2008 Handicap
Tournament
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Plate Schedule
Sunday, 2nd March - Finals Night
18:30 Steve Porter (-9) v Tom Heneghan (8)
19:15 Mary Boyle (7) v Dave Potter (-8)
20:00 Prize-giving and nibbles in the bar
These are some of the questions we were asking ourselves at the start of the evening:
- Will Steve exact revenge for Ros's defeat yesterday?
- Will Thomas be disqualified for bad behaviour or poor fashion sense?
- Will Mary use her frame or the strings? She seems equally happy using either. Has she prepared a new victory dance for the occasion?
- Will Dave play any shot direct to the front wall? Has he had his afternoon nap, or will he take it in the third and fourth as usual?
The plate final between Steve Porter (-9) and Thomas Heneghan (8) was as good a final as I remember. It followed the classic pattern of the better player struggling in the first two games and having to put everything into the third to stay in the match. Steve started well and kept the ball moving at a good pace only to find that this is just the kind of game that Thomas likes. Thomas got to a lot of Steve's shots to the rear of the court and only seemed vulnerable to Steve's trademark reverse angles at the front. For the first two games, Thomas did some magnificent retrieving, and took full advantage of the few times Steve hit a loose shot to make Steve retrieve for a bit. Although Steve was getting good runs of points, it wasn't quite enough to make up for the handicap difference, so Thomas took those games 15/10 and 15/7. In the third game, we could see that Steve's persistence in the first two games had taken their toll on Thomas who was now just a little bit off the pace he had in the first two games. Even still, he nearly pulled it off, and Steve had to turn on his concentration to reel Thomas in and sneak past to take the third game 15/13. In the final two games, Thomas never gave up, but Steve had now settled into a rhythm and kept Thomas pinned to the back of the court with some good low drives. Steve won both those games 15/11. As I said, this was an excellent final and the handicapping was spot on making it very competitive. 10/15 7/15 15/13 15/11 15/11
Then we had the main final between Mary Boyle (7) and Dave Potter (-8). Dave had obviously taken his Shreddies this morning as he got off to a supercharged start playing some really good squash with good-length drives, wrong-footing crosscourts, millimetre-accurate drops and boasts. In the first game, Mary had no answer to this and Dave got nine points before Mary got her first point with a drop that Dave couldn't quite get to. Dave then took the next seven points to equalise the point score at 8-all. Mary got another couple of points, but Dave took the first game with an impressive 15/10 score line. Also, very importantly for the outcome of future games, he'd managed to set up some long rallies which had obviously taken their toll on Mary. Everything changed in the second game. I think Dave was feeling confident of a similar result to the first game, and he failed to put away a quite a few easy shots allowing Mary to play winners off them (accompanied by short victory dances). He was still making Mary work hard though, particularly by delaying shots until Mary had committed to one direction, and then sending the ball the other way. Dave got back to 11/13, and then Mary hit two winners to take the second game. Mary celebrated with another dance, and Dave went off to work out his strategy for the next game. In the third game, Dave's concentration improved back to the level of the first game and he played some near-flawless squash. Mary was now really tired and had to give up on a few shots. Her attempted winners kept tinning, and although she did some great retrieving, it was just prolonging the rallies. At 10-all, Dave caught up with Mary and went on to win the game. It was a similar story in the fourth. Mary did rally a few times, and put Dave in trouble, but he was always able to extricate himself with a good crosscourt drive, or a very low boast. At 12/9, Mary still had a chance, but once Dave pulled it back to 12-all, the outcome was never in any doubt. This was another excellent match much enjoyed by the crowd. 15/10 11/15 15/11 15/13
Tournament Roundup
This was a very enjoyable tournament with some really good matches. As usual (despite what some players thought!), the handicaps were spot on. Proof of this is how few 3-0 games there were.
Here are some statistics:
- There were 35 matches in the tournament
- 8 were 3-0
- 18 were 3-1
- 9 went the distance 3-2
- There were four walkovers due to injury, unavailability, etc.
It was good to get this tournament going after so many years of cancellations due to lottery work, floods, etc.
Our next tournament will be the club championships - probably some time in April.
Saturday, 1st March - The Mighty Mark Longthorn Falls!
