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Talk engagingly to a bowler in a knockout tournament? (4,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chat up

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'talk engagingly' is the definition.
'chat up' can be an answer for 'talk' (chatting up is a kind of talking). I'm not sure about the 'engagingly' bit.

'bowler in a knockout tournament?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'bowler' could be 'hat' (bowler is a type of hat) and 'hat' is found in the answer.
'tournament?' could be 'cup' (eg the World Cup) and 'cup' is located in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to a' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chat up that I've seen before include "Flirt with (someone)" , "Engage (someone) in flirtatious conversation" , "Talk in romantic terms" , "Talk flirtatiously to someone" , "Woo verbally" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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