Friday 5th January (Day 1 Match 1)
Welsh qualifiers Sara Nicholls and Ross Owen won their opening match of the 2024 Imagine Cruising World Pairs Championship at Potters Resorts Hopton On Sea earlier today against South Africa's Kevin Douglas and Peter Harvey.
In the opening set the Welsh duo led 5-2 after seven ends in the best of two sets of nine ends (2 x bowl pairs) match. However the Springbok twosome rolled in a single and double to square the set at 5-5.
They continued their form in the second set, picking up a full count of four on the opening end, and that was a major contributing factor in the scoring, giving them a 6-3 advantage after six ends.
Wales continually looked to be clawing their way back into contention but the South African skip - Peter Harvey, denied them time and time again to hold the advantage.
However with three ends remaining, a double to Wales gave them a lifeline to cut the deficit to 5-6.
But once again it was Harvey who blocked any count for the Welsh pairing- with the South Africans scoring a vital single on the penultimate end to lead 7-5.
Nicholls gave the Welsh pair a great opportunity on the last end, leaving skip Owen holding a double and the possibility of a tie break decider.
As the skips took possession of the rink, Harvey was slightly heavy with his last bowl and that opened the door of opportunity for Owen to add a third shot and pocket the result with the very last bowl of the match 8-7 to move through to a first round match against England's Mark Dawes and Jamie Chestney at 9.30am tomorrow morning (Saturday 6th January)
RESULTS -
IMAGINE CRUISING WORLD PAIRS (Preliminary Round)
FRIDAY 5th January DAY 1 Match 1
Match No PPA
Sara Nicholls & Ross Owen (Wales) bt Peter Harvey & Kevin Douglas (RSA) 5-5, 8-7
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