The first match this afternoon was between Mary Boyle (-5) and Vic Seymour (5). On paper this looked to be a close affair, as both players have breezed their way through the earlier rounds only dropping one game each. Another added interest that drew the crowd was a couple of rumours that a) Mary had removed all her strings for this match and was going to play entirely using frame shots, and b) Mary had been practising a Highland Fling just in case she got through. The players arrived on court, Mary slowly drew her racket out of its case, the crowd gasped - strings! Mary then proceeded to use the strings to great effect and took a convincing first game 15/11. Vic looked a little nervous and was struggling with her backhand return of serve, but in the second game Vic produced some fine winning drops and tight drives to go 13/6 up, but couldn't convert it and Mary took that game 17/15. In the third game, Mary played even better and kept Vic pinned to the back with some good lobs and then threw in some really attacking boasts and once it got to 10-all the outcome was never really in any doubt. A 3-0 win to Mary, followed by the finest rendition of a highland fling I have ever seen! 15/11 17/15 15/10.
We were all expecting great things from Mark Longthorn (-2) in his match against Dave Potter (2), as not only had he put out Tom Bomford, but he had also survived his match against Pete Bolshaw with a silly handicap, showing that he can win from either a positive or negative handicap. Dave Potter however was oozing confidence, as a result of the strict fitness regime he has undergone in the last few months. It started really well for Dave - in the first game, his serves were causing Mark all kinds of problems, and his attacking shots were producing outright winners. He took the first game 15/9 and would have won it even without the handicap. The second game started dreadfully for Mark - he looked ill at ease at this point, his attacking shots were tinning, his widths were hitting the sidewall, and Dave's confidence was high. Dave took the first four points to go 6/-2 up and then Mark got himself together and settled into the long slog required to come back from this impossible position. He took the next seven points to recover to 5/6, but Dave rallied and kept his small lead intact to take the second 15/13. In the third, Mark's rallying tactics began to pay off. Dave was obviously tiring and started making lots of unforced errors, and even though Mark was doing most of the work, he was now reaping the rewards. Once Mark got level at 7-all, Dave eased off and let Mark take the game 15/11.
Would Dave make a final big effort in the fourth? Dave made no effort of any kind in the fourth - he looked to be completely gone and was giving up on any shot that didn't land in his quarter of the court. Mark ended up taking this game for the loss of only two points. All the money was on Mark now as he was still moving really, and Dave seemed to have run himself into a standstill, but Dave's two game-rest let him recharge his batteries just enough to rally an attack in the fifth. Mark wasn't sure how to play it now, as his attacking drops were risking clipping the tin, and Dave got to most of his safe drops and put them away. Mark even hit a few shots straight back to Dave expecting him to be moving back to the T. Dave also stopped tinning his drops, so in a short space of time he went 11/1 up. Once again, Mark had to really dig in, which he did, and unbelievably managed to pull it back to 10/11. But the effort took a lot out of him, and he fluffed a couple of backhand volley kills giving Dave the vital couple of points to get to 14/11. Mark won back one more point, but in the next rally, hit a loose backhand allowing Dave to play his favourite reverse angle shot. It wasn't a particularly good reverse angle, but at this stage of the game, it was good enough, and it took the match. This game was an excellent example of how competitive and enjoyable these handicap games can be. Both players put everything they had into it, and the audience really appreciated that. The final score was 15/9 15/13 11/15 4/15 15/12.
The plate games consisted of two Porters against two Heneghans.
