Both para bowls pairs make semis

Though Mark Noble and Kurt Smith went down to Joe Peplow and Kieran Rollings of England in their final pool match, they still qualified comfortably for the semi-finals of the men's para B6-B8 pairs,

The English pairing won an extremely tight match 6-5, 7-8, 1-0 with the tiebreaker decided by a measure.

Both teams won three of their five matches but England finished second in the group and New Zealand third. Ironically, the same two teams now meet in the semi-finals. The group was won by Australia, who meet Scotland in the other semi-final.

Noble, playing his 87th official match for New Zealand, said, 'We didn't feel too bad losing that one, though we didn't play up to our best. As with our whole time here, we've been patchy, some good sets followed by some bad ones. But we don't fear any team and are looking forward to the semis.'

Noble, who lives in Hastings, and Smith, New Plymouth, are a relatively new combination. They played a tournament together last year but otherwise are just building their bowls relationship and say they're still working on improving their communication. This is made more difficult at the indoor venue in Glasgow because the crowd noise is at times overwhelming.

Ali Forsyth and Tony Grantham beat Australia in their final pairs group match but missed a spot in the semi-finals. Forsyth and Grantham won 8-2, 2-5 1-0.

Despite the good win, the New Zealanders finished their time in Glasgow with four wins in their five matches.Northern Ireland won the group with five wins and progressed to the semi-final.

Julie O'Connell and Teri Blackbourn in the women's para B6-B8 pairs had already qualified for the semis with a match to play. England beat them 5-4, 2-8, 1-0 in their final group match. The result was immaterial as the New Zealanders had already topped their group and will meet England in the semi-finals.