There's been shocks galore at the World Indoor Bowls Championship, with no fewer than six seeds being knocked out of the tournament, including world champion Billy Jackson who was dispatched by Canadian qualifier Hirendra Bhartu yesterday.
Mark Royal (3rd seed), Andy Thomson (8), Mervyn King (9), Ian Bond (12) and Simon Skelton (14) have also exited stage right at Potters and I predict more cullings on the Norfolk coast today.
Mark McMahon v Stewart Anderson
It just goes to show how bad the ranking system in the World Bowls Tour is when a player like McMahon retains his top-16 berth despite missing several events over the past couple of years. He hasn't played on the Tour since reaching the semi-final of the World Indoor Singles last year and his lack of match practice on the blue rink will tell against a man who has been backed from 40-1 into 6-1 favourite.
Qualifer Anderson made his mark at the Scottish International Open in November, defeating David Gourlay, Jonathan Ross and Billy Jackson before bowing out at the semi-final stage on the final end of the tie-break to eventual winner Paul Foster, while he warmed up nicely for this clash by thrashing Canada's Fred Fong.
The Cumnock 24-year-old is a solid 4-9 favourite to see off flight attendant McMahon, who is a best price of 7-4, and while the man from Brisbane is a decent player, judged by his progression to the last four in 2009, he will not be winning this one.
Verdict: Anderson will be too good.
Alex Marshall v Tim Stone
Marshall has won the world title more than anyone else, with five victories at Potters, but interestingly he has not won any other event on the World Bowls Tour and the way he has been playing over the past year he could be another top player to be facing the axe today.
'Tattie' has enjoyed a fine tun at the top of the rankings, but such has been his poor form that he has slipped to ninth in the provisional list. After collecting the crown in 2007 and 2008, he was dumped out in the third round by Simon Skelton last year and that result seemed to trigger a downward spiral as he was beaten by unknown qualifer Mark 'Harry Potter' Dawes in the second round of the Welsh Open and in this season's Scottish Open, he slumped to a second round defeat to Robert Weale.
Qualifer Stone, who saw off Potters regular Graham Smith in the first round, will not only have the backing of the crowd as he's the underdog, but he's also the local hero, with the 31-year-old hailing from Norwich and at 5-2 with Skybet, he should be given more than due consideration. He may not be a familiar name but he, like many of this year's qualifiers, is a seriously good player and should not be under-estimated. He also finished runner-up in a warm-up event at local club Acle, a competition that featured several top-16 stars so there is no reason why he can't beat a player who seems to be struggling with his game.
Verdict: At 5-2, Stone could cause another upset.
