Sarnian pair impress in Far East internationals

ANGELA BARTIE and Alison Merrien have been flying the Guernsey flag on the other side of the world. The Guernsey bowlers were members of the European side that faced Asia and Malaysia in two test matches.

Bartie (two) and Merrien (lead) were joined by Scottish bowlers Betty Forsyth (skip) and Sandra Steven (three).

Against Asia there was a team of fours, a triples, a pairs and a singles rink.

The Asian team was a mix of players from Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore and Japan. Gold medals were available for the highest points total over three days for each discipline.

Two games were played each day, with two points for a victory on the first, four points on the second and six on the third.

Europe lost the first match heavily and the afternoon clash by three points. But they recovered to take both matches on the second day, scoring eight points and leaving just one victory needed on the third to secure the tie.

However, Asia were not to be beaten, taking the first singles match by one shot and the second by two.

Europe moved on to Langkawi for the test against Malaysia. The green was an all-weather surface. Merrien played the singles and Jersey's Karina Horman came into the fours team.

With that quartet winning and Merrien beating the Malay under-25 champion, Europe claimed the gold medal.