Merrien gives herself the perfect birthday present

FOR a player ranked two in the world Alison Merrien (pictured) has found surprising difficulty in winning her own island women's outdoor singles title in recent years.

Her island singles championship successes number five, but she has not made a final in three years. So there was an element of relief as she overcame a strong challenge from the quickly developing Aimee Ogier at the Corbet Field on Saturday afternoon to reach a mouth-watering final against Lucy Beere.

It was a satisfying way to celebrate her 36th birthday, even though late in the day she was to lose her Press Open Singles semi-final to Len Le Ber.

'It's nice to get there for a change,' she said afterwards.

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