I feel great,’ said Karina.
‘It’s been a good day, though it would have been better if I had made it into the last eight.’ First off, the Jersey star cut the host country’s hope, Maria Rigby, down to size, beating the popular Australian, 6-9, 9-8, 2-0, leaving three players – Rigby, Welsh star Betty Morgan and herself, tied at the top of the group table.
When the two places in the knockout stage were awarded on the basis of sets countback, it became clear that Rigby and Morgan would go through, and Bisson would have to settle for third place in the group.
‘Just one more set win over my four games, and I’d have been in there,’ said Bisson.
‘If only I’d managed to win that first set against Maria, that would have been enough.
It’s very frustrating.’ A poor start cost Bisson dearly, because, after losing the first eight shots to Rigby, she came back strongly, and carried on the good work in the second set.
While Rigby and Morgan were in action in the quarter finals, Bisson returned to the green to take part in her first classification match – against the WBT women’s world indoor Matchplay champion, Ellen Falkner.
Falkner won a gold medal in the women’s fours at the Games in Manchester, and another in the women’s world outdoor fours championship at Royal Leamington Spa two years ago.
In no mood to take prisoners, Bisson took charge from the start, and came up with a huge win over the 26-year-old from Cambridgeshire, winning the first set, 10-4, and the second, 10-3.
Allan Quémard, who earned praise for his excellent win over the South African Gerry Baker yesterday, won again, this time handing out a straight-sets defeat to Mia Tuteru, from the Cook Islands.
AQ, who also missed out on a place in the last eight, embarked on the classification process, and, like Bisson, found himself up against a world-class player in Northern Ireland’s Martin McHugh.
McHugh, who won a Games gold medal in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, has won the British Isles outdoor singles title twice in succession, and he hit top form to return a 12-4, 14-1 card.
Men’s singles: Allan Quémard bt Mia Tuteru (Cook Islands) 13-5, 10-4 to finish fifth in his six-man group.
First classification match, lost to Martin McHugh (Northern Ireland) 4-12, 1-14.
Men’s pairs: Final classification match for places 9-12 – Derek Boswell & Gus McKinnon lost to New Zealand 6-12, 8-6, 2-0, and finished 12th overall.
Ladies’ singles: Karina Bisson bt Maria Rigby (Australia) 6-9, 9-8, 2-0 to finish third in her group.
First classification match – bt Ellen Alexander (England) 10-4, 12-3.
