Derek Boswell and Cyril Renouf combined brilliantly on a tricky rink to beat England duo Mark Bantock and Steve Farish (both Commonwealth Games silver medalists), 14-11, and will play Spain in today’s semi finals.
Meanwhile, Chris Grimes and Lindsey Greechan hit top form to topple England’s Doreen Hankin and Ellen Falkner, who struck gold in triples and fours when the Atlantic event was last held in Ireland two years ago, 19-13.
But, while the pairs hogged the headlines, the Island’s triples also caught the eye, despite suffering quarter final defeats at the hands of Wales and Canada respectively.
‘We enjoyed a cracking group game with Scotland in the morning, and, although we lost 23-18, it was just what we needed before taking on Wales in the quarter finals,’ said Jersey triples skip Thomas Greechan.
Jamie MacDonald, Alan Shaw and Greechan made a slow start against Andrew Atwood’s Welsh trio, who were 8-1 ahead after seven ends, but scored seven singles to close the gap to 9-7 after 14 ends, and lost 12-8.
‘It was a great game,’ said, Greechan.
‘You can tell by the score just how close it was – only 20 shots were scored in 18 ends.’ In the women’s triples quarter final, Gaynor Thomas, Joan Renouf and Liz Cole started well against Canada, leading 5-2 after four ends, but dropped shot on the next eight ends to trail 5-16 after 12, and the young, excitable Canadians went on to win 21-9.
But it was in the pairs that Jersey bowlers really shone, Boswell and Renouf scoring a four against the fancied English pair to take the lead at 6-5, but the lead changed hands several times before a last-end double gave them a 14-11 victory.
In the women’s pairs, Grimes set up some good positions for Greechan, who is always looking for attacking shots to play, and, after they trailed 4-9 after 7 ends, a five on the 13th end put the Jersey duo 13-11 in front.
Keeping up the pressure, they added a treble on the 16th, and sealed their 19-13 victory with two singles on the 17th and 18th ends.
‘We’re over the moon to be in the semi finals,’ said Lindsay Greechan, ‘And it’s to everyone’s credit that we managed to make it to the quarter finals in all four events.’ While Boswell and Renouf take on Spain in this morning’s semi finals, Grimes and Greechan have been drawn to play Scotland, with whom they tied, 13-13, during their round-robin group campaign.
