Moray bowler Michael Stepney progresses in singles after reaching pairs final at @Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Championship

Michael Stepney's challenge rolls on at the @Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Championship on two fronts.

The Moray bowler and world number 12 reached the final of the world pairs this week along with Welshman Jason Greenslade.

Stepney is also competing in the world singles at the Potters resort in Norfolk, and came through his opening round match after a tense tussle with English qualifier Sam Tolchard

The Elgin stadium bowler, who comes from Burghead and is a product of the village's St Aethan's Bowling Club, had to come from behind to defeat his lesser experienced opponent.

After racing into a 5-2 opening set lead, Stepney was put on the back foot when Tolchard notched up seven consecutive shots to win the first set.

A tightly contested second set saw just two ends won by more than a single shot. Stepney shook off the threat of an early singles exit by edging through to take the match into a deciding tiebreak.

Again the Moray bowler was facing defeat when he lost the opening end, and Tolchard removed Stepney's scoring bowl with his last shot of the second end, only to send the jack towards another of Stepney's bowls to give him the equalising score.

It all came down to one end and Stepney drew the decisive shot to go through and earn a place against two-time world singles champion Mark Dawes in the second round on Tuesday.

Watch the match on World Bowls Tour's YouTube channel.

Stepney told the World Bowls Tour website after the match that he felt Tolchard was the better player on the day and he was relieved to win.

“The match could definitely have gone any way. I felt over the piece it was a fantastic game," he said.

"You had to fight hard for any count that you got. In my opinion Sam was marginally the better player.

“I feel ‘wrung out’, especially after the result Sam got on the second end of the tie break. He got the target but was unfortunate to bump the jack through and leave me holding shot”.

Before playing Englishman Dawes in the next round, Stepney takes on the challenge of contesting his second world indoor bowls pairs final.

Alongside Guernsey-based Greenslade, he takes on two-time world pairs champions Greg Harlow and Nick Brett in Monday afternoon's final.

Stepney played at the same stage 12 years previously when he teamed up with fellow Burghead native and Elgin stadium bowler Andrew Barker to reach the final as qualifiers.

It was heartbreak for the Moray duo in 2011 as after winning the opening set against fellow Scots and multiple world champs Paul Foster and Alex Marshall, they were edged out from glory in the final set tiebreak.

Stepney did gain a small measure of revenge for that defeat in this year's pairs when he and Greenslade defeated Foster and Marshall in the quarter-finals.

Harlow and Brett last won the world pairs in 2020, defeating Stepney and then-partner Simon Skelton on the way.

The crack English duo also beat Stepney and Barker in the world indoor pairs quarter-finals in 2014.

Stepney has never tasted victory in the Potters Resort world championships, but he did clinch a world title success for the first time in 2022.

He beat fellow Scotsman Stewart Anderson in the final of a separately-affiliated world indoor championships in Bristol last May.

That was third time lucky for Stepney to claim the world indoor after twice being beaten finalist in the old format of the competition when it was run solely by the WIBC (World Indoor Bowls Council).

He will travel to Australia to defend his title later this year.