Shock first round exit for Alex Marshall MBE

New Zealand’s Andrew Kelly admitted he was ‘chuffed’ after producing one of the biggest shocks of all time in the Just World Indoor Singles at Potters, as he dumped six-time champion Alex Marshall MBE out of the tournament, writes Dominic Picksley.

The Kiwi, who had to play eight qualifying matches in his homeland last year just to reach the first-round stage in Norfolk, produced an astonishing performance in his debut in the event to beat the legendary Marshall 6-4 11-2.

He may have been clearly under the weather and suffering under the bright lights and humidity of the International Arena, but even a fully-fit ‘Tattie’ would have struggled to live with the relentless Kelly, who barely put a foot wrong over the course of the match, as he delivered consistently to the jack and drove with unerring accuracy.

Dunedin-based Kelly soon turned a two-shot deficit into a four-shot advantage as he dominated proceedings on the portable blue rink, with Marshall struggling to land a blow, and even when he did get in, he was restricted to just singles as the Kiwi wrapped up the first set.

Going a set down, the large crowd expected Marshall to come out firing at the start of the second, but it was Kelly who took the initiative, and then some, following up a double with a treble to carve out a five-shot lead.

With Kelly bowling like a dream and veering massively away from the ‘script’, the warning signs turned to panic stations for Marshall, who more than once was seen with head in his hands sat on the end of the rink, contemplating his fate.

A double on end three was the only glimmer of light for Marshall and the relentless Kelly marched ever onwards steamrolling ‘Tattie’ over the the next four ends to eventually topple the legend of the sport and create a huge ripple on the Norfolk coast.

Third seed Nick Brett had no such worries against George Lotter, beating the South African 10-5, 9-7 to move into the second round.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Huntingdon ace, though, with Vanderbijlpark-based Lotter putting up some stern resistance and going toe-to-toe with Brett for the majority of the first set, before the Englishman’s class shone through in the last two ends.

Lotter, who previously appeared at the championships 11 years ago, then led midway through the second set to give him hope of taking Brett to a tie-break, but the 2016 champion came with a late surge to eventually edge the set and seal his place at Potters next week.

Thirteenth seed Mark Royal didn’t make things easy for himself in overcoming Australian Scott Walker 13-4 9-5, but he got the job done and can look forward to an encounter with giant-killer Kelly.

Royal started well, dominating the opening set, as Walker’s inexperience on the portable blue rink showed, with the Perth bowler an erratic presence on the mat alongside the more measured Englishman.

The second set, though, saw 35-year-old Walker – who works in the accounts department of the Department of Health for Western Australia – grab a three on the opening end to restore the spring in his step, but he picked up just a further two shots in the rest of the set to bow out gracefully, with Royal progressing.

Mervyn King produced a typical Mervyn King peformance as he rounded off proceedings with victory over Carlisle qualifier Ian McIntosh 8-3, 11-4.

Drawing’s the name of the game for local hero King and in his usual nonchalant fashion, he battered away relentlessly at the jack and breezed through with little difficulty.