Jackson falls short of his top 16 target

Billy Jackson was only the second seed in 12 matches so far to go out in the first round of the Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines World Singles at Potters Leisure Resort in Norfolk.

Needing a win to seal a spot in the elite top 16 who gain automatic entry to all World Bowls Tour events, the 14th seed from Lincoln, who won the title in 2009, only scored on three ends and fell 10-6, 14-0 to Rob Paxton.

Exeter’s Paxton, a qualifier, won the Scottish International Open in November – the first ranking event of the season.

Paxton’s second-round match will be against Arbroath’s Darren Burnett next Thursday.

Others who went through were Welshman Rob Weale, the 2000 winner, who is seeded 11. He had to put in some work to get past Hong Kong qualifier CY Wong, who had to win a play-off to get into the event proper. Weale won the first set 9-4 and hit back from 5-0 down in the second to win 9-5.

Attention switches today to the Matchplay Mixed Pairs, where Scots will be in action in each of the four quarter-finals.