Highlights - 12/11/15 Bowls: Scottish International Open

Hello and a very warm welcome to our coverage of the Co-operative

Funeralcare Scottish International Open. Yesterday, it was carnage,

with former champions, top seeds and world champions crashing from the

competition. One shock exit followed another, as we said goodbye to the

four previous year 's winners. But have no fear, there was still plenty

of pedigree left. Our first match pitted the Commonwealth Games gold

medallist against Paul Foster's conqueror, Mark Royal. I feel

confident following victory over Paul, so I feel I can go on and win

the tournament. Our second game featured the 2015 world indoor

runner-up, Andy Thomson, against Stewart Anderson. He will be a tough

opponent. I played him last year and managed to win, but I am aware of

how well he played against Nick Brett, so will be a hard game. Last

but by no means least, 2008 champion Greg Harlow squared off against

Jonathan Ross in the last of our quarterfinals. I have played

Jonathan quite a bit in the past but not in recent times. He is going

pretty good this week. This is how the draw looked at the start of the

day. Jason Greenslade was up against Les Gillett.

Let's focus on the match we were looking forward to, Mark Royal

against Darren Burnett. Not many bowlers can be described as masters

of the game, both inside and out, but Darren Burnett can. Multiple

winner of British titles, plus a world Champion of champions. He is

the complete bowler. Mark Royal may not be able to compete in terms of

titles, but he is a great player with a game that can do real damage.

Quiet off the green, but ruthless on it, he took the International open

title in Wales a few years back and this week he has looked on top form.

But Darren Burnett took the first set 8-5. We join it in the fourth

game of the 2nd set with Mark Royal 2-1 in front.

The heat in here, in terms of the bowling area, generally, is very

hot. Obviously the heat exchangers are working well.

APPLAUSE A good follow up.

There is the connection for Mark Royal, if he wants to go just

slightly narrower. Just dipped inside for the gap. That

was a hard shot to play. It looked like it was perfect. And then, as if

to say, now that you have gone past, watch the red bowl. It falls.

If it had fallen already, he would have knocked against it.

That does not really change anything. That green bowl was always

in a good position. It is all down to whether Mark wants to play more

weight at this, or play the same bowl again, and hope the gap has

been closed down. Trying for the same shot again. It

is difficult. It really years, but he is giving it a good go. He is

close. Surely this time. Got it this time and made two. Beautifully done

by Mark Royal, lovely shot. He kept the faith. He got his reward. That

is tough, that really is a tough, tough shot to play. Ask any of the

top players. They will tell you it is a low percentage shot. Darren his

attacking. Well, if you had a shot of the day

for the worst result, that has to be it. There are few more frustrating

things in bowls than handing your opponent shots. But to do it when

you had three bowls so close. He took all three out. It just seemed

impossible. A magical mystery. Well, Darren got two back in the

next end, thankfully for him. We rejoin it for the sixth end.

The last time these gentlemen met on the world Bowls tour was the

semifinal of the Welsh. The first set was tied 8-8, the 2nd set was

won by Mark Royal, 7-4, and Mark Royal went on to take that title.

The dates of those clashes are critical in many ways. Mark was

flying high, especially in Wales. He has always played good bowls down

there. A bit of a bogey tournament for some players, and others happen

to enjoy it immensely. Simon Skelton was another one who did well down in

South Wales. It is circumstances beyond the

control of bowls organisations that there is no welcome now -- no Welsh

open now. We all hope it returns. It was a good event.

That was a nice line. Really nice line. You could see the bowl dipping

in at the end of its travel, gently falling back.

You would think he was happy with that. He is playing so well, he

really is. So is Mark, to be fair. They are playing quality bowls in

this match. Just to prove a point, here he comes. Look at this! It is

brilliant. Absolutely brilliant stuff from both players. Two men on

the top of their game. Mark Royal, using the

I am almost scared to say that the shot looks like it is coming through

there, but I am trying to see if there is any danger for him to take

all his own bowls out again. But it surely has to. The re-spot position

is over here. So any bounce of the jack to bring it into that position

would be really good. At least he would be reducing the count down to

a single. But Mark still has another would be reducing the count down to

Brilliant, brilliant bowling. What an end of bowls that was. On target,

running bowls. Great maximum 100% results. Without that, he was still

two down, but it was just enough. That was him, trying to get the jack

with the edge. Quite ably in end of bowls. Mark

Royal took that set, which meant a tie-break.

Three end tie-break, a single shot per end, and that is the way to

start. A good reply. Gives him something to

work off. He will have to start to attack this at some stage.

