John Price, the last Welshman standing in the Co-operative Funeralcare Welsh Grand Prix at Llanelli, lifted home spirits again by booking his place in the quarter-finals. With four of his fellow countrymen having exited at the first round stage, it was left to Price to keep home hopes alive, and the iconic figure from nearby Port Talbot didn't disappoint with a nail-biting victory over Scotland's world number three Darren Burnett, 7-6, 6-8, 2-0.
Price, who had suffered four consecutive first round defeats in this event, is now reproducing some of the form that has made him such an influential figure in Welsh bowls for many years, a fact he underlined by racing into a 7-1 lead in the first set, although in the end he was happy to limp over the finishing line at 7-6 as the 2010 champion discovered a way back into the match.
The Arbroath policeman, a losing semi-finalist last year, bossed the second set, although Price made him sweat when getting back from 7-4 down to 7-6 playing the last end, where Burnett settled for a single, but Price had the final word in the tie-break by winning the opening two ends to set up a last eight clash on Thursday against Scotland's David Gourlay.
England's Simon Skelton, runner-up twice in the last three years, maintained his liking for the Welsh air by reaching the quarter-finals again with a straight sets victory over Scotland's Jonathan Ross, 7-6, 7-6. As the scoreline suggest's there was little to choose between the players in a closely-contested encounter, with Skelton snatching a single on the last end of the first set after trailing for the first seven ends, then restricting Ross to a single on the last end of the second when 7-5 ahead.
In the outstanding first round match, world number two Greg Harlow was given a stern examination by 23-year-old Welshman Damien Doubler, a 'wild card' entry by virtue of his Welsh indoor singles title win 24 hours earlier. Harlow was quickly out of the traps before the Cardiff youngster could settle, opening up a 6-0 lead in the first set en route to an 8-3 victory, but there were signs late in that set that Doubler was beginning to find his drawing rythym and he edged the second set 7-6 after being 6-4 down to force the match into a tie-break, where Harlow's greater experience in these tense situations saw him over the line, 2-0, and a trifle relieved.
