Foster and Stepney into quarter-finals

Paul Foster and Mike Stepney were the first two Scots to seal a place in tomorrow’s quarter-finals of the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish International Open at the Dewars Centre in Perth.

However it wasn’t Foster’s awesome consistency for which his match against No 12 seed Mark Dawes from Blackpool will be remembered.

Foster led 5-3 playing the sixth end of the second set but Dawes held three shots. Foster opted to bring out the heavy artillery to smash the head, hitting the target plumb in the middle with such ferocity that it split the jack in two, with half of it flying out of bounds.

Discussion ensued as to the official ruling but Foster was given the nod and counted a vital double to strengthen his grip on the match and he ran out a 10-5, 9-4 winner.

Smiling later he said: “I’ve never even seen a jack being struck and then halving in two before. It was extraordinary!”

His quarter-final opponent tomorrow will be England’s No 8 seed Jamie Chestney. He beat Andy Thomson 8-6, 9-3.

Elgin’s Stepney, a wild card entry, also continued his great form, defeating England’s Perry Martin 9-5, 8-6. He now lines up against Norfolk’s Mervyn King. The No 14 seed dethroned world No 1 Greg Harlow, who has won the title for the last two years, 9-5, 8-6.

Theremainingsecondround matches continue today, with Scots Alex Marshall, Darren Burnett and David Gourlay all meeting English opponents.