Merrien thrashes British champ

GUERNSEY'S globe-trotting bowls star Alison Merrien is on the brink of what would be her greatest achievement, after powering her way into the final of the WBL World Champion of Champions singles tournament in Australia. Today at the Warilla Bowls Club, near Wollongong in New South South Wales, the 33-year-old overwhelmed Scotland's British Isles champion Kathy Houston in straight sets, 10-4, 11-2, in the semi finals.

'The greens here are getting faster all the time and are running at around 17 seconds now, so concentration is a must,' said an excited Merrien.

'I'm delighted with the way I'm playing and I was able to keep Kathy under pressure throughout the game - but I also succeeded with a couple of running bowls and made sure of the first set with a nice firing shot.

'I fully expected her to hit back in the second set, so just tried to keep my head down and not get too excited. Kathy seemed to struggle with the length, even though I kept giving her the jack - and I finished off the set in just seven ends.'

That superb victory set her up for a crack at Malaysia's twice Commonwealth Games champion Siti Zalina Ahmad, known as Lina, in tomorrow's final, when she is hoping to go one better than she did in 2003, when she fell to Swaziland's Liz James at the final hurdle.

Although Swaziland is one of the world's smallest countries, it has produced some fine bowls players - remarkably, Liz James's son, William, has qualified for the final of the men's event, in which he will face England's Mark Walton or New Zealand's Tony Grantham.

If Merrien beats Ahmad, it will not be her first title on the world stage: she has won the World Indoor Bowls Council world mixed pairs title twice - in 2001 and 2004. She has also been British Isles indoor singles champion twice and won the British women's pairs title with Lianna Bichard in 2006.