STOWMARKET ace Mark Royal was cruelly denied a place in the semi finals of the WBT world indoor singles championship yesterday, when he was edged out by Lincoln's Billy Jackson at Potters Leisure Resort.

STOWMARKET ace Mark Royal was cruelly denied a place in the semi finals of the WBT world indoor singles championship yesterday, when he was edged out by Lincoln's Billy Jackson at Potters Leisure Resort.

After Jackson had got home, 7-6, 5-5, in a desperately close quarter final encounter, Royal said: “I'm really disappointed, because I'm focused and in good form at present, and felt confident out there.”

Jackson always had his nose in front in the first set, but Royal, who never gives up, was holding two shots on the last end to tie the set, when the Lincoln man drew brilliantly to reduce the count to one.

“In the second set, I felt I more than matched Billy, but he got the odd nick, which steered him on to the jack, and that made all the difference in such a close match,” Royal added.

Royal felt he missed a chance on the penultimate end of the second set, when, with the scores level at 4-4, he had the opportunity to make two shots with his last bowl.

“That would have put me 6-4 in front, and given me a cushion on the last end,” said Royal. “I'd played a fantastic bowls with my third, but put too much weight behind my last bowl.”

On the last end, Royal had a bowl two inches away, but Jackson beat it, his winning bowl lying perhaps an inch from the jack, and Royal's last drive missed its target by less than a millimeter.

“Now I need to do well in Llanelli (the Welsh International Open will be played from 2-8 February) to collect some vital ranking points, because my aim now is to get into the top eight of the WBT ranking list,” Royal said.

As for his prospects of reclaiming his lace in the England side, he was philosophical. “Playing two bowls in a team is a different game, and I have no complaints, because I had a poor trial.”