THE English Riviera Open men's singles is building up to a fabulous conclusion where a strong nerve is needed if you are to lift this famous old trophy.

Three of the four quarter-finals went down to the wire with Phil Hackett (Kings) losing out to John Gayton (Bideford) 21-20.

Bristol's Clive Keedwell beat Martin Clarke (Wales) eldest son of Newton Abbot's Steve Clarke 21-20 and Open regular Bob Matthews (Wales) beat Brian Bricknell (Plymouth) 21-20.

Almost as close at the finish was Jeff Tolchard with the uncle of young stars Sam and Sophie falling to Jason Sparkes (Bristol) 21-17.

A former Championship winning cricketer during his days with Leicestershire, Jeff beat Torquay legend John Evans 21-17 along the way but despite leading Sparkes 7-0 after four ends, was eventually forced to give way to the much younger former titleholder.

Former runner-up Phil Hackett led John Gayton 16-8 but was pipped at the post while Martin Clarke fought back well from 8-0 down to lead 20-19 before a singles and a treble from Keedwell clinch his passage into the semi-finals.

While one Tolchard slipped out of the singles another – Sophie – won through to the semi-finals of the ladies' event following wins over former champion Carole Fisher (Honiton) 21-16, Jan Hutchins (Torbay) 21-14 and former finalist Susan Bywaters (Upton) 21-9.

"Sophie was just too consistent for me but at least I took out to well-respected bowlers in my previous rounds," said Bywaters. In her opening match, the former junior international had recovered brilliantly from 12-20 down to defeat Val Davis (Torbay CC) 21-20 in the first round.

In Saturday's semi-line-up Sophie will play pairs partner Lorraine Hackett after her Kings clubmate beat 71-year-old Sheila Ciplinski (Pontefract) 21-14.

"I always said I would stop playing when I reached seventy but I love it," said Sheila, a popular visitor to the Open along with her bowls-playing husband Joe.

Umpire Alan Hext described Barbara Bellamy's win over reigning champion Hannah Tucker (Totnes) 21-20 as a very good game and the Newton Abbot player now faces formidable ex-champion Janet Eames.

A popular visitor and prolific winner of titles at Torbay, Janet staged a super recovery from 18-9 down to defeat Anne Williams (Callington) 21-18. The semi-finals of the ladies' singles is on Saturday (12 noon) with the final at 3pm.

RESULTS

Men's singles. Third round: K Price bt G Kenneford 21-12. J Gayton bt R Johnson 21-15. J Turner bt A Firth 21-3. J Sparkes bt A Faulkner 21-7. J Sanderson bt R Haddock 21-9. P Brown bt R Clayton 21-9. J Tolchard bt J Evans 21-17. Fourth round: Bob Matthews bt J Hadfield 21-8. Brian Bricknell bt Malcolm Bishop 21-20. Clive Keedwell bt Ian Brewster 21-16. Martin Clarke bt Ron Mayer 21-17. Phil Hackett bt Ken Price 21-16. John Gayton bt J Turner 21-16. Jason Sparkes bt John Sanderson 21-9. Jeff Tolchard bt Phil Brown 21-14. Quarter-finals: Bob Matthews bt Brian Bricknell 21-20. Clive Keedwell bt Martin Clarke 21-20. Jason Sparkes bt Jeff Tolchard 21-17. Ladies' singles. First round: A Williams bt L James 21-10. M Treherne bt J Jack 21-17. M Hackett bt M Molloy 21-15. J Eames bt J Briscoe w/o. R Rogers bt M Cox 21-11. S Bywaters bt V Davis 21-20. J Hutchins bt R Reed 21-19. S Tolchard bt C Fisher 21-16. B Bellamy bt R Kenneford 21-14. L Lock bt M Weemering 21-9. H Tucker bt I Vaughan 21-1. L Hackett bt P Keen 21-4. S Cowling bt R Lindow 21-10. Second round: A Williams bt M Treherne 21-9. J Eames bt M Hackett 21-7. S Bywaters bt R Rogers 21-17. S Tolchard bt J Hutchins 21-14. B Bellamy bt L Lock 21-10. H Tucker bt M Thomas 21-15. L Hackett bt S Cowling 21-3. S Ciplinski bt H Thomas 21-10. Quarter-finals: Janet Eames bt Anne Williams 21-18. Sophie Tolchard bt Susan Bywaters 21-9. Barbara Bellamy bt Hannah Tucker 21-20. Lorraine Hackett bt Sheila Ciplinski 21-14.