Steve Porter (-6) had his work cut out for him in his match against Clare Heneghan (5). Clare isn't afraid of a fast-paced ball, and can whack it herself on occasion. Clare took a while to get going in the first, and Steve took the opportunity to play some good attacking squash with no virtually mistakes which gave him the first game. I didn't see the rest of the match, but in the second game, Clare got six points in a row while Steve was still in negative figures, so she won that easily. Steve took the third, Clare took the fourth, and in the decider it was anybodies up to 10/6 to Clare. Steve then overtook her, got to 13/11, Clare stepped up her game to match Steve point for point, served at 13/14 to make it deuce, Steve hit a winner to take the match 15/13. This was another good match that went the distance. 15/12 1/15 15/8 7/15 15/13
The final match of the day was between Thomas Heneghan (0) and Ros Porter (0). Unusually, they had to play off scratch as they were in the same group. We knew we were in for something special when Thomas appeared in his new squash outfit consisting of a thermal vest, shorts, one ordinary sock and one long football sock. It started off well for Thomas. He was moving round the court well, covering Ros's drops and throwing in the odd crosscourt nick shot. This was giving him two points for every one of Ros's and although Ros mounted a comeback at 13/6 down, she had left it too late. The second game went to and fro until Thomas reeled off five winners in a row to make it safe. Thomas was now feeling confident, and in the third game, he took the pace off, allowing Ros back in to the game with her lobs and drops. I think this was the game where Thomas's racket collided with Ros's head - no one in the balcony saw what happened - very odd! At 12-all, Thomas needed to raise his game to win the match whereas Ros was fighting to stay in the match. In the end the more experienced player prevailed, and Ros took that important game 15/13. The only toy Thomas had in his pram was his racket, so he duly hurled that across the court! In the fourth, Ros concentrated on winning points with some good tactical squash. Thomas concentrated on thinking about the previous game, arguing with the referee, and generally doing a John MacEnroe impression. Unlike John MacEnroe, this did nothing to improve his game - Ros built up a four point lead at the beginning which she kept through to the end. More racket throwing from Thomas causing murmurs in the balcony of "chip off the old block", and "conduct warning", etc. In the final game, Ros was determined to win and her strategy of lobbing to the back was working really well at demoralising Thomas. She got to a 5/2 lead and then Thomas's speed round the court got him out of difficulty. He nearly threw it away with some atrocious volley drops into the tin, but at 12/11 in front, things started going his way and he won the next three points and took the match. This was another really close match that went to five - I reckon Thomas was lucky to win. 15/9 15/10 13/15 12/15 15/11.
So, four good matches tonight, three of which went to five.
Friday, 29th February - The Bomfords have been ejected from the competition!
There were some excellent matches again tonight.
The first match tonight was between Mary Boyle (-4) and Lisa Hobbs (4). Mary's frame shots (so effective against Mark Coppen in a previous round) deserted her almost completely tonight, so how would she fare against Lisa? Fortunately for Mary, Lisa let her off the hook by letting her dominate the front of the court for most of the match allowing Mary a rather easy 3-0 victory. 15/8 15/12 15/11
Neil Thorneywork (-7) was determined to play his match against Victoria Seymour (6), despite his back playing up on him. He really needed that first game, but although he wrong-footed Vic many times, he couldn't stop her hitting her winners. Neil did well to take the second game with a convincing 15/11, but after that, it ran away from him. 15/8 11/15 15/10 15/11
Tom Bomford (-3) came up against a very on-form Mark Longthorn (2). Tom played very well, but to the astonishment of everyone, he served out half way through the match, and then again when facing match ball. 11/15 15/11 15/6 15/12
Jonathan Bomford (1) had a tough match against Dave Potter (-1). Dave
had a slow start, but when he got going, he really dominated the match. 10/15 15/7 15/8 15/6
Ros Porter (4) and David Preedy (-4) had a real cliff-hanger of a game with the games going 15/9 15/14 15/17 11/15 15/10 in Ros's favour - an excellent result against David, who always does very well in this competition.
Mark Coppen had a bad day made worse by a stiff handicap against a very determined Steve Porter. Steve was firing in winners from all over the court, and
although Mark had some inspired patches where he chased everything down, he couldn't sustain it.
