Merrien into semis after scoring frenzy

IT IS the same in any sport – get two attacking players together and you are guaranteed to have an entertaining encounter, which, in all likelihood, is a high-scoring affair.

That is exactly what happened at Potters Leisure Resort in Norfolk yesterday, when Guernsey superstar Ali Merrien launched her bid to win the World Bowls Tour Women's Match Play singles title.

Merrien (pictured) won in straight sets, 13-6, 7-6, but, as the score suggests, after scorching to victory over her close friend Janice Gower in the first set, she had to work hard to close things down in the second.

Spectators at Potters have become used to low-scoring contests, in which defence rules the roost, so their jaws dropped when they were treated to a veritable frenzy of big counts at the start of the game.

After Merrien opened with a treble and a double, Gower, from Cumbria, ditched the jack for a full house of four shots, to which the Sarnian responded with a full house of her own, before Gower notched up a double on the fifth end.

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