DARREN BURNETT looks on course to reach his second ranking final in two years after seeing off Northern Ireland's Jonathan Ross on Thursday evening, with just Australian Brett Wilkie now standing in his way.
The Scottish policeman was superb in patches against Ross, but rather struggled over the line, winning the first set by just one shot after picking up a two on the final end, and drawing the next 6-6 despite leading 5-0 at one stage. A late rally by the Paisley-based Ross in both sets nearly upstaged Burnett, but he produced some big shots when required, marking out the quality of the man.
Australian international Wilkie. from Queensland, has oozed class all the way through this competition and has yet to drop a set, and his victory over fellow qualifier Tim Stone – as predicted on puntinplay – was as comfortable as they come. Stone just ran out of steam and Wilkie capitalised on the Norfolk bowler's waywardness to book anothert match against Burnett.
The two met in the final of the 2008 International Open at Burgess Hill, a strange event where most of the seeds went out early with these two unfancied – at the time – players showcasing their talents to a big audience.
Burnett won on that occasion, triumphed 10-4, 7-3 in a dominant display which the Scot has since built on. Unfortunately he never got the chance to defend his crown following the suspension of the tournament this season. Purveyors of past history may like to know that Burnett beat Alex Marshall en route to the crown that year and he also knocked him out of this event – will he now go on to defeat Wilkie again and claim another title?
He is a best price of 4-6 with Betfred to repeat the dose against Wilkie, with the Aussie 13-10 with Betfred, but he will need to show more consistency on Friday lunchtime as against Ross he was only getting one or two bowls close an end, missing his length with the others, but there is plenty more to come from him and he should just have the advantage in this tussle.
The other semi-final sees three-time Welsh Open runner-up Robert Weale tackling last year's losing finalist SIMON SKELTON after both players came through on tie-breaks on Thursday.
Weale was staring down the barrel of a gun against Ian Bond after being swept aside in the first set against Ian Bond – who was on a high following his victory over provisional world No.1 Paul Foster – but he turned the match round in tremendous fashion, storming the second set 8-3 and then edging the tie-break 2-1 to make his fifth semi-final in 12 outings at the event, an event the Hereford man is desperate to win.
Nottingham's finest Skelton produced the end of his life against Mervyn King at the conclusion of the first set, picking up a full house four shots to take a 1-0 advantage after needing two to tie the set. He fell away a little in the second, losing that 9-6, but he showed his resilience to regroup and won the two ends needed to see off the ninth seed.
This match really could go either way, with Weale the 5-6 favourite with Betfred, while Skelton's best price is also with Betfred who go 23-20 about him winning this contest. Both players have bounced back well following early defeats at Potters, while Skelton was also a second round departure at the Scottish Open so a decent run here was imeprative. He is the sort of player who needs to be followed when he gets a good run going as he becomes very hard to beat and at the prices on offer, he could just offer the better value.