Richard Avery kindly stepped in to replace Richard Leedham in a match against young Thomas Heneghan. Although Richard took the first seven points of the match, the rallies were tough enough that it unsettled him, and he only got one more point
in that game compared with Thomas's seven. After that, Richard's back gave him enough trouble that he couldn't settle into the long slog needed to make any
real impact on the handicap. 15/-1 15/0 15/6
Thursday, 28th February
Granthan Speake (1) lost to Dave Potter (-1). Granthan started off really well, and Dave took a game to wake up, but once they got into the second game, Dave got stronger and stronger. 17/16 9/15 15/4 15/9
Richard Avery (5) and Richard Leedham (-6) had a classic match with fortunes swinging backwards and forwards. Egg got off to a tremendous start and took four of the first six points. Tree was slightly off his normal pace a first, and although he did rally, Richard was too far to catch. In the second game, they carried on the fast-paced squash, but after the first few points, it was obvious that Egg was tired and had decided to have a rest game. Egg's rest gave him the energy to take the third, but after that he was totally gone. Tree still had to work hard, because Egg was playing some good lobs and drops when he could get his racket on the ball but the end result was never really in any question. 15/8 7/15 15/6 13/15 12/15
Wednesday, 27th February
Neil Thorneywork (+5) v Ben Salcedo (-6). I'm not sure if there were any
witnesses to this, but comments from the players were as follows:
Ben - Lucky b$%^&*
Neil - Neil played with great skill
Neil won 3-1 with a scoreline of 13/15 15/10 15/-2 15/8
Details of the Chas (-7) v Vic (+6) match are trickling in. Apparently Chas's serve let him down at critical times. Vic would have won even with no handicapping! The score was 15/5 15/-1 15/-2. Match report to come later.
Monday, 25th February #2
More detail has just come in about the Mary/Mark match. The previous report about Mary's frame shots was exaggerated - apparently Mary used her strings on at least two occasions, not one as previously claimed. Mark attempted to outdo Mary at the frame shots, but he should have known better than to challenge the master! Mary performed selected Morris dances after most points.
The last shot of the match went like this:
After Mary boasted from the backhand corner
Mark moved forward comfortably to play the shot
... told himself just drive it
... then told himself No, just drop it
... so what did he do???
NEITHER!! He missed the ball completely
and Mary won the match to squeals of delight from her and a final extended Morris jig!!
Monday, 25th February
My apologies to Mary and Mark, I seem to have left out their match report. Contrary to rumours that Mark made me a large bribe, it was actually a genuine oversight! I didn't see any of this match myself, and reports about it vary wildly. Some spectators in the balcony reported that Mary used the racket frame to hit the ball throughout the entire match. Others claim to remember shots coming off the handle. Mary herself distinctly remembers using the strings for one shot! It was clearly a shock to Mark to realise just how good Mary's retrieving was and how she could play nick shots using any part of the racket. By the time he had woken up and started playing properly, Mary had a decisive 3-0 victory. 15/5 15/9 15/12
I believe that Vic and Chas played yesterday as well, but for some strange reason, the match report hasn't got to me yet. Must be something wrong with the electrons in Richard's broadband connection, or maybe I need to wait the 19 hours difference between Evesham time and Avery time ...
There are rumours that Vic won ...
There are still lots of matches outstanding. You MUST play your matches ASAP (particularly if there are plate matches waiting for the outcome) so that we get sixteen people for the Quarter Final matches on Friday evening. 18:00 start. Please turn up promptly to play and mark. We'll have three courts on the go, so lots of markers required. It would be very civic minded if some people who have already been knocked out turned up to mark a game or two.
Sunday, 24th February
I'd hoped that a lot of games would be played today, but I've only received notification of one - the one between Mark Longthorn (-9) and Pete Bolshaw (+8). Mark kindly sent in this commentary:
Hi Paul
I've just played Pete Bolshaw and managed to scrape through winning 17/15 6/15 15/13 15/14.
I banged everything to the back of the court afraid to go for any drops in case I missed them.
Pete hit a series of early winners in the second game to take the rubber away from me.
Pete set to one point in the fourth at 14/14 and hit a stunning return tight above the tin but I just managed to lunge across and play a winning cross court drop to his amazement. Unfortunately there was nobody there to show off to except the missus and we didn't lose the score more than half a dozen times.
The game was played in good spirit but competitively and there were only two lets and one stroke [against me, dash.]
Good game. Good handicapping.
Thanks for your efforts in organising the tournament.
You are doing a great job down there.
Mark
See you friday
That's a superb result from Mark. After Pete's game against Richard Leedham, I was wondering if I'd put him in the wrong group, so Mark must have played out of his socks to produce a result like this. It's a great shame no one was there to witness it - if only it had been played on Saturday afternoon in front of the crowd where it was scheduled!
