YEOVIL'S serial collector of England titles, Edna Bessell,

has set her sights on the World Women's Champion of Champions

title, which is up for grabs in Aberdeen's Westburn Park over

the next eight days.

Competition gets under way this morning with six days of

gruelling round-robin play, with the quarter-finals scheduled

for next Friday, and the semi-finals and finals on

Saturday.

Bessell should be able to collect valuable points against

the relatively inexperienced Norfolk Islander Debbie Wilford

and Hong Kong's Camilla Leung in her opening rounds today.

But she is sure to be tested tomorrow, when she meets

Australian ace Katrina Wright and British champion Lindsey

Greechan, from Jersey.

"I'm looking forward to this chance of gaining early revenge

over Lindsey, who beat me in the British championships less

than three months ago," said Bessell.

Bessell will also face Ireland's three-time world outdoor

pairs champion Phillis Nolan, Kenya's Scots-born Maureen Burns,

Swazilander Dawn Squires, China's Eliza Cheung, Judith Drewer

from Portugal, Botswana's Lebo Mascarenhas and English ex-pat

Winifred Eagle, representing Spain.

The event, which has previously been staged in Australia and

New Zealand, is being played in the United Kingdom for the

first time, and, although several late cancellations have been

received, the reasons for withdrawing are humbling.

Old excuses which might be commonplace in the United

Kingdom, like having a headache or attending your sister's

wedding, look pretty lame compared with having your farm

confiscated, or your house burnt down.

And that, according to the organisers, is why the Zimbabwean

and Papua New Guinean champions have pulled out.