Two of their last three meetings have gone to tie-breaks. Mark Royal

has won both 2-0. Cover bowls going in already. I am surprised it is as

deep as that. He will be looking for the re-spot, rather than the

full-back position. That might have been a bit of a flyer.

Trying to drive this off, get a connection on the jack. He needs to

move it somehow. And somehow it just goes down the side.

It was a pretty horrible gap to make. The edge of the red bowl would

have taken the green one out. He would have been happy enough with

that. The re-spot is covered. Darren is

still looking for the edge of the green bowl. If he misses it, I would

say a blocker is required because Darren is more than capable of

edging this bowl off. It didn't go to the re-spot. It has

gone in all the way. Very, very good strike. He is a touch, and he will

stay there. Maximum results to follow that through. It could easily

have bounced off the green one at the back. Bang on target, absolutely

middled the jack. No guarantees that things go through when you hit one

like that. But then he was desperately unlucky with the

previous one, so... Time-out called. Mark Royal, with his first bowl one

inch behind the jack, exactly where you want to be. This is a disaster

in terms of trying to get to it. Nothing on the narrow side, no

chance of playing the narrow side. He has to go opposite side and hope

to sneak past his own bowl, probably two and a half feet. The left hand,

his forehand. The way this pair have played, you

would not bet against him. He has to give it a chance. There is no point

in being short. This looks heavy. His opponent was looking at it,

expecting it to drop in the ditch. It did not come back nearly as much

as he thought it would. After the perfect opening bowl in the

tie-break, Mark Royal was undone by the perfect driving bowl from Darren

Burnett. It is an advantage to the Scot. He lost the last two

tie-breaks against Mark Royal. A few years ago, the statistic was

3-0. It would have been more like 2-1 for me, looking at it. Since

then, Darren Burnett has been playing super stuff and it has

reflected in his World Championship success. The Commonwealth Games. He

has always been picking up titles. Four times world under 25s champion.

His roll call of honours is impressive. Mark Royal last one a

world ranking event in 2011 and has not been beyond the quarterfinals in

his last 12 events. He has it all to do now.

It is a good line. Just dropping inside. A good starter from both

players. On the line again. Again, he looks

like he is dipping inside nicely. He has. It is a narrow target. But the

advantage for Darren is that obviously he is carrying that one

end and can afford to take a risk. The re-spot is covered on one side.

It has to be worth looking for the two bowls, with his ability to drive

hard and accurately. He wanted to leave the jack. That is

OK. That was the other option, bouncing it out into the re-spot. A

bit of a distance, and Mark Royal does have two bites at it. Mark

Royal would have been relieved when he saw the jack connecting that it

was not chased into the ditch like last time. Now he has probably three

and a half feet around the jack. The line looks OK. Does it have the

power? Yes, it does. That is close enough. And Darren Burnett, going to

see how far that bowl is. It is beatable. He will probably try and

draw this. A big shot for Darren Burnett. He lost it. He had to go

very wide. He does use a strong bias bowl. It is rare that it happens but

he had no choice if he was going to play that side. He had to be very

close to the side ditch. You could see he was trying to skirt the very

edge. He did not miss it by much. It is annoying. From his reaction, he

probably thought he was close. You always like to see what happens. But

that is one of the problems with any single rink match. Winner takes all.

A place in the semifinal awaits. You would always take last bowl over

setting the jack length here. They are not doing that. The rules change

again. This is the only time you can destroy the end and replay it, but

you have to nominate it. You can only do it once but you can nominate

as often as you wish. So this could go on for potentially three ends.

This is a great opening bowl from Darren Burnett. Round it goes, falls

down. You could hear the crowd. They are obviously a home crowd for

Darren but there is a lot of respect out there as well for Mark Royal.

This has been a fantastic game of holes, it really has. Full of good

drawers, good weight shots, unfortunate results, the odd

fortunate result as well. He would like that one back. The last place

you want to be as right in front of the jack, just in case you want to

drive your way out of trouble. That was perfect protection for Darren.

He will not want to leave anything so he will come round.

Oh, well, it falls the other side. That is a very good single shot at

this stage in the match. It is beatable but it takes a special bowl

to beat it. I thought it was always on the short

side. Some effort, mind you. There is not going to be a destroyed end

here. There is no way to drive the jack, the way the balls are sitting.

Mark Royal will be forced into trying to draw this. Darren Burnett

would be tempted to drop one short and force Mark Royal onto the other

hand. The trouble is, he can play it both ways. That is the problem.

Oh, dear. Well... I don't think Mark Royal will try to chip the bowl out.

