Merriens make quarters in 'PBA' pairs

GUERNSEY'S husband-and-wife bowling duo of Ian and Alison Merrien were out of luck when they made their annual bid for places in the WBT world indoor bowls championship.

The pair travelled to Wales to take part in the PBA play-offs at the Cynon Valley club in Mountain Ash and, while they both made an early exit from the singles, they performed fairly well in the pairs.

They reaching the quarter-finals with wins over Jamie Lewis and Chris Prosser, 5-5, 5-4, and Dale McCarthy and Jordan Davies, 7-5, 3-9, 2-0.

But their chances of a place in the semi-finals disappeared when they lost to the Rees twins Gareth and Gavin, who are the sons of Steve Rees, who won the UK singles title in 1986 and was a fixture in the world's elite for many years.

Although she didn't make it into the field for the 'open' singles and pairs, Ali has nevertheless been fast-tracked through to Potters Leisure Resort in Norfolk, where she will compete in the quarter finals of the women's singles and mixed pairs in January.