A bitterly disappointed Mervyn King came off the portable rink at Potters Leisure Resort at Hopton on Friday, and admitted that he had been outplayed by Paul Foster in the quarter finals of the WBT world indoor pairs championship.

A bitterly disappointed Mervyn King came off the portable rink at Potters Leisure Resort at Hopton on Friday, and admitted that he had been outplayed by Paul Foster in the quarter finals of the WBT world indoor pairs championship.

Foster and his fellow Scot Alex Marshall - who have monopolised the world indoor singles championship over the past 10 years, winning the title seven times between them - defeated King and Australian Kelvin Kerkow in straight sets, 12-9, 9-3.

But the raw scoreline hides the fact that, after five ends in the first set, King and Kerkow were 9-3 ahead, and looked comfortably in charge.

The Scots, who won the Commonwealth Games pairs title in Melbourne in 2006, appeared rattled as they tried some strong-arm tactics, which did not come off, Marshall's off-target drives thundering into the ditch.

“I played four good ends in succession, and we scored a full house and a treble on successive ends,” King said. “But Tattie (Marshall) played a great take-out for four, and that got them back into the set at a stroke.”

Marshall commented: “Time was running out for us in the set, and I decided to go for it. It was a bit of a gamble, but it came off, and suddenly we were only two shots adrift, and back in with a chance.”

Foster, his confidence clearly boosted by his skip's dead-eye conversion shot, found his rhythm, got on top of King, and the Scots never took their foot off the accelerator, winning the first set with two singles and a treble.

King and Kerkow were still in the hunt after three ends of the second set, when the scores were tied, 2-2, but pressure play from the Scots saw them score two singles, a treble and a double to lead, 9-2, with only two ends to play.

Needing two maximum counts, King and Kerkow knew the writing was on the wall, and the single they scored on the eighth end was a case of too little, too late.

“At least I will be able to run the shoot at North Creake tomorrow,” said King, who has had a street in Fakenham named after him, and who enjoys his day job in pest control and conservation management.