Saturday, 23rd February
What a day! There was some superb squash (and some from the other end of the spectrum) today. There were millimetre-accurate boasts and drops, and there were outrageous frame shots with colossal amounts of spin. In fact, just a normal day in the life of a squash handicap tournament!
First up, we had Lisa Hobbs (-3) and Sam Porter (+3). Sam is great on the volley, but struggles when the ball gets past her. Lisa had a really difficult job of trying to get the ball past Sam either with good width or good height, but inevitably fed Sam a few volleys to put away. This match was close all the way, and Lisa did well to pull off a 3-1 victory. 15/11 13/15 15/14 15/12
Next we were supposed to have Vic against Chas. Unfortunately Chas has the surname Avery which means he doesn't know he's supposed to turn up at the scheduled time (and day)! Hopefully this match will happen tomorrow, but it screws up the timetable because if he loses he's in the plate, and that match was supposed to happen tomorrow.
Neil T and Ben rearranged their match - let me know the outcome please.
Next, we were astonished to see Richard Avery (+4) appear. Mark Longthorn (-5) did the sporting thing and agreed to play their first-round match (which he had already been awarded) 19 hours late. This was a good match to watch. Richard got off to an excellent start with some really hard-hitting squash and actually extended his lead over Mark from 9 to 13 points at one stage, helped by Mark catching the side wall with lots of shots spoiling their length and width. At -1/12 down, Mark started playing properly and virtually stopped making mistakes despite playing some very attacking boasts. Richard needed three more points to Mark's 16, but Mark got there first! In the second game, both players played well, but Mark was still very focused and made virtually no mistakes even when under pressure. Richard was also beginning to tire due to the fast pace so Mark took that game also. Richard tired noticeably in the third game and changed tack with some tight lobs and lots of change of pace. Surprisingly, this threw Mark and he made a lot of uncharacteristic errors letting Richard take the game 15/5. In the fourth, Richard's back went, and he had difficulty moving forward. Mark built up some good runs of points, but then lost concentration at 11/8. Richard levelled the game at 11-all, but then faded and Mark took the fourth game with a dazzling volley-kill-nick shot that Shabana would have been proud of - showoff! 15/14 15/13 5/15 15/11
Then we were treated to a very interesting match between Olympic sprinter Kevin Price-Ward (+3) and wily veteran Jonathan Bomford (-4). Just like in his match yesterday against Martyn, Kevin was out of the starting blocks at a million miles an hour. For the first few points he was actually overrunning the ball, but then he settled down and started putting real pressure on Jonathan's short shots. Jonathan looked pretty good at 4/6 having reduced the lead to two points, but he just couldn't close it any further. He tried moving Kevin round the court a bit, but as soon as he hit a short shot, Kevin was onto it and Jonathan couldn't cover all the possible replies. Kevin took the first 15/7. The start of the second game was similar. Jonathan reduced the lead to two points early on, but then Kevin fought back and opened up his lead again. At 8/10 down, Jonathan started producing devastating lobs. He won point after point, but then couldn't resist throwing in the odd short shot which kept allowing Kevin back into the game. Jonathan got to 14/13; Kevin levelled at 14-all; Jonathan called 'set 3'; Kevin won the next three points! Two love to Kevin. In the third game, Jonathan stuck doggedly to his lobbing tactics, and Kevin (who was tiring at this stage) had no answer and Jonathan took it 15/10. The next two games followed the same pattern, and although Kevin eventually worked out that he had to volley those lobs, his legs were starting to ignore his brain. Jonathan took both games and the match. 7/15 15/17 15/10 15/11 15/12
Martyn Whiting (-11) was keen to make up for his narrow loss against Kevin yesterday, but David Preedy(+10) is very experienced in these tournaments and knows just how to hang in there and snatch all the points he can. David got the first point of the match which really meant that the first game was now out of Martyn's reach - Martyn got up to 2 before the inevitable happened. In the second game, Martyn showed great concentration by getting a run of 14 points early on. This cushion settled his game, and he took it with a very convincing 15/13. The start of the third game was disastrous for Martyn. David hit a couple of really good tight backhand drives and Martyn tinned a few drops which meant that David won four of the first seven points to go 14/-8 up. This was obviously a