England's twice former champion Andy Thomson and Welshman Jason Greenslade, through to the final for the first time, will battle it out today on the famous blue portable rink at Potters Leisure Resort for the Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines World indoor singles title and the richest prize in bowls - £40,000. Thomson's last success was back in 1995 and at the age of 56 he must have thought that his chance of a third title may well have escaped him, while Greenslade, 15 years his junior and beaten three times in the world indoor pairs final, has spent almost two decades in the top flight dreaming of such a moment.
Thomson's tie-break victory over Scotland's number three seed Darren Burnett, playing in his first world semi-final, went right down to the last bowl after a tense and intriguing tactical battle full of twists and turns.
The England captain, whose last final appearance was back in 1997, appeared to be in control of the first set at 6-1, but the 35-year-old Arbroath policeman arrested the slump in form and clawed his way back into the fray to win it 8-6, aided by a piece of good fortune on the penultimate end, which he duly acknowledged, when a slightly off target strike achieved an expected result of two shots to tie the set, which he claimed on the final end.
Burnett certainly went through the gears in the second set to apply more pressure, but, ironically, lady luck went against him on the penultimate end when a clean strike saw the jack rebound from Thomson's back bowl and the Scot ended up dropping a maximum count and the set at 10-5.
Thomson, playing right at the top of his form, had the misfortune to give the shot away on the opening end of the tie-break, but took the next two, with Burnett's final delivery of the match only a fraction of an inch from glory – it was that close!
Greenslade ended the hopes of another former title winner from the 1990's in Scotland's David Gourlay in far more convincing fashion that one might have imagined given the form of the former world number one. The Welshman, seeded 13, ruthlessly exploited the fragility of Gourlay's form on the day with a 9-4, 8-2 victory that will give him every confidence for the biggest match of his distinguished career. He virtually had the first set in the bag after only three ends when he raced into a 7-0 lead , and he was equally dominant in the second when he might have expected the eighth seed rediscover his touch.
