^{Thomson just edged out his England international colleague Nicky Brett in a tie-break to claim his first semi-final place since 2005, and afterwards admitted that he was probably a shade fortunate .}

^{Brett, the number 15 seed, looked well set for a second semi-final appearance in three years as he dominated the first set, winning it 11-6, but he went off the boil in the second, leaving the door open for Thomson who needed no second invitation as he sparked into life with some crucial deliveries.}

^{At 3-3 in the second set and one shot down, he trailed the jack for a three which proved to be the turning point as he ran out a 9-5 winner to force the match into a tie-break, which he duly won 2-1, aided by a match-saving strike in the second when he ditched the jack and a draw within a foot of a re-spotted jack on the decisive third end.}

^{Brett was clearly disappointed that he had let Thomson off the hook, but as he quipped: “There's clearly plenty of life in the old dog yet!”}

^{Scotland's David Gourlay, who has appeared in a record 14 World Bowls Tour finals, still only has one world singles title to his credit – and that was back in 1996, so a second one is clearly long overdue.}

^{Welshman John Price will surely testify that the former world number one is playing well enough to end his long wait after spending most of his 8-3, 11-3 quarter-final defeat on the back foot.}

^{Yet, Price might have pinched the first set against the run of play. At 6-3 down, he held four shots on the last end for the set, but Gourlay produced one of his trademark forehand runners to remove the threat and count two himself for an 8-3 win.}

^{Gourlay's unerring accuracy continually put Price under pressure in the second, and although the Welshman didn't get the breaks at times, the fact that he had resort to an attacking mode more times that he wanted indicates how much the Scot was in control of affairs.}

^{Jason Greenslade, who faces David Gourlay in the first semi-final, has been on the circuit since the mid-1990s, but so far a world indoor title has eluded the 41-year-old from Pontypridd.}

^{A beaten finalist three times in the world indoor pairs, he will be hoping that this will be his year as he reached his first semi-final since 1997 by ending the giantkilling run of Scottish qualifier Wayne Hogg.}

^{The 32-year-old Hogg, who claimed the scalps of seeds Mervyn King and Stewart Anderson en route to the quarter-finals, was just kept at arm's length by the Welshman, although there was only a difference of two shots in both sets, 7-5, 8-6, Greenslade leading 6-2 in the first and 5-2 in the second before staving off late challenges in both from the unseeded Scot.}

^{Darren Burnett, the 35-year-old Scottish policeman from Arbroath, will be breaking new ground when he steps out to face Andy Thomson in the semi-finals.}

^{After losing in two quarter-finals, Burnett made it third time lucky at the expense of the 2000 champion from Wales, Robert Weale, following a titanic battle that in the end was decided by just one shot. Burnett twice led by two shots in the first set, but had to secure a shot on the final end to share the spoils at 7-7. He led 4-1 and then 8-4 in the second set, but Weale refused to go quietly and fell just one shot short at 8-7 from forcing a tie-break.}

^RESULTS

^{SINGLES (Quarter-finals)}

1. ^{Andy Thomson (England) bt (15) Nicky Brett (England) 6-11, 9-5, 2-1.}
2. ^{David Gourlay (Scotland) bt (16) John Price (Wales) 8-3, 9-3.}
3. ^{Jason Greenslade (Wales) bt Wayne Hogg (Scotland) 7-5, 8-6.}

^{(3) Darren Burnett (Scotland) bt (11) Robert Weale (Wales) 7-7, 8-7.}

^{MATCHES FOR SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th}

^{SINGLES (Semi-finals)}