David Corkill reverts to television duties after going close in world pairs

Joined by his Belfast club colleague Chris Eadie, the Irish international duo negotiated the preliminary round play-off -- and also a first round meeting against Johnny Ross and Les Gillett.

They were eventually pipped by former world champions, Paul Foster and Alex Marshall, from Scotland. It was quite a performance from Corkill, who is recognised as the sport’s top commentator and analyst on all televised events.

They pushed the Scots right to the wire. In fact, it took an astonishing final bowl winner from Marshall to snatch the opening set (8-7) as the Irish boys had planted two bowls inches from the jack.

The former champs upped the ante in the second set to run out 9-3 winners.

“Although we are disappointed it was nice to get through to the quarter finals,” said Corkill. “We really had our pockets picked in the opening set.

“I thought we had the set in the bag, until Alex produced the perfect draw, which managed to nudged the jack away from our two bowls . . . it was an astonishing effort.”

Earlier, Eadie and Corkill turned in a a superb performance to top their qualifying section, that included Hong Kong and Israel, to earn a spot in the overseas final against Neal Furman and Mary Ann McBeath, which they duly won 7-5, 9-4.

That guaranteed the Irish boys a first round date against Ross and Gillett. In a typical tight contest, the opening set finished level (9-9).

But the Irish boys battled back from an 8-3 deficit in the second to dramatically snatch a 9-8 victory

“It was a really right game,” said Corkill. “We had a bit of work to do after falling behind, but we nudged our way back into it and we held our nerve to win it.”

l Oriel sent out another message on intent by demolishing Armagh in the quarter final of the IIBA Men’s Inter-zone Championship at Corduff on Saturday.

The 30 shots winning margin suggests Gerry O’Hare’s team have a hat-trick of Boomer Cup successes firmly in their sights.

They will now have home advantage over North West in the semi final on Saturday, January 23 . . . with the a distinct possibility of a clash against Cup specialists Mid Ulster should they negotiate that outing.

“We played really well against Armagh,” said O’Hare. “There was very little in it at the half way stage, but we really upped our game in the second half.

“North West will be another difficult game, but we’ll be ready for it. The team is playing with a lot of confidence, especially on our home mats.”

Stephen McMahon’s was Oriel’s top performer in the first half against Armagh, skipping his rink to a 13-7 win against Terry Mulholland. Paul Duff also recorded a tense one shot (6-5) win over Mark Sproule.

But it was all one way traffic in the second phase, with Paddy Hanlon stealing the show following his whopping 16-2 victory over Marty Trainor. Kevin Conroy wasn’t far behind as he defeated Joe Beattie (10-3), while Gerry McCabe completed the job with a 15-11 success against Stuart McSorley.

Past champions Mid Ulster roared into the last four with an impressive a 82-34 home victory over South & East Belfast.

Mid Ulster, off course, have penned their own little chapter in the history of the Boomer Cup, being the only zone to have paraded the trophy on five successive occasions - and 10 overall. Their last cup win was back in 2012, but they will fancy their chances of reaching the decider when they travel to Monaghan in the other semi final tie.

Mid Ulster showed little mercy against a new-look Belfast side . . . and they had the match practically wrapped up by half-time, having built up a 24 shots lead.

Mark Wilson led the charge with a 17-3 win against David Burns. Damien McElroy and Danny McStravock piled on the agony by beating Robin Beattie (13-6) and Paul Canning (11-8).

And, things didn’t improve any for the visitors in the second half. Colm McHugh stormed to a 17-4 win against Eamon McTaskey, while Dayne Jordan and Alan Paul both swept to wins against John Graham (12-7) and Gerard McCloskey (12-7).

Results

World Indoor Pairs, preliminary section: R Chok, K Chan (Hong Kong) drew with C Eadie, D Corkill (Ireland) 8-6, 3-9. B Polantinski, B Markus (Israel) lost to C Eadie,k D Corkill (Ireland) 4-6, 5-7.

Preliminary final: N Furman, M McBeath (USA) lost to C Eadie, D Corkill (Ireland) 5-7, 4-9.

World Indoor Pairs, first round: J Ross (Scotland), L Gillett (England) lost to C Eadie, D Corkill, C Eadie (Ireland) 9-9, 8-9.

Quarter finals: P Foster, A Marshall (Scotland) bt C Eadie, D Corkill 8-7, 9-3.

IIBA Men’s Inter-zone quarter finals: Oriel 67 Armagh 37; North Eastern 52 North West 66; Monaghan 46 Lisburn 39; Mid Ulster 82 South & East Belfast 34.

Semi finals: Oriel v North West; Monaghan v Mid Ulster.

IIBA Plate: Western 54 Mid Antrim 50; Larne 68 Donegal 50; Mid Down 54 Northern 44; Meath 58 South Down 57.

Semi finals: Western v Larne; Mid Down v Meath.