Guernsey duo still setting the standard

ALISON MERRIEN, 29, guaranteed her place in the last eight of the women's event in the Taylor Bowls World Champion of Champions singles tournament in Moama, New South Wales. She beat Patricia Gonzales, from the USA, 11-2, 8-5, in conditions made difficult by a gusty wind and a green that was running extremely quickly.

Guernsey colleague Gary Pitschou, 40, meanwhile, knew he had some work to do if he was to qualify for the knockout stage of the men's competition and set about his last two rounds in his group in a typically determined manner.

Putting a slow start behind him, he showed character as he recovered to beat America's Bob Nunes 5-9, 13-5, 2-1, before meeting young Irishman Myles Greenfield, who was hoping to salvage some pride after a disappointing campaign.

After taking a 7-0 lead in just three ends, Pitschou was not surprised when Greenfield hit back and the former was happy to win the first set, 11-8.

Predictably, Greenfield got his game together in the second set, opening up a 9-0 lead in four ends, before the Guernsey star closed the gap to 10-8 with one end left to play.

On that last one, Greenfield was holding three shots and Pitschou was bracing himself for a dose of tiebreak torment, when he played a neck-or-nothing shot, ditching the jack superbly for a double that tied the set and won him the match.

Today, he will face the favourite for the title, Sam Laguzza, 62, Italian-born fruiterer, who is representing the host country - and, of course, he will also have to get the better of the partisan, though fair, crowd.

The request to bring the women's quarter-finals forward was welcomed by the UK players, who prefer playing in the evenings, when the green is heavier, but Merrien was not so sure.

'I enjoy the quick greens and have been playing well on them,' she said. 'But I agreed to the change because the TV company wanted to cover a semi-final in the morning.'

Whenever the game had been played, Merrien was in the sort of form to have taken it in her stride and, although she was held by Fitzpatrick to a 4-4 scoreline, she cut loose with a couple of doubles to lead 8-4 and won the first set 9-5.

And, although she dropped two shots on the opening end of the second set, she replied with a full house and a single to lead 5-2 and pressed home to an 11-4 win over the Canadian.

Standing between her and a place in tomorrow's final is Betty Morgan, from Wales, who holds British Isles titles in singles, pairs and triples, while Ireland's Alicia Weir faces Swaziland's Liz James in the other semi-final.