Scotland's David Gourlay MBE was the first player to win through to the semi-finals of the Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Bowls Open Singles Championships, beating three-time winner and defending champion Stewart Anderson, in a closely contested quarter-final.
World ranked number 1 Anderson, was quoted as the bookmakers favourite to add the title to his resume for a fourth time, but Gourlay, who lives in Spain for most of the year, produced the big bowls when they mattered, keeping Anderson in his sights throughout the match.
Three shots on the fourth and sixth ends gave Gourlay a 7-4 advantage and he closed the set down over the next three to win 8-6.
In the second set, he once again took over the reigns with another treble on the fourth end to open up a 5-2 lead, and three ends later, he had increased that to 8-4.
A disappointed Gourlay suffered a malfunction on the eighth end and opened the door for Anderson to chalk up a treble and that gave him a lifeline back into the game at 8-7, leaving him requiring just a double to win the set and force a tie break.
However, that wasn't to be. Anderson held a set lie but Gourlay averted the danger, drawing into the head to block any positional movement from achieving that goal, Anderson could only muster a single shot, which saw him draw the set at 8-8, and Gourlay got the nod by one and a half sets to a half to keep himself in contention.
Gourlay first won this title in 1996 at the Preston Guild Hall against another local Ayrshire bowler- Hugh Duff. He has won numerous other WBT titles and headed the WBT Ranking list for six years. His only other appearance at this stage of the World Singles was in 2021 when he lost to Greg Harlow, who then lost in the final to Mark Dawes.
Both men come from the same small mining community in Ayrshire and practiced together daily at their nearby Auchinleck Indoor Bowling Stadium prior to this event.
RESULT
World Indoor Bowls Open Singles Quarter Finals - QF1
David Gourlay MBE (Scot/8) beat *Holder Stewart Anderson (Scot/1) 1.5 - 0.5 (8-6, 8-8)
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