2024 Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Championship – Day Eight Recap
It was mixed pairs day yesterday (Friday) at the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Championships. Let’s take a look at what happened on the portable rink with the World Bowls Tour’s Anne Dunwoodie.
DAWES AND GALLO SEAL THE DEAL AGAINST FOSTER AND GOWEN
England’s Mark Dawes and USA’s Giulia Gallo – one of the females making her debut on the WBT event, joined forces earlier today in the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Mixed Pairs Championship and forged a narrow two sets to nil victory over Paul Foster MBE and 20-year-old Lauren Gowen from Wales to book a semi-final berth tomorrow afternoon.
All four players contributed to a high quality, and entertaining match with the England/USA duo stretching out to a 7-2, six end lead in the first set but despite Foster/Gowen winning the last three ends, they only counted singles and Dawes/Gallo gained the early upper hand 7-5.
Set two was also a closely fought affair this time with Foster/Gowen picking up a double on the seventh end to take a 5-3 lead, but this time it was Dawes/Gallo who scored over the closing stages to seal the verdict 6-5 and move through to a last four spot.
Their semi-final match will be the winners of the match between *Holders Ceri Ann Glen representing Wales and Scot Stewart Anderson against former winner Scotland’s – David Gourlay MBE and Annalisa Dunham from England who is also making her debut in these championships at Potters Resorts.
RESULT:
Guilia Gallo (USA) & Mark Dawes (Eng) bt Lauren Gowen (Wales) & Paul Foster MBE (Scot) 7-5, 6-5.
SHOWSTOPPING PERFORMANCE FROM BOTH TEAMS AS THE WORLD MIXED PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP UNFOLDS
What an exhibition of precision bowls from both sets of players that the capacity crown at Potters were treated to in the second match of the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Mixed Pairs Championship before defending champions Ceri Ann Glen and Stewart Anderson cemented their place in the semi-finals.
The action was red hot throughout against the new pairing of Lincolnshire’s Annalise Dunholm and David Gourlay MBE who led the early exchanges at 5-2 after five ends of the first set.
Glen and Anderson made their move on the back half of the match, creating a full count of four shots on the sixth end, and then checking out with singles on each of the remaining three ends to win 9-5.
In the second set, the match saw more unbelievably awesome, pin point accuracy from all of the players – and it was praise indeed with Streaming Commentators Alex Marshall MBE and Paul Foster MBE admitting that it was one of the highest quality matches they had ever witnessed at Potters over their 26 years at this venue.
Both teams scored on three ends each of the second set, and stood level at 4-4 but with more phenomenal play over the closing stages, Glen and Anderson counted doubles on the seventh and eighth ends for the loss of a single to take the match result 8-5 and keep their hope alive to retain the title.
Statistic tell us that between the four players on the rink they have won this title eight times between them – Ceri and David Gourlay MBE won back to back titles as a unit in 2008 and ’09, David won the title in 2012 with Debbie Stavrou, Stewart partnered Julie Forrest in 2021 and in 2023 he won with Ceri against former champions Alison Merrien and Paul Foster.
They will line up in the semi-final (13th January at 2pm) against Guilia Gallo from Longbeach in California and Mark Dawes who are another new pairing.
RESULT: *Holders Ceri Ann Glen (Wales) & Stewart Anderson (Scot) bt Annalisa Dunham (Eng) & David Gourlay MBE 9-5, 8-5.
NICOLE ROGERS AND WAYNE WILLGRESS EASE THROUGH TO WORLD MIXED PAIRS QUARTER-FINALS
Exeter’s Nicole Rogers and local Norfolk celebrity Wayne Willgress joined together and ousted English twosome Les Gillett and Katherine Rednall to book a semi-final berth in the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Mixed Pairs,
Gillett chose to lead in the partnership, leaving Rednall to skip and despite scoring on four of the eight ends played in the opening set the lost 9-4.
Over the course of the second set, Rogers, a 25-year-old Actuarial Consultant – who lost in the quarter finals with Nicky Brett 2-1 in a tie break against eventual winners Ceri Ann Glen and Stewart Anderson, and painter and decorator Willgress only dropped one end.
The match was tied at 2-2 after two ends, but the Rogers/Willgress duo reeled off back to back trebles followed by consecutive doubles to solidify their last four placing 12-2 with two ends to spare.
RESULT: Nicole Rogers & Wayne Willgress (Eng) bt Les Gillett & Katherine Rednall (Eng) 9-4, 12-2.
JULIE FORREST AND NICKY BRETT EDGE THE VERDICT AGAINST AILSA ROBERTSON AND ROB PAXTON
Scotland’s Julie Forrest and England’s Nicky Brett got over the finishing line against Scottish qualifier Ailsa Robertson and Exeter’s Rob Paxton to take the last of the four places in the semi-finals of the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Mixed Pairs Championships at Potters Resorts, Hopton-On-Sea.
In their quarter-final, four shots on the sixth end of the opening set gave them a huge advantage at 8-4 and although Robertson/Paxton scored on the last three ends, singles weren’t enough and they missed out 8-7.
Fired up in the second, Elgin based Scottish qualifier Robertson and Paxton set themselves up at 4-1 after five ends and led 6-3 playing the last.
They held at set lie that would have taken them to a tie break scenario but a sensational last bowl draw by Brett to a tight head saw him at a shot and score a treble which gave them a 6-6 draw and an outright victory by one and a half sets to a half and place in the semi finals tomorrow (Saturday 3.45pm) against Nicole Rogers and Wayne Willgress.
RESULT: MPQF 4: Julie Forrest (Scot) & Nicky Brett (Eng) bt Ailsa Robertson (Scot) & Rob Paxton (Eng) 8-7, 6-6.
Caption: Mark Dawes and Giulia Gallo with Paul Foster MBE and Lauren Gowen
Every match is being streamed live on the World Bowls Tour’s Facebook page and YouTube channel at no cost. Important: Please be mindful of fraudulent activity on social media, particularly during the World Indoor Championships. The streaming is available free-of-charge and you should not make any payment or share personal data with anyone promoting live streaming links. Please only watch the live coverage via the official sources.
From Monday 15th to Sunday, January 21, coverage will be available through BBC on BBC 2 and Red Button.
The full daily schedule and draws can be found at the following links:
Bowls International is the world’s most respected bowling magazine, available monthly in both digital and print formats.
- SUBSCRIBE to Bowls International
- Buy a PRINT COPY of Bowls International
- Buy a DIGITAL COPY of Bowls International
A six-month print subscription to Bowls International is priced at just £19.90, or a 12-month subscription is £35.99 – that’s less than £3 per month and includes FREE POSTAGE.
