Ali blown off course

GUERNSEY'S fortunes took a roller-coaster ride in the Greenmaster World Champion of Champions singles tournament at Warilla in New South Wales at the weekend, when gale-force winds swept across the bowling greens. It was the first time that any of the players had experienced a 'Wind Stopped Play' situation, as the games descended into farce, with bowls that started off on a promising line being carried out of play.

Some matches on the most exposed rinks were halted on Saturday and hastily re-arranged for a green that was sheltered by the clubhouse, and there were a few shock results to reflect the unpredictable weather.

Alison Merrien, who is hoping to go one better than she did last year, when she lost in the final, said: 'On Saturday, I had just started my trial ends against the Singapore player, but the bowls were all over the place.'

She added: 'I expressed my opinion that the conditions made the green completely unplayable and Yong Lew Foong agreed, so the organisers found us a rink on another green.'

As it turned out, the move did not do Merrien much good, as she struggled to find line and length, and was pipped by the Singaporean, 8-7, 7-7.

That setback and the narrow defeat she sustained against world champion Margaret Johnston on Friday, have not dented the Guernsey woman's confidence, because she has hit top form against her other opponents.

So far, she has beaten Papua New Guinea's Moata Nadu, 14-1, 10-2, the Fijian Litia Tikoisuva, 10-2, 12-2, the Malaysian, Nazura Nghahat, 6-5, 10-4 and Ronalyn Greenlees from the Philippines, 7-8, 11-1, 2-1. That's four out of six for Merrien, while Gary boasts a 50% return, having won three, lost three.

After winning his first two matches, Pitschou lost his third, but bounced back to record an excellent victory over the formidable South African Eric Johannes, who is affectionately known as 'Guinness' because of his dark skin and white hair.

'I felt good about that win,' Pitschou said.

'I lost the first set 6-8, but won the second 12-1 and took the tiebreak 2-1,' said Pitschou, who then lost 13-2, 6-6 to Canadian Ryan Stadnyk.

Dwarfed by England champion Paul Allenby, a 6ft 5in Yorkshireman, Pitschou put up a good fight, again taking the match into a tiebreak and going one-up, but Allenby won the next two and got home, 11-6, 5-7, 2-1.