And that bowl might just be enough behind jack Hyde to stop the

shoulder working perfectly. Even if it rested against it and fell, might

not be enough. I don't think he has made it. Not

enough. I have a feeling it is one to read. He hit it just a little bit

thick. I think he hit it just a little bit thick. He needed to hit

it just a little bit Finau. Yes, I little bit thinner and he was

definitely coming in off the back bowl. This is interesting, because

it is not up to Mark. It is now. He knew it was not enough. Good

sportsmanship, I can tell you. You don't often see that at any level

except the very top professionals. What a match. Top-class bowling, top

result for Darren Burnett, the highest seed left in the tournament.

He is in the semifinal. Hard work today. Absolutely. He has been

playing great bowls and he is back to top form. He is really hard to

beat, very consistent. I had to dig in. You were super consistent. You

must have been happy with the way you were playing. Yes. Early in the

match I probably ran too much, not really my style. Then I decided to

try and improve my drawer and I'm certainly happy with the way I

played. Congratulations to Darren Burnett, through to the semifinal.

He took Commonwealth gold in Glasgow last year, coached by David Gourlay,

who has now left and has been replaced by an experienced Welshman.

I think a few people will look at it and say, why have we not got a

Scottish head coach, but I don't think that necessarily has to be the

case. The guys know John, he is high profile. And they respect him and

that is the most important thing. I certainly feel I am privileged to be

in that position. Scottish bowls is tremendous. They are up with the top

nations in the world. Bowls in Scotland, they have a passion for it

than any other country. Brazil and football would be similar. It is a

privilege to do the job and a great responsibility. His credentials go

without saying. He has played at the top level, Commonwealth Games, he

understands what players go through. And Rona has been there at the

highest level in the Olympics, winning a gold medal. She has been

under pressure, as has John, but she has achieved a lot through curling

and the changes that have come through curling as well. There are

things that curling did 15 years ago that we can learn from. They bring

slightly different aspects to the job, but combined they are a solid

team. We work well together. He leaves the bits and bobs to me that

he does not like to do. He has the knowledge and I need to implement

it. I think her appointment is great for bowls. She is very high

profile, comes from an Olympic programme, so she will bring a

different skill set. I think she will take bowls a couple of rungs up

the high performance ladder. She is well-suited to take us further up.

The high-performance manager role for Bowls Scotland is to bring

high-performance into the equation, whether it is psychology, training,

whatever we can do to give them services to help them. Whatever we

can do to win medals, we have to do it. Australia, they are bringing

these high-performance programmes in. We have got to keep moving

forward to stay on top where we are. We have also got a target ourselves

in the World Championships. Obviously, the first important issue

is to qualify for those championships. That is the first

challenge ahead. John will be well respected by the squad. He has got

great experience. Very level-headed, very approachable and

he knows the game inside out. I think John will do really well in

the job and bring the team altogether. We wish John Price and

Rhona Howie all the best in their roles at Scottish bowls. Let's move

onto the next quarterfinal. Greg Harlow signalled his intent with a 3

in the second end. Ross had never been this far in the Scottish open

and his prospects of progressing looked bleak as he lost the first

set 10-1 after just seven ends. An uncharacteristically loose shot from

Greg Harlow gave the Scott some encouragement and if we shot lead.

He was finding his range in the fourth end. -- three shot lead. By

the seventh end he was on his way to building and unassailable lead and

forcing a tie-break, winning the second set, 8-3. The 2010 world

champion took the initiative with a great drive to win the first end of

the tie-break. And he found a good position early in the second end.

And try as he might, Johnny Ross was unable to beat that with his

remaining bowls so Greg Harlow was through to the semifinal against

Darren Burnett, winning-1, 3-9, 2-0. The first semifinal will be Darren

Burnett against Greg Harlow. Should be a cracker. Let's turn our

attention to the other half of the draw, Andy Thomson against Stuart

Anderson. The match of the tournament so far was the one in

which Anderson played Nick Brett. The Scotsman conjured up a magical

performance. He looks to have recaptured the form that saw him win

the world title back in 2013. This fellow has uncanny ability to get

the end of tournaments. He has won the bold title on three separate

occasions and could have made it four if he had not met Alex Marshall

in scintillating form earlier this year. Both were in good form in the

first set. We join this in the eighth end, Anderson with his nose

just in front. APPLAUSE

Here's urging it forward. That which just it is going short. A slap of

the hands together. The last thing he wanted to be. If anything he

wanted to get to the second red bowl. Two shorts down in the last

end is not a disaster. Three shots, and it is going to be tough.

