Henry reaches the last eight

Bowls

Jeremy Henry eased through to the last eight of the World Indoor Championships in Preston with a comfortable win over Australian Adam Jeffery yesterday.

The student from Coleraine needed just 19 ends to complete a 7-3, 7-2, 7-4 victory, and set up a quarter-final meeting with Mervyn King, of England.

Henry, at 21 the youngest competitor in the event, beat the three-times former winner Richard Corsie in the first round. "Beating Richard gave me a lot of confidence and when I got off to a good start I felt really good throughout the game," Henry said.

Gary Smith and Andy Thomson, the 1993 champions, reached the semi-finals of the pairs event with a straight-sets victory over the Scots, Hugh Duff and David Gourlay Jnr. Smith and Thomson will meet Roy Battersby and David Corkill, of Ireland, on Friday.