After a six-year partnership, which saw a tie break loss in the final against Alex Marshall and Paul Foster in 2013, Blantyre-based Stewart Anderson and Arbroath’s Darren Burnett finally got their hands on the Just Retirement World Indoor Pairs title with a straight-sets victory over Scottish international colleagues Ronnie Duncan and Colin Walker from Midlothian.
The best of two sets of eleven end game was a tentative affair, probably due to the respect that each pair held for the other, but despite an array of precision draw shots and dramatic firing exchanges, the match never really caught fire.
Duncan and Walker led 6-5 in the first set after seven ends but Burnett and Anderson, made the break with a treble and back to back singles to lead 10-6 and were content to drop a single on the last to win 10-7.
In the second the Midlothian duo once again scored an opening end double but Anderson and Burnett made impressive ground, chalking up three singles in a row followed by a double and treble to take an 8-2 lead before Duncan and Walker replied with a single.
However, the match turned on the eighth end. With four shots against him, which would have given Duncan and Walker a lifeline back into contention, Burnett played a miraculous timing shot where he skinned the middle bowl against the jack and pushed it towards the back to the rink and when the dust settled he counted a double which gave them a 10-3 lead, however had he missed that head then it could very well have been a different story which would have seen the Midlothian pair cutting the deficit to 7-8 with three ends to play.
With that scare behind them, Anderson and Burnett were content to play it safe and leave Duncan and Walker searching for shots, with time being called at 10-6 with an end to spare, giving Anderson and Burnett the title for the first time ever.
A disappointed Walker said: “They were sensational, particularly Darren. He never missed any target and pulled off some amazing shots that were almost impossible to get.
“We played really well too but perhaps we didn’t take enough early chances, but in saying that there weren’t many of those.
“It was a funny game as the rink wasn’t swinging and the bowls were finishing on the high side and just weren’t coming back."
In the following game, East Lothian legend Alex Marshall begin his campaign for a record extending seventh world indoor singles crown, winning his opening match 9-5, 9-7 against Gary Kelly from Ballymoney in Ireland.
Burnett will be gunning for his second title of the Championships today. He lines up with 20 year old Katherine Rednall from Ipswich against an all Scottish partnership of Julie Forrest and Alex Marshall in the World Mixed pairs title decider.
JUST RETIREMENT WORLD INDOOR BOWLS CHAMPIONSHIPS at Potters Resort, Hopton on Sea, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
DAY 12.
PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
S Anderson & D Burnett (Scot) bt R Duncan & C Walker (Scot) 10-7, 10-6;
SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP RD 1 CONT'D
S1 [1] A Marshall MBE (Scot) bt [Q] G Kelly (Ire) 9-5, 7-5;
S2 [16] M Dawes (Eng) bt [Q] J Smith (Aus) 9-2, 10-2;
S16 [2] N Brett (Eng) bt [Q] J Rippey (Eng) 12-3, 8-4;
*RD 1 NOW COMPLETE
COMPLETE 1st RD RESULTS IN DRAW ORDER
JUST RETIREMENT WORLD INDOOR SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP 2016
RD 1
[1] A Marshall MBE (Scot) bt [Q] G Kelly (Ire) 9-5, 7-5;
[16] M Dawes (Eng) bt [Q] J Smith (Aus) 9-2, 10-2;
[9] S Anderson (Scot) bt [Q] R Ashton (NZ) 12-1, 8-3;
[8] M King (Eng) bt [Q] S Harris (Wales) 7-6, 7-7;
[Q] C Cinato (Eng) bt [5] A Thomson MBE (Eng) 8-5, 6-9, 2-1;
[Q] J Chestney (Eng) bt [12] J Greenslade (Wales) 7-8, 8-3, 2-1;
[13] M Royal (Eng) bt [Q] N Furman (USA) 8-3, 10-2:
[4] R Paxton (Eng) bt [Q] R Chisholm (Eng) 9-3, 8-4;
[Q] M Orrey (Eng) bt [4] P Foster MBE (Scot) 1-9, 9-3, 2-1;
[Wild Card] S Skelton (Eng) bt [14] J Price (Wales) 5-10, 9-4, 2-0;
[11] J Ross (Scot) bt [Q] R Clark (Scot) 3-8, 10-3, 2-0,
[6] D Gourlay (Scot) bt [Tourcard] G R Smith (Eng) 7-6, 10-6,
[7] D Burnett (Scot) bt [Q] C Walker (Scot) 8-7, 7-2;
[10] G Harlow (Eng) bt [Q] R Duncan (Scot) 9-4, 7-7:
[15] L Gillett (Eng) bt [Q] J Parkinson (Eng) 10-5, 7-4, 2-1;
[2] N Brett (Eng) v [Q] J Rippey (Eng) 12-3, 8-4:
SCHEDULE OF PLAY FOR DAY 13 (Tuesday 19th January)
10am SINGLES RD 2
[13] M Royal (Eng) v [4] R Paxton (Eng);
1.00pm MIXED PAIRS FINAL
J Forrest & A Marshall MBE (Scot) v K Rednall (Eng) & D Burnett (Scot);
*Approx 3.30 SINGLES RD 2 Cont’d
[11] J Ross (Scot) v [6] D Gourlay (Scot);
7.30pm [Q] M Orrey (Eng) v S Skelton [Wild Card]:
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