Bowls: Hill progress at Welsh Masters

New Zealand's Jamie Hill safely negotiated his first obstacle at the Welsh Masters bowls event in Llanelli today.

Qualifier Hill saw off 11th seed Les Gillett of England, 2-0 in a tiebreak after sharing the two sets 7-6 5-10 in the first round.

The Welsh Masters is the final World Bowls Tour ranking event of the season.

Gillett led 3-0 after the first two ends, but Hill scored six shots without reply to move 6-3 ahead with three ends remaining.

Hill, back in Britain three weeks after partnering compatriot Rowan Brassey in the world pairs Championship, clinched the first set despite dropping two shots in the final end.

He twice led in the second set, but Gillett pulled away from 4-5 down to win 10-5 with an end to go, and force the match into a tiebreak.

Hill had the upperhand in the first two ends to grab a 7-6 5-10 2-0 win.

Results:-

First round: JAMIE HILL (NZ) bt 11-Les Gillett (England) 7-6 5-10 2-0, 9-Jason Greenslade (Wales) bt Mark Allinson (England) 8-3 12-3, 6-Ian Bond (England) bt Chris Young (England) 6-5 9-6, 8-Andy Thomson (England) bt Mark McPeak (Ireland) 9-3 8-4, 12-Jonathan Ross (Ireland) bt Cecil Bransky (Israel) 9-7 11-6, 4-John Price (Wales) bt Gordon Charlton (England) 8-5 8-3, 5-Robert Weale (Wales) bt Mark Walton (England) 7-2 9-7.

- NZPA