Alison in WBL quarter-finals

A UNIQUE double seems tantalisingly within the grasp of Guernsey's Queen of the Greens, after the irrepressible Alison Merrien guaranteed herself a place in the quarter-finals of the WBL World Cup at the Warilla club in New South Wales.

After winning her first seven matches in her nine-match round robin, she lost momentum when she lost the last two against her biggest rivals, Lorna Trigwell from South Africa, and Karen Murphy of the host country.

But the Guernsey star's third place spot in the group sets her up for a quarter-final clash with Spain's Lynne Metcalfe and the closeness of the encounters with Trigwell and Murphy suggests she is still in with a great chance.

Husband Ian finished just out of the frame for the knockout stage, but completed his group campaign with a pleasing 7-6, 7-7 win over Hong Kong's Luis Ferneandes.