The first title of this year's Just Retirement World Indoor Championships went to underdogs Simon Skelton from Nottingham and Taunton's Rob Paxton as they edged Scotland's golden boys Paul Foster and Alex Marshall 5-12, 15-5, 2-1 with the scoreline showing little reflection of the high calibre of play in a title decider which could have gone anyway.
Playing in their fifth final in five years, losing the title last year to Nick Brett and Greg Harlow, the Scots dominated in the first set, winning seven of the eleven end set with the jack length instrumental in the outcome. The Scots played a short 24 metre length while the English duo preferred the longer 29 metre length.
In the second though, the Scots opted to give the jack to thir opponents and immediately the English pair scored a treble to their long jack. On the second end Marshall was forced to play a runner where he ditched the jack for a double and they followed up with a single on the third to level at 3-3.
However skip Paxton found a rich vein of form and played some unbelievable shots, turning the screw end after end with the Scots left chasing their tail and only scoring on one of the remaining seven ends before the result was out of sight.
On the sudden death shoot out, a magnificent trail of the jack from Marshall with his last delivery gave the Scots the start they were looking for and when Foster drew a back toucher with his first bowl on the second end, the title looked to be heading to Scotland. However an inch perfect second bowl from Skelton handed the advantage to England as the head remained unchanged after the remaining four deliveries.
In a tense and exciting climax England held a match lie while a gallant attempt to draw a cold shot to within inches of the jack saw the Scots miss out by a mere fraction.
Marshall said "I was disappointed with the way I performed. If I could have played half the game that I know I can then things might have been different. Paul was different class in the match. He kept us in it and was outstanding. I had chances but I never took them. I found the centre line but I struggled to find the weight.
"I feel I let Paul down but we've been together for too long and don't blame each other. We play as a team, win as a team and also lose as a team. There are no sour grapes, we support each other fully".
Defending singles champion Darren Burnett chased the Scottish blues away though when he won his opening match against Elgin's Andy Barker 7-5, 8-6 to progress to the second round.
He said "The first match is always the hardest and that was a tough one so I'm just happy to win through. I know what Andy is capable of so I just had to keep it tight. It was a scrappy game but with so many people leaving after the pairs final the temperature in the arena dropped and that changed the pace of the carpet. It was lifeless and you just couldn't be consistent on it".
Aussie Ben Twist became the second qualifier to win through in fifteen matches when he took the scalp of number 12 seed Jason Greenslade 9-5, 8-3.
Foster will be back in the title hunt today and will no doubt have revenge on his mind. Along with Welsh partner Laura Thomas they will be chasing the Mixed Pairs title for a record setting third time in a row and will once again come up against Paxton who is partnering Marion Purcell from Wales.
David Gourlay and Jonathan Ross get the second round action in the singles underway against John Price and Nicky Brett.
RESULTS (19th January 2015)
JUST RETIREMENT WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS at Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton on Sea, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk, Eng
SINGLES (Rd 1 Cont'd)
*Holder [1] D Burnett (Scot) bt [Q] A Barker (Scot) 7-5, 8-6;
[Q] B Twist (Aus) bt [12] J Greenslade (Wales) 9-5, 8-3;
RESULT TO COME Approx 9.15 tonight [16] W Hogg (Scot) v [Q] G Donaldson (Scot)
WORLD PAIRS FINAL
S Skelton & R Paxton (Eng) bt P Foster & A Marshall (Scot) 5-12, 15-5, 2-1;
SCHEDULE OF PLAY for Tuesday 20th January
10am Singles Rd 2
[13] J Ross (Scot) v [4] N Brett (Eng);
1pm MIXED PAIRS FINAL
*Holders L Thomas (Wales) & P Foster (Scot) v M Purcell (Wales) & R Paxton (Eng;
Singles Rd 2 [11] J Price (Wales) v [6] D Gourlay (Scot);
7.30pm [3] R Paxton (Eng) v [14] M Royal (Eng);
COMPLETE 1st ROUND SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS ** IN DRAW ORDER
*Holder [1] D Burnett (Scot) bt [Q] A Barker (Scot) 7-5, 8-6,
[16] W Hogg (Scot) v [Q] G Donaldson (Scot),
[9] G Harlow (Eng) bt [Q] M Puckett (Eng) 5-7, 9-5, 2-1,
[8] S Anderson (Scot) bt [WC] C Walker (Scot) 6-9, 12-5, 2-1,
[5] A Marshall (Scot) bt [Q] L Bouse (Wales) 10-5, 5-8, 2-0,
[Q] B Twist (Aus) bt [12] J Greenslade (Wales) 9-5, 8-3,
[13] J Ross (Scot) bt [WC] B Jackson (Eng) 8-5, 11-5,
[4] N Brett (Eng) bt [Q] A McLean (NZ) 12-5, 11-7,
[3] R Paxton (Eng) bt [Q] C Newton (Eng) 5-7, 11-1, 2-1,
[14] M Royal (Eng) bt [Q] M McPeak (Ire) 4-9, 10-4, 2-0,
[11] J Price (Wales) bt [Q] D Bolt (Eng) 9-4, 2-8, 2-0,
[6] D Gourlay (Scot) bt [WC] R Weale (Wales) 4-5, 7-6, 2-0,
[7] M King (Eng) bt [TC] B Sherwen (Eng) 10-1, 9-6,
[10] A Thomson (Eng) bt [Q] D Doubler (Wales) 7-6, 7-8, 2-0,
[Q] T Webb (Eng) bt [15] S Skelton (Eng) 11-6, 2-8, 2-0,
[2] P Foster (Scot) bt [TC] M Dawes (Eng) 9-7, 12-3
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