Aaron Wilson's Commonwealth Games reign is over, losing the tiebreak in an absorbing bowls semi-final against Malaysian Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple.
The man known as "Disco" was in no mood to dance after giving up a three-shot lead in the second set early on Tuesday morning (AEST) and did not speak to media.
He was aiming for a third-straight men's singles title and becoming the first Australian bowler to win three Games gold medals.
"He's put so much work into it. Obviously the three-peat was weighing heavily and he played really well - results don't go your way sometimes," Australian head coach Gary Willis told AAP.
"He put himself in a really good position. It was just that spurt of those three ends where the Malaysian played a couple of really crucial bowls."
It was the latest tight loss for the Australian bowls team, after the para-bowls mixed pairs narrowly failed to progress late on day three.
Earlier on day four, the Australian women's pairs failed by just one point to reach their semi-final.
Wilson went point for point with Dzulkeple in the first set, pulling away late to win 5-2.
The Australian then opened up his 4-1 lead before everything changed at the fourth end.
Wilson was three shots up before the Malaysian staged a six-shot turnaround to take the end and tie the set.
It was the first time in the tournament that Wilson, who had not dropped a set in the group stage, had given up three points in an end.
The Malaysian was on a tear, going on to claim the set 9-4 and then the tiebreaker 1-0. He will play England's Sam Tolchard in the final.
Ellen Fife, whose singles campaign will start on day five, is also aiming for her third Games gold medal after claiming the singles and women's pairs titles in Birmingham.
Earlier on day four, it was heartbreak for women's pairs teammates Kelsey Cottrell and Dawn Hayman, who missed out on their semi-final by a solitary point.
Cottrell and Hayman needed to beat Northern Ireland's Chloe Wilson and Shauna O'Neill by 10 points to leapfrog them to the top of Group A.
Instead, Australia won 9-4 5-1 to just fall short.
So while the Irish women hugged in jubilation as they progressed to the semis, the body language of the Australians showed how deep the win had cut.
"We were pretty close ... right until the last bowl, but it didn't go our way," Cottrell told AAP.
Cottrell reflected on how close they had come and what might have been the difference.
"When it comes down to that, you never know which one (end) it is," she said.
"It's never the last bowl of the game, it's always something that's happened throughout the game, where you just didn't take that one opportunity or you dropped short, whatever it might have been.
"But we can't dwell on it too much, we have to put on a happy face for the rest of the Australians who are still going."
