Day 6 World Indoor Bowls Championships

Hello, everyone and welcome to the

east coast of England for the 40th

edition of the world indoor bowls

championships. It is also the 20th

time the event has been held that

the Potters Resort in Hopton-on-Sea.

During both those periods we have

witnessed some memorable and magical

moments. Today the semifinal stay in

the open singles which means we are

getting even closer to knowing the

next name set to join an illustrious

roll of honour.

Cantlie Fahlin? Yes. That was an

amazing last bowl.

It is all over,

the youngest ever world singles

champion.

It is not a kangaroo.

He

is going to strike that bowl for the

Championship. He has got it.

So, just four players left with the

chance of lifting the coveted open

singles title. Darren Burnett, up

against Mark Dawes, and Robert

Paxton, faced the surprise package

of the week Wayne Willgress. First

up, we start with our broad

policeman Darren Burnett against

Mark Dawes, who was part of the

successful pairs Keynesian early in

the week. We will join with Dawes

4-3 ahead. Commentary from John

Price and David Corkhill.

Jack Lang, 29 metres. -- jack

length.

Very quick on the mat, Mark Dawes,

he does not mess about, he bowls

away. A failed pace in this game,

David, at the moment.

Yes, very much

crowing green style as well, as Mark

Dawes moves on. I should explain,

that is another code of bowls,

crowing green, played outdoors, with

the crowing in the centre of the

ring, but there are all sorts of

runs around as well. -- the centre

of the rink. It is an interesting

variation of the sport, played

mainly in the north-west, around the

Manchester area. Moving down into

the Midlands now, and the Isle of

Man, there is a big competition

there. I know lots of those players

are watching.

Darren trying to get past the green.

Similar to his last delivery.

Well, Mark, can you get around this

pole? -- bowl. Out on the white

side, it just needs to run. Well, it

is good. He has pushed that one a

lot closer.

lot closer. Nothing easy for Darren,

there is a running bowl, but it is

not guaranteed, that front green

bowl.

No, and his own bowl down the

centre of the rink is making it

difficult, the red short one.

difficult, the red short one. He has

taken a time-out. He is having

another look at it. He is checking

all the angles. Nothing really

clean.

It is not a great strike. No.

Only the one shot, we think. Close

to the second.

to the second. There is only the one

shot in it. If you take a risk,

suddenly you can lose twos and

threes.

He is playing the draw. He

has been pretty accurate over the

week on this side. It is all about

weight from there.

Yes, there is

only one danger. He has managed to

avoid that.

It is a great bowl. He

has taken his time and played it

well.

That was perfect. He negotiated the

front green one, and had to make it

past it.

Mark, or on the forehand side.

It is

a decent line as well. If he has got

the running, he is very close. Look

at this. Dear me, that is wonderful

stuff, wonderful bowling.

He came writing, settled and the

jack, rate in behind it, great

control by Mark Dawes, two wonderful

bowls I both players.

bowls I both players. -- from both

players.

Jack length 26.5 metres.

That is good leading, as you would

expect from Mark Dawes.

expect from Mark Dawes.

Going early,

to clear the bowls and get the jack.

The jack on the respots.

It is the shot, but nowhere near as

close as you would like.

Darren is comfortably around that

bowl.

Well, struggling again. It is a very

good chance, a bit of a cheap two.

Yes, well, Mark has made it a little

bit more difficult. That bowl is

slightly and Darren's line, but I

think there is room to get around

that. He has decided to take the

other option and go across the rink

on the backhand side.

Well, it is

difficult this one, hard to judge.

That is why he has filled. It is

just a single. A difficult way in.

Jack length 28.5 metres.

It is another very good start. That

is where you want to play the bowl,

the front touch to start with.

the front touch to start with.

Well,

as long as his bowl, anything up to

the jack or beyond is good. Right

from the first end, he is in a bit

of bother. He has to waste on if he

does not draw, he has to waste when

to open it.

Darren turns away. He

did not fancy that one. The second

prize at the end of the rink. He

gets across and covers the drive. He

never got that away.

