FOLLOWING hard on the heels of Jersey’s success in the ladies’ triples, the Island duo of Gaynor Thomas and Suzie Dingle have earned themselves the chance to challenge for a Commonwealth Games bronze medal.

Ladies manager Sheila McGinnigle was full of praise for the whole team, and particularly the way Thomas and Dingle finished on top of their group table and forced their way into the semi finals.

There was one surprise when Thomas and Dingles turned up at the Darebin greens for the quarter final this morning to find they were facing a pair from Zambia – not South Africa as had been originally announced.

The Zambians – Eddah Mpezeni and Foster Banda – provided stiff opposition, but ther Jersey duo opened the first set with a full house of four shots and the second with a treble, and always held the upper hand – though the Africans fought back to take the Channel Islanders into a tiebreak.

Getting their heads down, the Jersey duo scored on back-to-back ends to win 8-7, 5-8, 2-0, and, once again, a Jersey team found itself in the first four in a Commonwealth Games competition – equalling the record set by Christine Grimes, Gean O’Neil and Gina Le Long just a few days ago.

However, chances of winning silver or gold disappeared after lunch when Thomas and Dingle were beaten in straight sets by Scotland’s Kay Moran, the Atlantic Rim singles champion, and Joyce Lindores, a former winner of the Commonwealth Games pairs.

Although the 10-4, 10-3 scoreline might suggest that the Scots were comfortable winners, that was not the case, because Jersey were very much in the hunt in both sets.

At 3-3 after five ends, the first set could have gone either way, but a Scottish treble did some damage, and a last-end treble made the score look one-sided.

In the second set, the Scots led 4-3 after five ends, but Jersey, who were desperately trying to force them into a tiebreak, were holding two shots when Lindores, always an attacking player, trailed the jack to the back of the rink to pick up a pivotal treble.

At a stroke, the match was as good as over.

‘I’m so proud of the girls – they have done so well, and have put Jersey well and truly on the map,’ said McGinnigle.

‘It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to be their manager – and a culmination of a dream that started when Christine (Grimes) and I took up bowls over ten years ago.’ But it is not all over yet – tomorrow Thomas and Dingle are hoping to beat the talented Khan sisters, Marina and Jan, from New Zealand, to bring the bronze medal back to Jersey.

And they can go into the crunch match with confidence, having already beaten the Kiwis in the group round-robin.

‘They’ve got their game together since then,’ said Dingle.

‘So they won’t be easy – but we know we can do it – and they know from experience that they are in for a hard match.’ As for the Island’s hopes in the singles, Karina Bisson had a bye today, but was raring to get back into action tomorrow, while Allan Quémard was unlucky to lose to the colourful 67-year-old Fijian Caucau Turagabeci, who, astonishingly, played in the 1982 Games in Brisbane.

The Fijian won the first set, 6-4, but AQ bounced back to square the match with an emphatic 10-4 win in the second, only to be beaten 2-0 in the best-of-three-ends tiebreak.

‘He’s amazing,’ said AQ.

‘He’s been around for ever, but he is still so difficult to beat.’