This is a loose end from Stewart Anderson. And we are talking in

relative terms, a loose end. 14, 15 inches. Andy knows he can do better

than that. It will have moved with this bowl, still a danger if the red

bowl is still sitting in front at that angle with this forehand

dipping around the short bowls, and here it comes. That was about

getting to the jack before Stewart and forcing him into the weight

shot. He has the best two back bowls, the two green. A little mixed

up. He is allowed. Stuart, deep in concentration. There he goes. He has

the position. Looking for the slip and the run-through. On their

re-spot that is going to be really tight. I don't expect him to score

all three but he will certainly rely on a nice situation. Two against him

for definite, potentially three. He has turned it over. If you just

loses one. Good hit. You would expect Andy to draw the shot. This

is something they practice what on the re-spots. It is struggling. That

looked lazy. That is a gift. Something went wrong there.

Something wasn't right. It is just not like Andy to make that sort of

mistake. Things continue to go wrong for Andy

Thomson who lost five games. We rejoin it in the fourth.

Good stuff. He is not playing badly. He has to find a way to get

back into this second set. Andy might be tempted to come

through this and try to take the two bowls away. Here he goes. He cannot

afford to be wide. Is he going to get back in time? He just didn't get

the angle. Still, one away. Jason was just that bit better. Since the

second round I don't think anyone has played poorly, really. Just,

some of the guys have been right on it, this week.

Stewart Anderson had a great game against Nick Brett. Your bowl is 12

inches. This is reminiscent of Stewart from two, three years ago.

And Andy forced to go again. He went with a pile of weight that time. Not

far away. You can see the set slipping away. Gets the outside Red

Bull. Two of them will disappear. Now what do you do, put something on

the re-spot and let Andy have another go, or block it? He is

looking to drop in on its centre rink and block it, that is where the

danger was. That is a shocking decision for Andy Thomson. If he

goes again he has to do get close to this green bowl to push it in. He

takes it out he loses another shot. There is no real draw on. He's going

to take this on. He has. That was the danger of pushing something in,

losing another shot. I cannot blame him playing it, though. He had to go

for it. I don't think there was any choice in the matter. It is a

horrible outcome. It was a clever bowl by Stewart to drop its slightly

on the wind signed of the centre line. It left Andy with nothing.

There was no draw shot and he decided to take a risk -- on the

wide side. Stewart will close this down, be quite happy to lose the odd

single over the next two or three ends. He can defend.

Andy will be trying to chip away at this and try to score one, two shots

over the next couple of end is, see if you can give himself a good run

at Stewart. He has dropped short with this one again so there is an

opportunity. Remember last season Andy Johnson came out on top on the

tie-break. He won the first set, occasion, lost the second. Took the

tie-break. And to score this end. He has since a chance, and he is coming

round. -- needs to score. That is good stuff. Hasn't played a bad

game. Andy retire from the outdoor side for the Commonwealth Games and

World Championship and number of years ago. Still good enough to

compete at that level, how doors, if he felt like it. A lot of people

feel that they could still do with him. But other things are more

important to him at the moment. Use into the coaching side as well, now.

-- he is into. Has had a little stint with jersey. Can he come round

here and draw a third? Does not want to leave it short. Where he has left

it might just forced Stewart Anderson into the forehand. We

thought he would go into the management side. Hasn't happened

yet. I would imagine that with probably on the cards in the not too

distant future. He's a good man to get in. He holds the respect of the

players. He has forced Stewart on the

beforehand and he might have played one. Will it get back in time? Not

quite. It is his closest so far but Andy still looks like he is holding

a couple. Two shots, needs to pick up this shop here. This is

important, make the three. Get back what you lost in the last end. Just

crossing the map a little bit to give himself some extra room and get

around this short bowl. He has given this chance. It needs to hurry. It

needs to run. The line is good. Looks like he is there. That

confirms it. If he has made it, it is a good treble. Stewart has got a

good eye on his head. That is a really good treble. Needs another

score this end and the next one, to put a little bit of doubt into

Stewart Anderson's head. Stewart Anderson over the two set 's has

taken six straight ends. Stewart Anderson's loosest N so far, and

Andy Thomson was able to punish him. A shorter length.

Just so gently out of the hand. Stewart Anderson, 24 metres. This

carpet is running a little bit slower and usual, perhaps. Just fed

it out of the hand. -- feather it. It is running similar to my own

green back home. This will not be totally dissimilar. It is also a

blue carpet on both of our greens. We have had them for a while now,

and very attractive they are, too. There will be many club players

watching this and seen that with Stewart Anderson the jack Cullen has

changed. All of a sudden you are through with one shot and your

opponent is getting closer. -- the jack length.

