Ali is back and firing
SPECTATORS in Lincoln were delighted to see Ali Merrien make a triumphant return to top level bowls last weekend, when the talented Sarnian stormed through the Professional Bowls Association play-offs and clinched a place in the field for the Scottish International Open.
When she competes in the televised World Bowls Tour event at the Dewars Centre in Perth in November, exactly 12 months will have passed since she underwent a tricky ‘tennis elbow’ operation – and the play-offs represented her first attempt to play singles since the op.
But, although she did not consider herself at all ‘match-fit’, she showed her trademark combination of skill and courage to emerge from a top-class field at Lincoln, where she left six shell-shocked male bowlers in her wake.
‘My expectations before the weekend were to hopefully win a game or two to get my confidence back, and to get in some match practice for the indoor season,’ Merrien said.
‘My strategy, as always, was to take each game as it comes and see what happens.’
The strategy certainly worked and the super Sarnian was encouraged to find that she stood up to a gruelling schedule so brilliantly.
More in Thursday's Guernsey Press.
