World Indoor championships 2015: News from January 12

Round up from yesterday’s action at Potters ahead of today, when

Stewart Anderson plays Colin Walker at 10am, followed by a clash between Alex Marshall and Liam Bouse, then this evening Andy Thompson will play Damian Doubler.

Greg Harlow, who almost crashed out of the race for the Just Retirement WBT world indoor singles title, saw his hopes of retaining the pairs title with Nick Brett vanish when the City of Ely duo were beaten, 10-5, 12-4, by their England team-mates Simon Skelton and Rob Paxton.

Harlow, who sneaked home against Dorset’s 22-year-old prospect Martin Puckett, 5-7, 9-5, 2-1, said: “I was lucky – Martin played exceedingly well, and deserved to win – but mark my words – he’ll be back.

Referring to that pairs defeat, Harlow admitted, “We were outplayed,” while Brett added, “From my point of view, it’s particularly disappointing that I played so badly. But Paxo was incredible – he didn’t miss a thing, and never gave us a chance.”

Jonathan Ross and Wayne Hogg were unlucky to lose to their fellow Scots Paul Foster and Alex Marshall, who certainly seem to have the knack of escaping from tight corners.

Hogg, who watched as Marshall ditched the jack to avoid being taken into tiebreak territory, said: “I don’t think we could have played much better,” while Marshall added: “It’s far preferable to have a hard match like that than to win easily. Surviving a tussle like that fills you with confidence.”