lost cause, but Martyn took the opportunity to try to wear David out, eliminated a lot of short shots, and powered the ball to the back keeping David under continuous pressure. He actually won the next 17 points with this tactic before he set up an easy shot for David to put away. Two-one to David. In the fourth game, it again started badly for Martyn as David took the first point. That meant that Martyn now had to raise his game by 25%. He did too! He got back to 5/14, and then onto 14-all. David called 'set 1'. Martyn kept David under pressure with a powerful drive to the back left. David managed to scrape up a really weak boast. Martyn moved into the front left corner and was surprised to meet the ball coming out really loose, so he put it in the bottom of the tin. All credit to David for hanging in there - all sympathy to Martyn for doing everything right, but suffering the curse of the team player in handicap tournaments of tinning an easy shot at sudden death. 15/2 13/15 15/9 15/14
The penultimate game was between Paul Heneghan (+5) and Tom Bomford (-5). This actually started quite well for Paul. He did some good retrieving and Tom put a few shots down. At 9/-1 however, he ran out of ideas and resorted to drop shots. I don't know why, as he doesn't have a drop shot, and Tom is amazingly fast to the front of the court! Tom took that game 15/13. The second game started even better for Paul as he took the first two points. Then again it faded away as Tom glided round the court and kept Paul under pressure with drives, drops and boasts. Paul tried a change of tack in the third with some lengths, but his legs were tiring, and Tom kept spoiling this plan by not hitting the ball back to Paul - very unsporting! Paul managed to get to game point at 14/11, but couldn't convert it. 15/13 15/13 15/14
The final game was a classic between the venerable Chinny (-12) and 12-year-old Thomas Heneghan (10). Chinny had a cautious start and was surprised at how much Thomas could return from the back, and his speed to pick up drop shots. Thomas took the first two games with Chinny barely getting into positive scores. Towards the end of the second game, Chinny changed tactics and settled into the hard slog required to build up the big run of points required, and although it was too late to save the second game, he took the third game, allowing Thomas just three points. The fourth game started badly for Chinny. He and Thomas shared the first four points, and he hadn't even got to positive scores when Thomas reached match ball. This is when Chinny showed what a good competitor he is in these events. He kept Thomas under continuous pressure at both front and back of court but it didn't all go Chinny's way - on several points, he overhit the ball which allowed Thomas back into the rally and meant Richard had to do a bit of chasing for a while. Anyway, Chinny saved 15 consecutive match points to pull the game back to 14-all. Thomas called 'set 1' - Chinny served - Thomas hit a weak return - Chinny blasted a crosscourt - Thomas got the very edge of the frame to it and hit a perfect kill that bounced twice before Chinny had even moved. There was wild applause in the balcony; Chinny momentarily lost the power of speech (just as well, because there were ladies and children in the balcony) and Thomas felt like he had just won Wimbledon. 15/6 15/2 13/15 15/14
Friday, 22nd February
Pete Scully (-10) put everything he had into his match against Lisa Hobbs (+9), but it wasn't enough! Lisa was returning serve really well and putting the pressure on Pete to do something with the ball. Although Pete took the first game 17/14, the next three went Lisa's way mostly due to some winning drops. 14/17 15/8 15/-2 15/10
Steve Porter (-11) and Sam Porter (+9) had another exciting game with Steve sneaking the first game 15/14. Sam raised her game and did some good retrieving and took the next three games. 14/15 15/13 15/10 15/10
Neil Healey (-2) surprised us all by going out to a very rusty Ben Salcedo (+2). This is Neil's competition, but it wasn't to be this year. 13/15 15/5 15/5 15/9
Tom Bomford (-3) and Richard Chinn (+3) had the match of the night. I only saw the last game (when it was two games all), but it was good stuff, with Chinny firing in all the attacking shots he could think of, and Tom strolling about the court trying to move Chinny around as much as possible. Chinny kept his big lead all the way up to 12/7, but then Tom raised his game and played some good attacking squash - drops, trickle boasts, good length volley drives to the back, etc. Chinny had no answer and Tom got to 14-all, and then on to a 17/14 win. 9/15 13/15 15/9 15/11 17/14
