Good day

IT WAS a very good day 'down under' for the Merriens.

With straight-sets wins over top fancies Kenny Chan from Hong Kong and Scotland's Graeme Archer in Australia today, Ian Merrien, pictured, has positioned himself perfectly for a run into the finals of the World Cup Indoor Singles Championship at Warilla.

Merrien is well placed in second position of his section after seven rounds and needs to finish in the top three when the qualifying phase of the championship is completed.

Defending champion and former Ireland international Jeremy Henry, the resident club professional at Warilla, leads the section undefeated, while Merrien has won six of his seven rounds.

It's a similar scenario for Alison Merrien, who dished out severe thumpings to Singapore's Li Li Leng and Canadian national champion Kelly McKerihen.

And when local star Karen Murphy suffered a shock loss at the hands of the unheralded Masako Satoh from Japan, Alison found herself sharing top billing with the Aussie in the run to the finals.