APPLAUSE

He is so good when he draws the

jack, Mark Dawes.

Scottish bowls fans. That is Alan

McKenzie at the end, coming down

from Inverness. I think that maybe

the ladies that surprised -- that

supplied the shortbread today.

Yes,

very kind of them to give us the

shortbread biscuits.

I got the note

to say is thank you very much, and

John got the box of biscuits.

That is a brilliant delivery. Just

enough to get to their jack and turn

it for two, what an bowl by Mark

Dawes.

That bowl did look like it

might just drop, is it still two?

Does not really matter in terms of

what Darren is going to do, he is

going to plough into this.

He will

probably need a one now. It is very

hard for us to tell, he is looking

at the angle, there is no back

position.

This is his last bowl. If

it goes wrong, he has got no bowl to

recover.

If it is in that area, it

would be great but he has to look to

play this irrespective now, if he

gets into this bowl here, he has a

chance just to get the two bowls out

but it depends whether it is one or

two.

That was not the best result for a

bowl on target.

A really good strike

by Darren Burnett. The problem is

you cannot guarantee, he hit it so

well, he needed luck and he did not

get it.

The way Mark is drawing, you would

say it is a big opportunity to add a

third shot.

He is not sure about this, just when

he let it go. It has to get past the

front one, once he is pass that, he

is pretty close. That should do it.

Three shots, Mark Dawes. It is

continual pressure. He played two

brilliant bowls in that mushroom.

If

you give him anything, any amount of

space, he will draw the shot --

mushroom in that mushroom.

APPLAUSE. . Three sets of chorus

over nine ends. All the bowlers

watching this will know the rules

and regulations, but not everyone

knows that.

knows that. Two sets of nine ends

and the minimum jack a distance of

93. When they are rolling the jack

down, you can see those little white

dots, they are a meter part. So the

umpire can calculate the length of

the jack and then announce it to

everyone in the arena.

Good bowl down.

One red.

You're

trying to keep your opponent down to

a single, Mark Dawes. He was

thinking about this but the way he

is drawing, he could just drop this

in.

He does not need to do anything

too spectacular, if he drops a

single, that will do, give him a

chance to be a comfortable winner of

the set. This is good again on the

shot. Going so well either side, he

is very confident.

Two things there,

it look like a backhand shot and you

would be happy with a close second.

Well, choices. On the back and this

time, if he is going to draw. Is he

going to leave it alone and go deep?

Nothing really deep, Darren has not

got a back bowl as such. Could cover

the back, leave Darren a strike or a

very difficult draw.

If he is able

to get a bowl in this sort of

direction, if he gets one around

about there, even a little bit wider

would be good. I think Darren will

go on the backhand and try and get

the bowl away and he wants to have

one to have a collecting bowl for

the jack coming through.

the jack coming through.

Looks like

on that line he is looking to get

past anywhere covering up the back.

I think that is where he is looking.

A little bit further than what I

thought, but it is a very good

positional bowl but that was the

right sort of idea and now he is

saying to Darren, you can rest the

bowl off for two but it will have to

be very accurate.

Playing it with their weight,

looking to get the green away.

Played it well, but that is that

back green bowl there, that was the

cover shot.

cover shot. Gets a one, though.

Saves their set. Mark Dawes did

enough to see out the first set and

we will rejoin in the seventh end

with Dawes ahead.

You do not know

what Darren has got left really, he

is struggling, with this injury as

well. Mark Dawes has not let him

off, he is doing what he has to do,

a very professional performance.

Yes, there is a facility within the

rules to offer an medical break for

ten minutes but to be truthful, with

this type of injury, that will not

help. I think Darren needs

painkillers and unfortunately, they

will take a lot longer than ten

minutes to take in.

A great opener

under the circumstances.

His form

has not really dipped that much even

though he is in pain, he is still

playing really good stuff.

I think

his problem is, it is the

consistency between the bowls, once

or twice he has not really got down

and played a short ball.

