Merrien's title defence on track

GUERNSEY'S sportsperson of the year Alison Merrien is on the title trail again in Belfast, where she defeated Welsh legend Betty Morgan, 21-13, yesterday in the quarter-finals of the British women's indoor singles championship.

Merrien, the defending champion, showed her resilience by bouncing back from Monday's narrow defeat in the fours and, once she had settled, stamped her authority on the match on a tricky end rink.

'I was slow to start,' Merrien admitted. 'The two sides of the rink were quite different in pace and it took me some time to work it out - but I concentrated on the faster side and improved as the match went on.'

Morgan was 5-2 up after four ends and held the lead until the 11th, when a Merrien full house enabled the Guernsey star to get her nose in front for the first time at 11-9.

The 66-year-old Morgan replied with a single, but was allowed only two more scoring ends - a double on the 16th and a single on the 18th - as Merrien kept the scorers busy.

'Actually, Betty played better than the score suggests because several times when she had drawn her bowls to the jack I was able to take shot with my third or fourth bowl,' said the Sarnian.