Guernsey Press

Guernsey duo close in on the world championships

GUERNSEY pair Neal Mollet and Nick Donaldson are just one step away from a place at the PBA Potters World Pairs Championships.

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GUERNSEY pair Neal Mollet and Nick Donaldson are just one step away from a place at the PBA Potters World Pairs Championships. The two Sarnians combined to win through four matches and win the World Pairs qualifier held in Bournemouth.

They now meet the various winners of the other English qualifiers next month in a bid to reach the main event in January.

In the Bournemouth final they had won two of their initial three matches in straight sets before the clash against Mark Hammond and Adam Tidby.

After losing the first 4-5, Donaldson and Mollet took the second 7-6 and it all came down to Donaldson's last bowl on the third end of the tiebreaker.

Alison Merrien was also in action at Bournemouth, attempting to qualify for the Potter World Singles, open to men and women.

She reached the last 16 before losing 8-5, 4-5, 0-2 to Oliver Ovett.

Merrien has not given up on reaching the World Ladies' Matchplay but will hope for better luck as she attempts to do so.

Against Ovett, she saw her opponent fire the jack clean away to the ditch only for it to rebound back up the green and come to rest next to his bowl for shot.

'As they say ?that's bowls?,' a phlegmatic Merrien said.

Along with Donaldson, Mollet and Steve Desperques, Guernsey's top woman player had travelled to both Bournemouth and Poole for area singles qualifiers into three major PBA events, the International, Scottish and Welsh Opens.

Both qualifiers were straight knockouts and Merrien's best result came in the Scottish Open bid, where she won through three rounds before losing to Simon Stevens 5-5, 4-4, 0-2 in the quarter-finals.

She also reached the last 16 of the Welsh qualifier and hopes her results will be enough to get her onto the big stage.

'Although I didn't win a tournament I do still have the opportunity of qualifying for the World Ladies' Matchplay which is also at Potters alongside the World Singles.

'To get into that is dependent on how many games each woman wins in the five qualifying events and then the top 12 are entered.

'This is repeated all over the world.'

Merrien, who had never previously played in a Professional Bowls Association event, has enjoyed the experience regardless of whether she makes the televised world stages.

'The whole experience was tremendous. You are playing against top international men and women or newcomers trying to make an impression, or those who just want to say they have played a world champion. Everyone is in it for their own reasons.'

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