That is the problem. Not every bowl,

but it is certain once and he is

aware of it, isn't he? He is aware

of it. That is good considering the

way he put that away.

That is great.

The thing is a lot of players have

played with injuries, back injuries

in particular, the only good thing

for him is that it is indoors, he

does not have to fling the bowl up a

heavy outdoor grass green, this is

still a very fast running surface.

I

have just got a feeling he is

have just got a feeling he is making

big effort, this might be his last

band.

This could be the winner. That

is a great bowl under pressure. He

has just split the two reds and got

the back position. Well, Darren has

got two bowls to get out of trouble

here.

Not sure about this one.

I think

that last bowl might have just

finished Darren Burnett off on this

end, he did not really get into it,

missed his line.

They are going to

have to, Mark Dawes will have to try

and draw something close just behind

the green ball would be good. Really

a follow from his last one.

The same

sort of bowl, anything to the back

red.

Well played, again. He is very well

down, isn't he? If he picks up a two

here he will go 9-2 in front and

Darren will need two Force, he may

as well shake hands if he is in so

much pain.

He might gamble here,

wait at this stage. Hope to get a

connection, red into greens.

The green bowls are all marked, if

that jack goes through, the ideal

shot for Darren Burnett would be to

get into the green and move the jack

and even on a draw, it is still

possible to draw the jack through

but I cannot see anything else, if

he hits the red bowl into the greens

and the jack moves...

That may be

the only other chance he has got.

Just there.

Just there.

Would not like to even

think about it really. He might get

the bounce but if the jack goes

back, it will be a couple and if he

misses this, it is quite possible he

will shake hands because he is,

without a shadow of a doubt, in some

pain.

He is going. He is going for

the hit.

Well, that is just exactly

what you said. He has come out with

that and a fantastic result, an

amazing result.

I think that bounce

and that is a really good results,

that is a match saver for him.

It

looks like three shot six goodness

me! One bowl away from effectively

losing the match.

He is going down

on his sword if he is going out in

this competition.

You can see what

happens whenever it the jack is

covered over with a bowl, it goes

towards the centre Mark. And he has

to be very accurate with this,

because it will be a measure, he is

looking at it, right down the

centre, in towards the centre Mark

with the jack, people might ask why

he does not go to the other side,

but he cannot get it onto the spot

and that is the way the rules are

written.

What a result! A really big

strike by Darren under the

circumstances.

circumstances.

This is so big, this

is absolutely massive if he gets

three here, Mark Dawes had one foot

into the final.

We have seen a few remarkable

comebacks this week and under the

circumstances this would be one of

the best as well.

It is very close. Three shots, he

would be two shots behind Darren

Burnett. A shake of the head from

Mark Dawes, he realises that Darren

was buying on target, very good

strike but the run-through of the

red bowls, he was not just getting

one, he was getting three and that

is an enormous result.

Set score, 5-7 after seven ends.

Jack Lang, 29 and a half metres. --

jack links.

Given himself a chance, Darren,

here.

I would have to say, John,

that was a material shot, really.

Still favour Mark Dawes, he is still

in control and he only needs a tie

in the set to go through.

Two shots

and two ends, more than doable.

Darren Burnett, whilst he is without

a doubt in pain and is carrying an

injury, he is still playing well.

He

is a battler, he is going to fight

right to the end, that is the type

of competitor he is.

Once again, he is close. As I was

saying, it can sometimes make you

fade so much harder when you're

carrying an injury. Unless it is

going to take you out of the game, I

am not saying it is going to work in

your favour, all I am saying is we

have seen it before.

He just will not leave it alone,

Mark Dawes. He will not leave it

alone.

alone.

He is chasing the bowl all

over the place.

Steely

determination.

Very close to getting past the green

one. My, my.

Another foot away. That

does not help. If Mark Dawes can

find one more good bowl, it is a

place in the final.

Yes, it is a

match lie at the moment with two. He

will want one closer than that front

green one. The same bowl as the

last.

