Merrien loses British title spectacularly

ALISON MERRIEN'S bid to retain the British Isles women's indoor singles title in Belfast ended in disaster yesterday, when she suffered a crushing 21-6 defeat at the hands of the England champion, Carol Ashby. A four-time winner of the English national title, Ashby has yet to win the British crown and she was delighted with the emphatic way in which she gained revenge for her defeat by the Guernsey star in last year's final.

'I just couldn't live with her the way she played today,' said the Guernsey woman.

'Carol was nailing the jack with her first bowl every time and I didn't see the way she went.'

Astonishingly, the Eastbourne player was 7-0 ahead after five ends when a three ends spell of 3-4-3 put her virtually out of reach at 17-0 in front after only eight ends. An unprecedented whitewash appeared to be on the cards.

'I decided that I had to dig in to make the score more respect-able,' said Merrien. 'But it was a case of delaying the inevitable.'

To her credit, Merrien kept Ashby out there for another nine ends and outscored her by six shots to four over the last hour as the pace of the game dropped, In that period Merrien managed four singles and a double and Ashby four singles.

Typically, Merrien, however disappointed, observed the niceties of the sport of bowls, joining Ashby in the bar for a drink and a chat and put a brave face on losing the title that she also won in 2002.

In today's final, Ashby faces a youthful challenge from the Irish champion Catherine McMillen, who is well-known to Guernsey followers after competing in the WIBC world junior indoor championships at Hougue du Pommier in recent years.

Last night, Merrien returned to the green to challenge for a place in the final of the fours, along with fellow Sarnians Jan Lawrence, Sheila Bretel and Shirley Petit.

Facing a star-studded Scottish quartet, the Guernsey team were 5-3 up after five ends, but fell behind mid-game and were 18-11 adrift after 16 when they collected two singles and a double to close the gap to 18-15.

Time ran out, however, and it was the Scots who scored the single on the 20th end, for a 19-15 victory as the umpires called time and jettisoned the 21st end.