Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Bowls Championships
Potters Resorts (10th/26th January 2025)
22nd January (Day 13 / Women's World Matchplay Singles SF2)
The intensity and excitement from the first of the semi-finals for the @Ambassador Cruise Line Ladies Matchplay Singles crown was carried through to the second semi-final with another England v Scotland clash, this time between Spalding's Chelsea Spencer and Beth Riva from Gifford in East Lothian.
At just 21 years of age, and on her first visit to @Potters Resorts as a player, Riva already had one title, the World Mixed Pairs trophy she won with fellow Scot Jason Banks, tucked safely away, as she continued her quest for a double success.
The Law student at the Napier University in Edinburgh sprinted out of the blocks, taking an 8-1 lead after just four ends, but it unravelled dramatically when Spencer, a cardiology ward sister, turned the set on its head.
She rolled in a double and full house to cut that deficit to 7-8, and with one end remaining, stood even at 9-9.
With every bowl thereafter, the shot changed between the players. Riva trailed the jack to hold the set lie, Spencer replied with a runner to take the jack to the ditch, and with her last bowl, Riva brought the house down with an inch-perfect bowl that stopped on the lip of the ditch, to take that vital shot and win the set.
The second set was decided by seven singles and a double with Spencer getting the thumbs up 7-2 to share the match at one set all and take the game to a sudden death shootout.
The tie break raised the excitement further up the Richter scale and kept the audience on the edge of their seats, cheering for their favoured player, and the result could have gone either way.
But amid the continued high intensity of the situation for both deserving players, the result fell Riva's way to chalk up the tie break 2-0.
The final will be shown on BBC TV (Thursday 23rd January) and is an all-Scottish affair, with Riva looking for her second title of the Championships and Hawick's Julie Forrest bidding to regain this title for a third time.
In the remaining Round 2 matches will also be down for decision, seeds and previous holders of the Open Singles title - Mark Dawes, Paul Foster MBE and Alex Marshall MBE will be out to further their cause against English qualifier Martin Heitzman, Australian qualifier Darren Rowland and number 7 seed Jason Banks respectively and Round 2 of the Open Singles
RESULT
Women's World Matchplay Singles SF2
Beth Riva (Scot) beat Chelsea Spencer (Eng) 1.5-0.5 (10-9, 2-7, 2-0)
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