Tattie starts bid for sixth world title
Published 12 Jan 2012 09:22
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East Lothian's Alex 'Tattie' Marshall will begin his quest next Thursday (January 19) to extend his record to six titles in the The Fred Olsen Cruise Lines World Indoor Singles Championships.
The World Singles Champ-ionship is the flagship event of a two-week festival of bowls at Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton-on-Sea, which also includes the World Indoor Pairs Championship, the Ladies' World Matchplay Championship and the Mixed Pairs' World Matchplay Championship.
With live coverage on BBC, the championships feature the top 20 bowlers in the world. Marshall will open his singles campaign against South Africa qualifier Craig Rimmington at 7.30pm. Before that, he will team up with ex-Garden County teammate Paul Foster as they begin the defence of their World Pairs Championship title on Saturday at 2pm with a first-round clash against either England's Mervyn King and Simon Skelton or Welsh qualifiers Daniel Salmon and Neil Collett.
Marshall also teams up with Janice Gower in the World Mixed Pairs and they open against champions Simon Skelton and Alison Merrien of England on Friday.
Ex-county star Wayne Hogg is also competing and will enter the portable rink on Tuesday when he tackles Mervyn King.
Meanwhile, East Lothian IBC men lost 96-67 to A-section leaders West Lothian in the penultimate fixture of their Scottish Premier League campaign.
The previous home defeat dashed any hopes of landing the title, but they made the short trip to the Inveralmond stadium desperate to gain some pride and dent their great rival's hopes of reaching the play-off final.
But it was not to be for an East Lothian side that lined up without Alex Marshall.
The rink of Mark Johnston, Dougie Berwick, Andrew Jeffrey and Derek Oliver suffered a 33-10 defeat while Willie Wood and his new-look rink of Ewan Fallen, Gary Darling and Jamie Blair were against the collar in a 25-14 loss.
East Lothian did cause problems, though, with captain Graham Robertson and his front three of Lessel Middler, Derek Lowe and Alan Young winning 22-19 while Colin Cook, Stewart Thomson, Jamie Higgins and Scott Kennedy triumphed 21-19.
East Lothian entertain Prestwick at Meadowmill tomorrow (Saturday) in the final round of matches in the Scottish Premier League. Although the A-section clash is meaningless for the home side, it is a huge fixture for the visitors as they must win to avoid automatic relegation.
The EL selectors have decided to start preparations for the Scottish Cup campaign by naming an experimental line-up. Alex Marshall will again be an absentee while Gary Darling, Lessel Middler and Dougie Berwick have been rested to the reserve bench.
Team: J Stevenson, SW Thomson, M Johnston, WW Wood (skip). E Fallen, J Blair, J Higgins, Dek Oliver (skip). C Cook, SA Thomson, A Jeffrey, S Kennedy (skip). K Simmants, D Lowe, A Young, G Robertson (skip, capt.)
The ladies' side were cock-a-hoop last Saturday after they produced a brilliant display in their final match in Divison 1C of the Scottish Ladies' League to beat leaders West Lothian at home by 38 shots, then news filtered through that second place Portobello had suffered a shock defeat at Teviotdale. When the dust settled it emerged East Lothian had leapfrogged both teams to win the section and grab a place in the knockout stage of the promotion play-offs where they will face Paisley at Coatbridge on January 21.
Double-figure wins for the rinks skipped by Janet Fairnie and Emma Brown proved decisive, while Nancy McNeil earned a draw.
The ladies are back in action tomorrow (Saturday) as they participate in the opening round of the Ladies' Scottish Cup when they face Midlothian at neutral Portobello IBC. East Lothian will field a team that has Emma Brown as an absentee.
Team: B Ford, J Rutherford, N Thomson, N McNeil (skip). M Devine, I Combe, M Hamilton, A Irvine (skip). M McGowan, A McLeod, Y Veitch, J Fairnie (skip). N Bauld, J Russell, A McLean, D Rowan (skip).
East Lothian IBC seniors have enjoyed a good start to 2012 after an 82-58 away win at Tweedbank in the penultimate round of matches in the East B section of the Scottish Senior League while rivals Balbardie were held to a draw at Portobello. The race for a place in the knockout stage is a three-horse affair with East Lothian in the driving seat on shot margin from Balbardie.
Third-placed Bainfield are one point off the pace and met Balbardie in their final match on Wednesday. The Garden County 'auld yins' faced Portobello at home in their final match and would be confident of victory as their home record is second to none.
A side from East Lothian IBC progressed to the second round of the Scottish Mixed Team Championship following a win over Alloa in last Sunday's opening round at West Lothian IBC. The points were shared 4-4 but thanks to a better shot margin it was the Garden County side that progressed. They now tackle Bainfield at Midlothian IBC on Sunday (2pm).
The youth side is in East of Scotland Junior League action tomorrow (Saturday) at 8am when they entertain East Fife at Meadowmill stadium.
Team: D Riva, S Johnston, D French, D Peart (skip). C Brock, G McWilliams, F Shearer, C Allison (skip). J Robertson, M Kivlin, C Darling, K Simmants (skip).
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