Well, he was the man in form in the

world pairs as well, he was the

star.

Look at this again. He could

not have played this any better.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is

the best we have seen Mark Dawes

play. If he can get to the

semifinal, the only question is can

he hold it together, and he is

proving that, he is really holding

together, and Darren Burnett will be

left with no choice but to run into

this.

There is nothing for Darren,

this is a real hit and hope, he has

to hope he gets off a red bowl from

the jack.

Well, the front red one

will not help, but he is so I did it

on the running bowls, you expecting

to get into something, but on the

break, what will he get? The front

red one is a problem. He has opened

the door. It has not worked. It is

not enough. Mark Dawes will take VW

needs.

needs. -- the double he needs. He

was good value, what a fantastic

performance from Mark Dawes,

consistent from the first end when

he picked up a double. Darren

Burnett in a lot of pain, but even

that last drive, which he got away

well, was not enough.

Mark Dawes, through to the open

singles final for the first time in

his career.

How good does that

sound? Fantastic, really

his career.

How good does that

sound? Fantastic, really pleased, as

you can tell from the smile on my

face.

Absolutely, it gives the game

away. In your previous matches this

week we've seen that excellent form

and it repeated itself today.

In the

first set I did not feel as

comfortable as I had in the previous

game, just getting a few bowls in,

but I played better in the second

set.

It is going well at the moment.

Darren seem to be carrying an injury

today. Is that something that is

easy to handle?

It is difficult. You

could tell that Darren were

struggling. In the morning game, his

back stiffened up in the first set.

It is difficult, but he can still

play good bowls. He was finding it

hard to get them away well. I had to

concentrate on my game to try to get

to the final.

You've spoken about

taking each game as it comes in

concentrating on the next task in

front of you? Will it be easy to

keep that frame of mind going into

tomorrow's final?

I hope so. Having

played in the pairs final, I know

what the experience is like.

Obviously you have no one to talk

to, but we will see what happens.

Mark Dawes, finalist in the world

open singles. Mark Dawes into the

final for the first time in his

career but who will he face? It was

either going to be Robert Paxton,

runner-up two years ago, or Wayne

Willgress, who has caused quite a

stir with his support of the rink

and his play on it. We will join

this in the fourth set. Paxton is

leading 2-1.

It is great to have the home

support, no doubt about that, but

with that comes a certain level of

expectation. It is not always easy.

That is a very good opener from

Robert Paxton, that is the sort of

bowl he is looking for, to put Wayne

under pressure at the start of the

end.

Robert will check the gap, I think.

He has been able to see it,

actually, from the monitor at the

side of the rink. He gets a good

shot of the overhead, three inches

away, so you can play this with

confidence, he can certainly afford

to reach it. If it had been an inch

away, it would have been dangerous.

That is a good effort. It just went

under the red bowl.

Good weight

again. A little change in the line,

and we have been getting lots of

questions in.

questions in. The vast majority of

people watching and non-bowlers. You

can use the hash tag BBC bowls, if

you need to know anything. We will

do our best to answer those

questions. You know you will get the

hard ones, so it is OK. That is

typical of you. I have got the

rules, I have to put you under

pressure. A good effort with this

one for the number two. He has got

it.

He stayed central as well, no catch

therefore Wayne.

I think we do not need to know that

this one is going to miss, the way

he threw his class up. I think he is

very close. -- his cloth up. Look at

the reaction from the crowd. The

body language, everything about that

bowl, it said he had missed it by a

margin, and he draws the shot around

the corner. A bit of a worry as well

if he did not know it was close.

It

does not matter if he gets a result

like that every time. Somebody

upstairs is looking after him.

Now, Robert, how close are you to

this jack? He dropped it down. One

to read macro. -- red. Paxton takes

the first set, 6-3, and he is 5-2

ahead as we read join the match in

the second set. Can Willgress

produce another of his stunning

comebacks?

Jack length 29 metres.

He has got four ends to turn this

around. This is normally the period

when he says he bursts into life. He

has been playing good bowls, Wayne,

but Robert has just had the edge.