Paul Heneghan (-10) kept it in the family against Thomas Heneghan (+9). In the first game, Paul tried a few short shots to move Thomas around - big mistake! Thomas got to them with ease and put Paul in all kinds of trouble. Thomas took the first game 15/8. For the rest of the match, Paul kept the ball at the back of the court and kept driving the ball hard. In the rallies, Thomas kept returning the ball, but found it difficult to control the ball moving at that speed. Paul took the next three games. 8/15 15/13 15/14 15/11
Richard Leedham (-10) came a cropper against Pete Bolshaw (+9). Pete was really up for it and played like a veteran of this event, going for everything, firing in drop after drop. Richard seemed surprised by this and didn't really get going until the third game when he started playing really well and won the first 13 points in a row. Then his concentration wavered and he started trading points with Pete, and with this handicap, you just can't do that. So, Pete took the match 3-0. 15/7 15/-2 15/8
Martyn Whiting's (-9) match against Kevin Price-Ward (+8) was another contender for match of the evening. In the first two games, Kevin surprised everyone (particularly Martyn) with his sprinting round the court and ability to chase down lost causes. This was very effective and he took the first two games easily, but ran himself into the ground in the process. The third game was a completely different story, as Martyn settled into an attritional game and took the first 10 points. Kevin's legs seemed to be gone, but he rallied, Martyn made a couple of errors, and all of a sudden it was 14-all. Kevin went for 'Set 3', but Martyn took the next three points to claw back one game. The fourth game started in a similar vein. Martyn took the first eight points, and Kevin was getting no rest for his legs which were now refusing to do what he told them. But he kept trying, and the constant pressure affected Martyn's concentration as he tinned a couple of easy shots. When Kevin got match ball at 14/8, it looked like a lost cause, but Martyn got his concentration back and played steadily allowing Kevin to make the mistakes. Martyn got back to 13/14, and it really looked like he could level the match when he hit a mediocre shot allowing Kevin to hit a good backhand drop that was just out of reach. Match to Kevin! 15/7 15/6 14/17 15/13
The final contender for match of the evening had to be the one between Jonathan Bomford (-7) and David Preedy (+6). Both these players are seasoned veterans of handicap tournaments so it was always going to be a good match. David took the first two games easily, but then Jonathan produced a marathon effort to take the next game without David getting a point. Jonathan kept to his strategy of driving and lobbing the ball into the back corners and took the next two games to take the match. ?/15 10/15 15/6 15/11 15/10
And now the big question of the evening - where was Richard Avery tonight for his first-round game? Mark Longthorn waited until gone 21:00, but no sign of Richard. All efforts to contact him failed.
Lots of games tomorrow - ring your opponent to make sure he/she (and the organiser) knows what's going on!
Thursday, 21st February
A couple of matches tonight:
Clare Heneghan (-5) v Vic Seymour (+5). Clare got off to a tremendous start and got back to +5/+7, but then lost her way. Although she had some brilliant patches, she made too many mistakes which you really can't do with these kind of handicaps. Vic played really well and went for everything and at times was matching Clare point for point. Vic won 3-0.
Ros Porter (-10) v Granthan Speak (+9). I didn't see this (if anyone can send in some comments, that would be great). Granthan won 3-1.
Sunday, 17th February
A few cancellations - we've now got 30 almost-definite entrants - not bad considering the low numbers at the moment.
I've published the schedules. Please get in touch with your opponent ASAP (I can supply email addresses; there are telephone numbers on the Groups page), and confirm that you can both play at the allocated time. If not, please find an alternative time, book the court and LET ME KNOW!!!
If at all possible, please try to stick to the scheduled times. There will be a group of people around, and therefore plenty of atmosphere, a good class of insulting banter from the balcony aimed at the player on the negative handicap, wild cheers every time the person with the positive handicap wins a point, etc. Also, there will be a supply of markers.
Please try to turn up one session (or more) early so you can mark, spectate, etc. Similarly, try to stay on and watch the next match while you rehydrate.
Remember, as well as the main event, there is a plate for first-round losers. If you get a bye in the first round, it might not be possible to fit you into the plate - but we'll do our best.
Saturday, 16th February
I think I've got 34 entries. I'll just wait and see if there are any more cancellations (32 is a much better number actually). I'll do the draw on Sunday evening.