Suffolk’s Katherine Rednall admitted she had little answer to Laura Thomas after relinquishing her Ladies Indoor World Bowls crown yesterday, at Potters Resort.

The 19-year-old became the youngest-ever winner of the title last year when she defeated Norfolk’s Rebecca Field in the final, but came out second best to Wales’ Thomas at the International Arena, losing 14-5, 9-9, one-and-a-half to a half.

The teenager, who is hoping to go to university in September, led 9-7 with one end left of the second set, only to see Thomas respond with a double to take the championship.

Thomas’ performance mirrored that of Rednall’s 12 months ago, the twice Mixed Pairs champion playing some exquisite deliveries and capitalising on almost every mistake her opponent made.

Rednall, who defeated 17-year-old Victoria Bilson in the semi-finals on Wednesday, lacked the consistency that was such a feature of her final win last year and also struggled with the rink surface – as did many players – but, even at her best, she would have found Thomas a tough proposition.

“Laura was brilliant, she just absolutely nailed it and found a better line than I did. I knew I would have to play well to beat her,” said Rednall, a former Stowmarket High School pupil.

“I knew I had to pile on the bowls (close to the jack) to stop her but Laura played a few final shots that changed the game when I was holding a couple of bowls on. There is nothing you can do about that when you have no bowls left to deliver.

“It was a lot different to last time (last year’s final) and I struggled with my line playing away from the commentary box. I could neither find a tight line or one that bent back, whereas Laura found one somewhere down the middle.

“The carpet was different, the underlay was different and I found it more tricky this year, but I never felt quite in the run of form that I was last year.”

See today’s EADT and Ipswich Star for full report.