Monarchs duo Sam Masters and Erik Riss eye Pairs title
The Monarchs duo are one of the fancied pairings for the event and are tipped to qualify for the sudden death semi-finals along with Sheffield Tigers pair Josh Grajczonek and Kyle Howarth from Group B, with Glasgow and Peterborough favourites to progress from Group A.
Both Monarchs riders are in superb form right now, especially Riss, who has racked up double-figure scores in his last six matches. It’s his first time at the showpiece gathering and he said: “I’m riding very well right now and I’m happy with how I’m going. I like Somerset as a track and have enjoyed good performances around there in the past. But it is a tough meeting to win, but I will go out and do my very best to help Sam all I can.”
Masters, who was runner-up a year ago with Ryan Fisher, hopes to go one better again this time and said: “I will be giving it my all. It felt so good when Max and I won it three years ago.”