendan Aquilina halted the winning run of Scotland's Darren Burnett at the World Bowls Atlantic Championships in Cardiff today ©Getty Images
Malta's Brendan Aquilina halted the winning run of Scotland's Darren Burnett at the World Bowls Atlantic Championships in Cardiff today ©Getty Images

Although Burnett won his other games against opponents from Hungary and Turkey, his failure to close out another win allowed Namibia’s Cabous Olivier to edge ahead after he had maintained his winning run against opponents from Cyprus, Brazil and Switzerland.

Wales’ Ben Thomas, Ross Owen, Stephen Harris and Jon Tomlinson lead section one in the men’s fours despite losing their second match today to Guernsey, 16-10.

Ireland’s Aaron Tennant, Neil Mulholland, Andy Kyle and Mark Wilson lost their position at the top of the section two standings after losing 14-9 to England, with South Africa and Scotland now jointly topping the section, unbeaten.

Welsh duo Sarah-Marie Nicholls and Ysie White still lead the women’s pairs section despite an 18-14 loss to Israel today, while England’s Rebecca Wigfield and Natalie Chestney head section two after further wins against the Netherlands and Namibia.