Bowls: England maintain control

ENGLAND picked up where they had left off in the pairs and triples at the Woolwich World Championships in Worthing yesterday. John Ottaway and Tony Allcock beat Thailand's pair 22-13, and John Bell's triple overwhelmed Guernsey 24-8.

Ottaway and Allcock had to work hard, and only a five on the last end gave them victory. Life for Bell, Roy Cutts and Andy Thomson was a lot easier against Mike Smith, Paul Ingroulle and Ken Mellor. After 15 ends they led 23-3, restricting the Channel Islanders to three singles, and even the loss of a four on the 16th hardly mattered.

Stevie Adamson and Sammy Allen stretched Ireland's winning run to five when they crushed Singapore 36-9. Earlier, in the triples, Victor Dallas, John McCloughan and Ernie Parkin came back after dropping singles on the first two ends to give Ireland victory over the Cook Islands 25-8.

Scotland's Richard Corsie and Alex Marshall scored a stunning 35-7 pairs win over Guernsey's Adrian Welch and Mike Nicolle, and later added a 29-17 victory over over the United States pair, Frank Souza and Merton Isaacman. Angus Blair's Scottish triple beat Argentina 30-18.

For Wales, Robert Weale and Will Thomas overcame Guernsey 23-12, and the triple skipped by Spencer Wilshire beat Norfolk Island 22-14.