Published: Thursday, 17th July, 2008 12:30pm

Tattie loses £6,000. . . by a whisker

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AN EIGHTH of an inch – that was how close World Indoor bowling champ Alex "Tattie" Marshall came to winning a dramatic final of the Co-operative Funeralcare World Matchplay Championships last Friday.

It was also the difference between 41-year-old Marshall missing out on the winner"s cheque for £12,000 and the £6,000 he received as runner-up.

With seven World Indoor Singles titles between the five times champion and oppenent Andy Thomson, the match at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield promised to be a classic.

The two stalwarts of international bowls did not disappoint the packed crowd and the viewers who were watching the match live on TV.

After second seed Marshall established an early 3-0 lead, Londoner Thomson claimed the advantage and went on to take the first set by a single shot.

But the Tranent man struck back to establish a quick 5-0 lead in the second set before forcing the match into a best-of-three ends tie-break.

After winning the first end, and holding two shots in the second, Thomson watched anxiously as Marshall"s final delivery crept towards his winning bowl.

But agonisingly for Tattie, it rested just millimetres short to give the eighth-seeded Englishman his unexpected 7-6, 5-9, 2-0 victory.

Afterwards, Marshall, who has still to add another WBT title to his five world crowns, was not too downhearted.

He said: 'I"m happy with the way I played, but obviously disappointed to lose. But you"ve got to be at the top of your game in events like this. I"m just happy to have got to the final.

'In the last tie-break end, I thought I had just nicked it.'

Thomson received a trophy and a cheque for £12,000, while runner-up Marshall earned £6,000.

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