Victory over Malaysians a must for the Merriens

THE Merrien brothers need to beat Malaysia in their final group game to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals of the men's triples in Melbourne. On day two, they were beaten by a Papua New Guinea trio but recovered to defeat Samoa.

The manner of their defeat underlined the cruel nature of the new format, whereby matches consist of two sets of nine ends, with sudden-death three-end-tie-breaks to separate the sides in the case of a one-set-all situation.

Although the Merriens were outplayed in the first set, they managed to keep the losing margin to just two shots and they hit back so effectively in the second set that they powered into a 9-0 lead and squared the match with a 12-6 win.

With everything depending on the next three ends, the Guernsey trio looked poised to win when they took the first end, but it was the Papua New Guineans who stormed back to win the next two ends for a 9-7, 6-12, 2-1 victory.

'It was a disappointing way to lose,' said Garry Collins, Bowls Guernsey chief executive, who is acting as team manager.

'The greens are on the slow side, which doesn't help players who are coming off fast indoor surfaces, and the weather, which is changeable, isn't making it any easier,' he added.

The mood of the brothers - Ian, Paul and Alan - improved after posting an impressive 18-3, 10-4 card against Samoa's Edward Pio Bell, Liva Andrews and Fagalima Saifiti in a floodlit match that was interrupted by a power cut.

'That win did them the world of good,' said Collins. 'The section is now wide open, with Cook Islands favourites to top the league, but the second place up for grabs - and the place in Sunday's quarter-finals could go to any one of three countries, including ourselves - if we beat the Malaysians.'

A win over Malaysia, who were considered to be strong contenders for the gold medal but have failed as yet to live up to their billing, might mean that several countries could tie in second place.

The shots which the Merriens piled up against Samoa could prove invaluable if it goes to shots countback.

The Guernsey trio are so close to glory that they must be regretting that unlucky defeat they sustained at the hands of Papua New Guinea, despite scoring 19 shots to their opponents' 15 over the first two sets.

Big medal-hope Alison Merrien has a bye in the first round of the women's singles which gets under way today, but hopes to hit the ground running on Monday when she takes on Scotland's talented Margaret Letham, who came very close to winning the women's world outdoor singles championship in Moama in 2000.

After a week's wait, Matt Le Ber finally gets to roll his first bowl in anger, taking on England star Stephen Farish this afternoon in the first round of the men's singles.