Elgin bowler Michael Stepney has reached the final of the World Indoor Bowling Championships at Potters Resorts, Hopton-on-Sea in Norfolk.
The 41-year-old Moray ace shone alongside Welsh star Jason Greenslade, who is now Guernsey-based, and they will go for glory on Monday afternoon.
Last Saturday, they saw off Dylan Jacobs and Kody Olthof from Canada in the first round.
After losing the first set 7-5, they won the second set 11-4, with Greenslade taking over as skip, on the way to that resounding scoreline. The duo delivered in the tie-break with a 2-0 victory.
Their reward for that was to go up against legendary pairing Paul Foster and Alex Marshall, who have won multiple world titles.
A storming start from Stepney built up a 6-1 lead, which led to an 8-3 overall opening set success.
A last-leg decider went in favour of their opponents in set two after they rushed back from 5-1 down to draw 6-6.
A tense tie-break was required and Stepney and Greenslade pipped their rivals.
It was then on to tackle English opponents Perry Martin and Jamie Walker in the semi-finals and they edged the first leg 7-6 before blowing their opponents away 10-1 in the second to avoid any tie-break tension.
Awaiting them in Monday’s final will be England’s Nick Brett and Greg Harlow, who defeated Hong Kong’s Ken Chan and Jason Choi 5-9, 9-6, 2-0.
Monday’s showdown takes place at 1pm and will be screened live on BBC2.
High standards on show in semi-final
Stepney was delighted to have a final to look ahead to after powering away in the semi-final and praised his team-mate for hitting such high standards when it mattered most.
He said: “In the second set, we got away from them. They had a chance, but Jason played some absolutely outstanding bowls and I was scratching through the game, but I was always getting one good shot at the next end.
“When Jason was under pressure, he pulled us through.”
In response, his playing partner said of the Scot: “Mike is leading so well that he’s making my job a lot easier.”
Singles success followed doubles joy
Stepney’s sizzling form translated to the singles on Wednesday when he defeated recently-crowned World Outdoor Champion of Champions and Commonweath Games representative, Sam Tolchard from England.
The north of Scotland bowler, who is ranked number 12 in the world, produced fireworks in the International Arena.
A rousing opening set saw the Scot establish a 5-2, four-end lead, but Tolchard stormed back to take the opening set 9-7.
The next set was a rollercoaster battle, which Stepney emerged victorious from 6-5, taking the contest to a tie-break.
Overall, a thrilling match, which lasted almost two hours, went Stepney’s way on the very last end, with him eventually counting the vital shot to book his second-round spot.
He faces two-times former winner Mark Dawes from Lancashire on Tuesday at 3pm.