That is another good start. Dead

centre. Perfect line.

Well done.

Robert Paxton on the backhand side.

He has just left that short.

That is

going to clog up that hand for the

next bowl. This is the second bowl

were Wayne needs to get this one

end. He has been dropping it short

if you times. -- this one in.

Steady, steady.

He is too long. It

takes all the pressure of Robert

Paxton.

Well, you cannot blame him. He was

chasing it. A good chance to get his

own bowl on, or take the green bowl

out cleanly. This one really needs

to be in.

That little touch just makes it so

different. Without that touch, he

was coming in behind his own bowl.

He was unfortunate, he played a good

bowl. He just needed to miss that

bowl. Following of it gives a little

bit more of a target for Robert

Paxton if he wants to play these two

bowls.

Time-out called. Robert has

two time-outs remaining.

He is looking at this shot. The

difficulty is if he gets on the high

side of it, that is where the

problem lies, and if he gets on the

high side, the jack will move and

the respots position is over here,

so he has to be very careful.

There is just the chance to get the

two bowls out.

He has played it.

He

has to be fortunate. That is

probably better he did not get the

connection because I think he was

taking his own two out.

He got

through the gap between the two

bowls. He could have got lucky of

the gap into the jack, that would

have been fortunate.

That is Rebecca

Field and Wayne's mother. That is

the planning committee for the

wedding.

wedding.

It is a good thing Wayne

has had a run in this tournament,

then.

then.

It is overweight. Steady. It

was a missed chance. He really

needed a three to add that little

bit more pressure. Still, two shots,

one behind, three ends to go.

Jack length 26 metres.

This is

perfect for the bowls. Big stand on

one side. A lot of people in every

single day, for every single

session. The morning sessions are

very busy.

very busy.

Good start, Wayne. Going

through the gears, this is the

danger for Paxton.

He is trying to

drive himself forward, get that

adrenaline flowing.

He was very close to the jack ear,

Robert. Great bowl.

That is a bit of

a cake for Wayne, because with that

first bowl, he thought he could

build on something, and then he is

rocked back on his heels -- that is

a bit of a kick.

He is on a good

line again but he did not send it.

Very steady backhand, the jack is

slightly off centre. Good bowler,

the backhand draw away. Two problems

again for Wayne.

Finding the answers

at the moment, Robert, whenever he

looks to be under a little bit of

pressure, he is playing the bowls.

It is hard to move on to that

forehand. You are always conscious

of the fact it is easy to drop

short. Just thinking, Robert could

do well just to follow that bowl

because he does not want to put one

beside the red one. If he follows

that, he could make a three and get

cover at the same time.

He

cover at the same time.

He splits

the bowl, he would be in a good

place and counting.

Slide on the inside, not quite. It

is a hard shot to draw. Trying to

get the split, run-through.

It is

not really easy, the short green

bowl is just causing him problems.

He could not go straight at it. He

will have to allow the bowl to bend

and it is hard to pick up the line.

It still looks the right shot.

It is going to be costly, isn't it.

Expect to lose three here, 8-4, four

down with eight ends to go.

You

might have been better trying to

lose two feed on his last delivery,

it has given Robert a lot of room to

put this one in. Robert Paxton, he

knows this is a very important

delivery.

delivery. Once to make this one

count. -- wants to make this one

count.

No mistake. Did that very well.

Perfect delivery,. And of course,

that the problem for Wayne Willgress

is that he has to win the set and

score five shots in the next two

ends.

Groundhog Day, we have been

here before.

We have, or two other

occasions.

occasions. -- on two other

occasions. Wayne has found it very

hard to score shots even though he

has played well.

He played better

today than he did yesterday.

Jack

length 29 metres.

He could only get

out of trouble so many times and I

think Robert here it is on a good

length and line at the moment and he

will note if you could play a good

end, he could seal it. -- Michael he

will know. But you never know in the

bowls.

It is a strange old game,

isn't it? Manages to surprise us

even after all of these years of

being involved in the sport.

