Quarter-final places in singles and fours

GUERNSEY'S bowlers rose to the occasion yet again at the Northfield club in Ayr yesterday when Matt Le Ber clinched his place in the quarter-finals of the Atlantic men's singles championship and Ian Merrien's quartet qualified for the knockout stage of the fours. Le Ber returned his third and fourth winning cards in six matches, which saw him safely into the last eight, while Garry Collins, Paul Wakeham, Len Le Ber and Merrien won what was in effect a knockout contest with Israel.

That encounter was an exact repeat of the clash in the triples, in which Guernsey and Israel slugged it out for a place in the quarter-finals - and it was even played on the same rink.

With plenty at stake, Merrien's merry men opened up a 7-1 lead and a fantastic five on the 12th end put them 16-5 in front, at which stage they went through a worrying spell as the Israelis scored two trebles and a single to cut the deficit to 16-12.

The pressure was on over the last three ends, but the Guernsey quartet, three of whom had bagged a bronze medal in the triples on Tuesday, proved up to the challenge and headed for a pleasing 19-13 victory.

'I was delighted with the way they played - they showed team spirit and performed well as a rink,' said team manager Paul Sargeant.

'And it's also good to see how Matt has sealed his place in the quarter-finals.'

Le Ber did it the hard way in his fifth round-robin match against the adventurous American, Patrick Duffy, after dropping a full house on the 14th to go 10-15 adrift.

Replying immediately with a treble, Le Ber dropped shots on the next two ends to trail 18-13, but a maximum count of four on the 20th, where Duffy's firm tactics failed to pay off, put the Guernsey man in front at 20-18 and he got home, 21-19, after 22 ends.

Later, he defeated Michel Weerdenburg 21-9 to confirm his place in the last eight.

There was no joy yesterday morning for Guernsey's women bowlers.

Jackie Nicolle lost to the defending singles champion, Kay Moran, 21-11, and Wilma Le Feuvre's quartet, who had led 8-6 after 10 ends, went down 18-13 to South Africa.

Sadly, Guernsey will not be represented in the quarter-finals of the women's events, but the men are determined to add to their medal haul.