Merrien opened with strong wins in singles and mixed pairs in Victoria, and is set for key day-two clashes.
The Sarnian star was in control of her opening women’s singles match against Christine Jones of Norfolk Island from the outset at the Ocean Grove Bowling Club in Victoria, quickly establishing a 7-0 lead over the first three ends before going on to take the first set 9-6, with half of her opponent’s shots coming on the seventh and concluding end of the short, sharp format.. Jones carried that momentum into the second set, taking
three consecutive singles, but Merrien finished strongly with a 1-2-2-1 sequence to clinch it 6-3.. Merrien was even more dominant in her second singles match of the day when she faced Lisa Bonsor from Spain as the Guernsey player claimed match 12-1, 10-3 to top her seven-player section at the end of the day.. She will face Niue’s Josephine Peyroux and Siti Nur Hadziqar Binty Jasly Rofizy of Malaysia on day two.. In the mixed
pairs competition, Merrien joined forces with husband Ian to good effect on day one as they proved too strong for Turkish pair Ozkan and Rahsan Akar, winning 10-1, 9-5.. The Sarnians have group games against Spain and Sri Lanka still to come.. Ian Merrien suffered a narrow opening defeat in his men’s singles campaign, despite getting off to a strong start against South African Charles Mathewson.. The Guernseyman won the opening set 6-4 and claimed
a single on the first end of the second before his opponent reeled off seven unanswered shots over the next five ends on his way to taking the set 7-3 to force the tiebreak.. Mathewson took a 2-0 lead from the first end of the tiebreak, only for Merrien to respond strongly with a three on the next to edge ahead.. However, two singles for the South African over the next two ends saw him
win it 4-3.. Merrien takes on Muhammad Idham Amin Bin Ramlan of Malaysia and Johnny Yuk Kay Ng of Macao today.
Merrien Victoria, women’s singles, mixed pairs, Ocean Grove Bowling Club, Guernsey bowls, Charles Mathewson