Mervyn King sees world title dream end at Potters
Mervyn King’s dream of regaining the world indoor singles title was dashed at the quarter-final stages at Potters Leisure Resort.
The Gallow Bowls Club star, who won the title in 2006, was beaten by eventual runner-up Paul Foster 11-3, 9-5 on Friday.
Spectators were treated to a masterclass from four-times champion Foster, who would not allow King a look at the jack.
“I was expecting a tough game, because I know Mervyn has been playing really well, but I was glad to bring my A game to the table, and felt I played very consistently,” said Foster.
King had reached the last eight with an extraordinary 7-6, 4-14, 2-0 win over Scotland’s Jonathan Ross last Wednesday.
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A big cheer went up at the finish, but, until then, Norfolk supporters in the arena, who included King’s son Sam, held their breath for long spells, especially in the second half, when their hero seemed to lose his touch.
“I don’t know what happened in the second set,” admitted King afterwards. “I just didn’t know where the bowls were going. The temperature in the auditorium changed, and it got a lot colder – but the green didn’t slow up, as it has in the past.
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“I realise I only scored one end in that set, when I took a full house of four shots on the third end,” he added.
“But Jonathan played really well, and took advantage of the fact that I was struggling.
“It came to the point that I think I accepted I was going to lose the set, and just hoped I could regain my touch in the tie-break – so I don’t think you can read too much into the score in that second set. I’ve lost games like that before, so it was nice to win one for a change.”
The final, which was widely regarded to be one of the best in the competition’s history, saw Foster beaten 10-10, 10-9 by Stewart Anderson.
The result denied Foster a unique sweep of singles, pairs and mixed pairs titles and also stopped the 39-year-old from Troon matching another great Scot, his friend and pairs partner Alex Marshall, by taking the singles crown for the fifth time.
