Pitschou recovers momentum

GUERNSEY'S Gary Pitschou got back on his horse yesterday and galloped a few more furlongs towards the finishing line in the WBL World Outdoor Bowls Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. Pitschou's short-term goal is to qualify for tomorrow's knockout stage of the men's singles and, after his hopes had taken a knock when he lost both games on Tuesday, he bounced back to beat Argentinean Juan Garcia Cabello and Munokoa Totoo, from the Cook Islands.

Opening the day with a 21-10 win over Cabello, he stamped his authority over Totoo after lunch and secured his position in third place in the group league table.

If he is still in the top four at the end of today's play, he will make it into the last eight.

With just two league matches to play, he is expected to finish in the top four although today's games are as hard as they get - against Ireland's Martin McHugh and England's Mark Walton.

Fortunately, the best Walton, four points behind Pitschou at present, can do is to tie with the Guernsey ace on points and Pitschou's shots differential is currently way ahead of Walton's.

The Guernsey quartet, skipped by Ian Merrien, look back with pride at their draw with league leaders England but, sadly, that is the only point they have acquired so far and they lie in 11th place at the bottom of the table.

The best they can hope for today is a consolation first win in the tournament when they complete their group programme against Ireland and Thailand.