Has he got the right weight? The line is good. Got to be close with

this one. Beautiful backhand, plucked out the perfect line and

wait and that is not going to be easy to move, for Andy. I think he

will wait to see if he can make it through the gap into the front green

and cut the edge of the red, changing his angle slightly on the

mat and there he goes. This is a hard shot to play. In he comes. He

wanted to bowl out absolutely clean. As it is, everything is moving. The

jack will go on the re-spot and Stewart Anderson will I ever least

one, maybe even two. There is a red bowl right at the very back that has

stayed on the rink. That was a shocker of a result for Andy. He has

had a couple of horrible results of late. I know a few people that could

draw this one and they are not even bowlers. Horrible results for Andy

Thomson. You see, there it comes. Three shots, Stewart Anderson. This

is the difference. If he gets the edge he is lying two or three shots

and Stewart is in trouble, he gets the jack and he loses the three. And

that finishes off this match. Indeed it did. Anderson took the seventh

end, confirming his place in the semifinal.

I almost feel like I want to give you a hug after that second set.

That was hard work. I played a bad end as I'm sure you will get on to

it shortly. I needed a good start in the second set, but after that, he

just steam-rollered me. It was amazing, Stewart, because against

Nick Brett you played a fantastic game but your line and length seems

pretty good this week, you seem very confident. Is that fair comment?

Yes, I think it is. I came into the rink quite confident I try to get

the first couple of ends under my belt. Let's have a look at set one,

this was hugely important to put the pressure on Andy and it meant the

first set was pretty much yours. I played two good first bowls and the

third one just kind of summed it up. That would mean four up and it made

a massive difference. It would seem that any time you got close, Andy,

he was able to get inside you. It is fair to say that I dipped in my

performance today. I had come into this game quite confident. As

Stewart says, it is little percentages. I was down on my game

today. Stewart played very well, so I have no complaints. One of the

shots we are going to have to pick up on is the second end of the

second set. The jack is the re-spot and you got a draw for one, and

Stewart was lying at this point. And it was just a little bit under. Can

you tell me what the commentator said about this one? It was probably

the worst bowl I have played in the last ten years. It was a bad bowl. I

bet that he will have a field day with that one. Stewart, you might

have thought you were dropping a shot there but you made two or

three. Onwards and upwards in the second set from your point of view.

I gave and the 100 bowls and he would draw at 100 times and it just

happens occasionally, very few times it happens, really, but I am just

glad to get the three, 5-0 up and just make sure that I scored in the

next couple of ends. Congratulations to Stewart Anderson. He's playing

well. Who would he be playing next's Jason Greenslade me the next

best -- made a good start. The Welshman made the early running

in the second set. Les Gillett' to rediscover the form of round two.

The pressure from Greenslade was relentless. The 2004 champion

peppering the jack as he scored in each of the first four ends of the

second set. There was a glimmer of hope for Les Gillett in the fifth

end but he took a two. And when Greenslade missed when playing with

weight, the match was tied up at 4-4. At end seven, Les Gillett

played a fine fourth shot but left the jack exposed. And Greenslade

then picked up a single to nudge in front again. The man from the Bill

of Glamorgan pressed home his advantage in the eighth end. -- the

Vale of Glamorgan. And, when Les Gillick's final drive missed,

Greenslade was into the semifinals with one end to spare. Now, we have

the semifinal draw for the Scottish International Open. Stewart Anderson

playing very well against the Welsh wizard, Jason Greenslade. Greg

Harlow, who won here in 2008 against the 2014 world champion Darren

Burnett. Some wonderful matches today. Tomorrow should be absolutely

brilliant. What was the best shot? Corky will tell us. My shot of the

day was taken from the match with Darren Burnett and Mark well. Mark

Royal lost the first set, Darren Burnett was in supreme form but he

was 2-1 down. Mark Royal missed the third shot but placed the fourth

shot to perfection. Everything had to be right about this, line and

wait and catching the jack at the right angle. Just watch this bowl.

Beautiful, smooth delivery. Just misses the front bowl. Takes the

jack to his back one, and it is completely hidden. It does not get

any better than that as a trail shot on the portable rink. More

importantly for me, what happened after that, it forced Darren Burnett

into playing a weight shot, he was very unlucky but he lost four which

gave Mark Royal the impetus to go on and win the set comfortably. That is

why it is my shot of the day. That was an absolute peach by Mark Royal.

Not good enough to get into the semifinals. We will be back at 10am

tomorrow for live coverage of Jason Greenslade against Stewart Anderson

and again at 1:45pm for Darren Greenslade against Stewart Anderson

and again at 1:45pm for Darren Burnett against Greg Harlow. Today

has been wonderful, tomorrow, I'm sure, will be fantastic. In the

meantime, sleep well. We will.