Pitschou makes it five out of five

GARY PITSCHOU continued to sparkle in the WBL world outdoor championships in Christchurch yesterday, when he added two more singles victories to the three he had notched up on Sunday. But, on the other side of the planet, Alison Merrien's hopes of adding the WBT women's matchplay title to the WBL world outdoor Champion of Champions she won in November were dashed by last year's runner-up Debbie Stavrou.

Pitschou scored a runaway 21-9 win over Hong Kong youngster Ken Chan, and followed that up with an excellent 21-15 victory over former WBL World Champion of Champions winner, Douw Calitz.

The Guernsey four - Mac Timms, the Collins brothers Nigel and Garry, and Alison's husband, Ian - who did so well to tie with England on Sunday, suffered a couple of defeats, going down 27-11 to Hong Kong and 17-10 to Fiji.

Alison, meanwhile, played brilliantly to beat Scotland's Karen Dawson 11-4, 9-6 and kept up her good form in the quarter-final against Stavrou, who plays for the Desborough club in Maidenhead.

The England international, however, was walking on water, constantly beating Merrien's best efforts and, to be frank, the Guernsey ace was not blessed with the rub of the green.

It was a cracking encounter, in which Stavrou edged home 9-7 in the first set and held a firm grip in the second, when Merrien was forced into playing too many heavy bowls.

The depressing sound of a Merrien thunderbolt thudding into the bank after missing its target was heard too often, but it was an inescapable indication that the Sarnian was being beaten to the jack.

'At least I went one better than last year, when I lost to her in the first round,' said Merrien.

'If I get invited back next year, I will set my sights on getting to the semi finals.'

As for her opponent, Merrien added: 'Debbie played very well. I thought I played much better than I did last year, but I couldn't keep my shots, because she was in such good form.'

And her verdict on the goings-on down under?

'I'm thrilled to hear that Gary is doing so well. He's made a great start and I hope he will qualify for the quarter-finals. Good on you, mate - keep up the good work.'