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Guernsey came out on top in the Open Triples indoor bowls after an unstoppable group stage, taking the Falkland Islands men's team down a peg in the final with a victory of 20 to 6.
The team, including Catherine Bonsall, Shirley Petit and Alison Merrien MBE, cruised through their earlier group with comfortable victories over Falklands Ladies, Jersey, and the Western Isles.
A 52-point difference achieved there set the tone for the final performance, where the opponents were always playing catch-up.
Merrien said she was therefore delighted to win the gold medal but reminded us that there’s still a lot of competition to come for local bowlers in the coming days at the Indoor Bowls Stadium.
She also praised the “great support” from islanders who were with the team all the way from the terraces.
Jersey Men and Guernsey Men shared third place in the competition, with six bronzes dished out for their efforts.
Pictured: Alison Merrien is a highly experienced and decorated bowler. Credit: Rob Currie.
The Ladies started strong getting 7 points on the chart before the Falklands opened their account.
The Falklands turned it up from the fourth end and looked more confident as the game went on, with some tantalisingly close balls bowled.
But the ladies showed their cool and calm and never let the opponents increase their points share by more than two in each end.
The two teams almost mirrored each other's plays at points with great jack hits coming back-to-back to keep the audience clapping.
The young Bonsall grew into the game well, increasingly placing delicate shots right by the jack in many of her opening turns.
Petit delightfully threaded the needle on several occasions, while Merrien made some clever tactical plays to block out the Falklands from the jack.
A beautiful penultimate shot from the Falklands was threaded through aseemingly impossiblegap to smack the jack, but it just wasn’t enough to deny Guernsey the gold. This was despite an excellent group campaign from the men.
Pictured: The teams on the podium, listening to the Guernsey national anthem.
Bowls actions continues with a dizzying number of opening group stage games for the open singles and pairs competitions.
Group action continues early on Thursday and the remaining finals begin from 18:00.
Both Guernsey men and women from the team say they are on the hunt for additional medals.
Pictured (top): Catherine Bonsall (left), and Shirley Petit of Guernsey Ladies. Credit: Rob Currie.
Our Island Games update: Day 3 podcast:
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