Guernsey duo find their way to Ayrshire

SUPER Sarnians Steve Desperques and Gary Pitschou (pictured) showed just what they are prepared to do for a game of bowls, when they overcame their travel problems and arrived in Auchinleck last night in time to launch their bids on the WIBC World Indoor Championships today.

Curiously, two separate world indoor bowls championships have been scheduled for this week, but while the WIBC flagship event is all set to go ahead in Ayrshire today, UK competitors are struggling to get to Warilla in New South Wales for the WBL World Cup.

With the infamous cloud of volcanic ash grounding players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Guernsey's Ali and Ian Merrien have the advantage of being temporary residents at the Warilla club and are looking forward to getting into action – with or without their UK rivals – on Thursday.

As for the WIBC event, Desperques and Pitschou, whose flights were cancelled, were lucky to book their passage on a Portsmouth-bound ferry at 4am yesterday morning, then hired a car, and drove 600 miles to Kilmarnock.

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