PROMISING Jersey junior bowls player Rachel Macdonald is to do battle with Guernsey’s four-times world champion Alison Merrien for the chance to represent both islands at the British International Finals in Belfast.

The talented 18-year-old – who knocked out reigning British Isles champion Lindsey Greechan in her quest to become Island champion last month – faces a tough tie when she takes on Merrien in the Channel Islands Championships tomorrow.

Jersey Indoor Bowling Association senior vice president and tournament organiser Ty Thomas said: ‘Rachel is an up-and-coming player and she is a very promising player. Of course she has her ups and downs but on a good day she beat Lindsey Greechan to win the Island championships. She did not have any easy games in that tournament – she also played Chris Grimes in the semis and she beat both players by considerable margins. In fact she more or less walked away with it – and Chris and Lindsey are both very good players.’

Macdonald won the British Isles U25 title in 2007, when she was just 16, while Merrien, who has recently been nominated for the 2008 CI Sportingbet Sports Personality of the Year Awards, is the current World Indoor Cup champion – an accolade she won in Australia last year for the fourth time in her career.