This is Wayne powers-macro problem.

The first bowl is good. -- this is

Wayne's problem. Needs to work very

hard to get this back.

That is a sensible bowl. Good place,

there.

Certainly no mistakes from Robert

Paxton, he is going to do everything

he can to try and finish this match,

this end.

Wayne has to play the same

bowl and hope he can carry the jack.

He is very close, but he is just not

getting back in time and the weight

is perfect, that is going to be the

target for Robert Paxton. Just put a

bet on from his last, get to the two

green bowls, lock it in.

He needs to run.

Oh dear! That is

not where he wanted the bowl and

that trail shot is still there and

he knows it.

He is not sure about this one. The

line is very close to me. Very

close!

close!

Two inches away from glory.

Yeah, he was very close with that,

did not get down in time. He was

very unlucky then. I would love to

have seen that jack being medalled.

It would have been three shots and

totally hidden.

I did not want to

say anything, I thought he was

hanging past it and he got a bit of

it but not enough. He has still got

an opportunity, though. Robert needs

to get to those greens. I think it

is a forehand, personally, to get to

the back green.

Could play at off the other side if

he wanted to but that seems the

easier way in. Not looking at the

jack.

Well anything past the red bowl

would be good. Just has to lock into

the green ones. Does not want to be

short.

Does not want to fall off

that. It is not too bad, as it

worked out. Leave a catch there for

Wayne.

Well, perfect shots on John,

but I do not think it is even worth

me attempting.

I would be playing

through this. He has to play through

it, John, try and get into that

split, if he does that and gets the

red bowl, if we look at the red bowl

there, if that goes on to the jack

and goes through and the jack moves

and ends up in this position, the

chances are at the red bowl will go

into the ditch and could pick up

three or four shots. The alternative

to that is he could try and play

beforehand and try and get to the

jack to move it on the forehand but

I do not think he will get back in

time.

That is really difficult.

There is a connection there, he

could hope that things go his way,

bowl two bowl. It is a match lie

against.

He is in the area. I don't believe

it! If that jack had gone through,

he would be picking up four shots

and it bounced up the green!

Unbelievable result! I have to say,

Robert Paxton played very well in

that match, he was very steady and

very professional and Wayne

Willgress added tremendously to the

semifinal, the young man can be very

pleased. He has made it to the last

four of the world's single

championships.

He has had a great

Championship year and he will learn

a lot. Very professional performers,

very steady today and he did the

job.

He has had an incredible week.

very steady today and he did the

job.

He has had an incredible week.

After what has happened, was it

difficult to set yourself up for the

match?

Not really. I think I had to

go out and try and play, but Robert

was too good, put me under pressure.

Two or three times, they did not. He

was too good and kept putting me

under pressure. I kept with them,

had some loose ones, he capitalised

on them.

Some up what your week has

been like?

A dream. Best time of my

life really. I have been given the

chance to come and play and

hopefully I have done myself proud.

I could have tried to do better this

time...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. I have to say

you have brought a lot of

entertainment and magic to the way,

it has been fantastic watching you

but you came up against a man who

was determined all week long

watching you, you have that steely

focus and you have had that this

afternoon.

It went well, it was a

great game, I could have been 10-0

down in the first ends. He has a

great chance for the top 16 now.

What about you? You seem emotional

about getting through to the final

and the chance to win the one event

that you wanted to win above all

else.

It is the biggest game. Now

you're there, you can relax.

Tomorrow afternoon, back out here

and hopefully give Mark a good game.

What was it like playing this guy

today?

It is fantastic, it is what

bowls are about.

Bring it back, I

will be back tomorrow. So, there we

have, the final of the world indoor

bowls open singles will be between

Robert Paxton and Mark Dawes and we

are back on BBC Two at 2:30pm the

eagerly anticipated encounter. That

is it for now but I hope you can

join us on Sunday for the climax of

what has been a great wakefulness.

From all of us here at the Potters

Resort, goodbye. -- what has been a

great week.