I'm still trying to come to terms with the shock exits of Ian Bond, Mark Royal and Simon Skelton in yesterday's World Indoor Bowls Championship at Potters, and hopefully order will be restored today.
This year's tournament already looks a far cry from last year when every seed won their second round match – and at the time of writing, three out of four seeds had already been knocked out, while Jonathan Ross scraped through on the final end of a tie-break.
Billy Jackson v Hirendra Bhartu
First up Wednesday morning is the defending champion Jackson against Canadian qualifier Bhartu, from British Columbia, and he is 4-11 to progress through to the third round.
Jackson just missed out on securing his third World Pairs title with David Gourlay at the weekend, when they lost out to Ian Bond and Andy Thomson in the final, and he can gain some sort of solace with victory here.
Lincoln star Jackson has an impressive recent record at Potters, having won the crown last year as well as reaching the semi-final the year before and quarters in 2008. But it wasn't always like that for Billy at the home of indoor bowls, with a succession of early exits from 1999 to 2004.
But he has warmed to the Norfolk venue and seems to reserve his best performances for this and the Pairs events.
As for Bhartu, he has steadily climbed up the rankings – he's now up to a world ranking of 21 – thanks to qualifying for a number of events over the past few years, but he doesn't quite have it in him to venture past the second round stage and he'll be a gonner by lunchtime.
Verdict: Nice and easy does it for Jackson.
Paul Foster v Richard Morgan
In-form Foster is many people's tip to win the title for a fourth time after a terrific season in which he has won the Premier League crown as well as the Scottish International Open.
He takes on the eclectic Welshman Richard Morgan, a player who is well worth the entrance fee alone just for his histrionics on the rink, and at 2-5 Foster, the best player in the world in my opinion, looks a solid choice to emerge unscathed.
Morgan is no lame dog, as he is ranked 22nd in the world and has reached the last-eight at Potters, in 2006, but it will take a performance of epic proportions to get the better of Foster.
Verdict: Straight sets win for Foster.
Andy Thomson v Robert Paxton
Scotland-born former England skipper Thomson ruled the singles world way back in 1994 and 1995, but the passing of time has not diminished his abilities, winning the Scottish Open in 2007 and World Matchplay 2008, not forgetting his World Pairs victory with Ian Bond on Sunday.
He faces cap-wearing Paxton, a semi-finalist in 2006, and a dangerous opponent on his day, one who can rattle the cage of any top-16 player, but someone who struggles to do it consistently, hence his world ranking of 25.
The Devon man looks an attractive proposition at 2-1 with bet365, especially with all these seeds falling by the wayside, while Thomson has been marked up at 4-9. This may be a match not to get too engrossed in, gambling-wise, as it is one of those ties that really can go either way.
Verdict: Will be tight, possibly go to a tie-break and Paxton may just edge it.
David Gourlay v Gary Hutchison
Gourlay, Gourlay, Gourlay, a man full of bowling talent, but a player who just cannot produce the goods when it matters. He won the world title way back in 1996 and for the next few years was hardly ever out of the top three in the rankings... but he hasn't won a ranking event since the Scottish Masters in 2002.
He emigrated to Australia a few years back, but he's now back in his native homeland of Scotland, striving to reach the top of the bowls tree again and comes up again fellow countryman Hutchison, who had one of the easiest matches in the tournament so far in the first round.
Gourlay insisted at the World Matchplay Championship that he was enjoying his bowls more than ever and he narrowly lost in the final there to Mervyn King, but a first round exit to Stewart Anderson at the Scottish Open seemingly put him back to square one again. He's 1-5 to overcome the 24-year-old Hutchison and while I expect him to win, what happened on Tuesday has sowed the seeds of doubt in my mind.
I don't know a great deal about Hutchison apart from the fact he is one of their top juniors and he lost to Anderson in last year's Scottish Junior Singles event in the quarter-final stage. His routine win over Israel lady Ruthy Gilor didn't really tell us anything and at 4-1 that could be a price worth taking for those who like a decent price in a two-horse race.
Verdict: Surely a victory for Gourlay, but unbackable at 1-5.
