England's Mark Walton took another step towards becoming the first man in 14 years to win both the singles and pairs in the same year at the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic, continuing his fine form yesterday at Kowloon Bowling Green Club.
Partnering Graham Shadwell for the first time in any competition, the 38-year-old Yorkshireman is trying to match the 'double' last achieved by Scotland's Graham Robertson in 1990. After retaining England's lead at the top of the 20-team standings, Walton just could be the man who could achieve the feat again.
'There are still several matches to go. I will take it one match at a time,' said father-of-three Walton, who last week clinched the Hong Kong Classic singles title. 'We haven't reached the pairs final yet and there's still a lot of work to do. Hopefully, we will continue to play well.'
The double has been achieved two other times in the tournament which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year - by Hong Kong great George Souza Jnr in 1984 and by Scotland's George Adrain the following year.
Shadwell believes Walton is in good fettle and is carrying on the good work since winning the National singles title this year. The 29-year-old Englishman from Wiltshire said: 'Mark is playing is well at the moment and is playing decent bowls.
'We're looking to qualify for the top four to get into the semi-finals. We got several games to go. This is our first time together playing as a team. We played against each other in trials but never [played] together as a pair. We get on well together. We gel well.'
