Handicap Tournament 2011 - Comments
Updated on 16th July 2011 by Paul Heneghan
Handicap Tournament 2011 Statistics
I know this is what you've all been waiting for, so here goes!
Raw statistics
- Players with handicap ratings from 0.3 to 5.4 (Tom Bomford!) entered
- 37 matches were played
- 38% went to five
- 27% were won in four
- Only 35% were won in three (but over half of those had at least one deuce)
- That means that 86% of the matches were closely matched!
- 53% of the matches were won by the higher-ranked player
Most improved players
- John Enstone 1.7 (+54%)
- Tom Heneghan 2.1 (+52%)
- Wayne Hooper 3.0 (+36%)
As always, I refuse to name and shame the most 'disimproved' player! (but I think he knows who he is!).
Friday 16th July - Finals Night
One-shot Hooper v Little Tom Heneghan
It was inevitable that both matches (main and plate) would go to five tonight. We started off with the Main Final. This was between Wayne Hooper (-2) and young Tom Heneghan (+2). Both players had worked hard to reach the finals, playing mostly five-setters to get there. The beginning of the first game was neck and neck, but then Thomas started feeding Wayne his favourite shot (one unkind person in the balcony suggested it might be his only shot!) - the forehand kill - allowing Wayne to go ahead 9/5. He couldn't lose from there, but he nearly did! Tom kept the ball off his forehand and matched him point for point up to 13/8 at which stage Tom stated playing with more conviction, got more pace on the ball, and forced an error out of Wayne to reach game ball 14/13. Wayne levelled at 14-all, Tom called 'Set 1' and Wayne took the first game 15/14.
Tom started off the second game sluggishly whereas Wayne stepped up a gear to go 7/6 in front. Tom then played some inspired squash - perfect lobs, accurate boasts, devastating cross-court kills to go 14/8 ahead and took the game a couple of points later. If Tom could keep up this pace, Wayne was in serious trouble!
Wayne found yet another gear in the third game, and once he got ahead (6/5) Tom struggled to keep up with him - easy game to Wayne 15/9.
The coaches stepped in at this stage - Wayne received energetic advice from his team of (slightly intoxicated) coaches bellowing on the balcony - mostly abuse about his shot selection. Tom's coach just kept it simple - "whack it and run". Whacking and running did the trick (it always does), allowing Tom to extend his four point advantage to seven. The raised pace did result in a few inevitable shots hit directly to where Wayne was waiting, but it did make Wayne play shots off balls that were moving a little bit too quickly for his liking. Tom kept a few points ahead all the way to 15/12 making it two-all in games.
It was now down to who wanted to win the most. Both players had covered a lot of distance on the court, and both had now run out of gears. Right from the start of the fifth, Wayne asserted his authority. He instantly went 3/2 in front and then moved Tom around with excellent drives and boasts which Tom didn't really seem interested in chasing any more. When Wayne got to 10/5 the end seemed inevitable, but he wavered. Tom played steadily and started pulling back a few points. In several previous games he'd reeled off a string of five or six points in a single hand at this stage of the game. Wayne was just content to keep playing steadily and rely on the cushion of his three or four point lead, and sure enough with Tom serving at 12/14, Wayne hit his favourite (only?) shot to take the game and match.
This was an excellent handicap match with some really good squash from two improving players.
John Enstone (+3) v Rupert Kinder (-4)
This was a match which kept changing direction. First John looked invincible extending his lead at the beginning of the first game to 8/-2. Then Rupert reeled him in with ease, took the first game (15/12) and then got level with John in the second at 8-all. Both players were covering a lot of court, but John looked like it was hurting whereas Rupert looked like it was hurting but he was quite enjoying it! John ignored the scoreline and dug in volleying everything within reach, wrong footing Rupert on numerous occasions with boasts and lobs. Rupert got to almost everything, but couldn't apply the same pressure to John any more. John matched Rupert point for point, got to 14 first, set 1 and took the game 15/14. So, one game all, Rupert looking good and John looking distinctly pale.
John had a great start to the third and got 10 points in front of Rupert (7/-3). A few rallies later, at 10/3, it looked like he had put the game out of reach. Of course Rupert enjoys a challenge and played some devastating squash to win 12 of the next 14 points to take the game 15/12. Exciting stuff!
The fourth game was another close affair with Rupert going 9/8 in front and then John produced a surge to take the next four points (12/9). I think at this stage, John began to believe he could win the match for the first time since narrowly losing the first game 15/14). John took that fourth game 15/12.
The fifth game was over very quickly. Rupert was still trying, but John was going for his shots and they were coming off - wrong-footing boasts, volley kills, finely judged lobs - everything was working. He got 11/2 in front and there was no stopping him then. A few rallies later he took the game 15/4 and the match. A great effort from both players.
Wednesday 6th July - Night of five-setters
Of the nine matches played tonight, six went the distance.
Caroline Tarring (+4) used her fitness and speed round the court to push Mike Appleby (-5) all the way, Mike taking the final game 15/9.
Tom Heneghan (-6) had his work cut out for him in his match against Kevin O'Donoghue (+5). Kevin had just the right strategy and hit an incredible number of nicks. However Tom's speed is now such that unless it's a dead nick, he can probably get to it. Perfect handicapping meant the match was anybody's with Tom squeezing through 15/12 in the fifth.
Richard Avery and Granthan played off scratch. Both players had their moments but in the end it boiled down to who was going to hold their nerve in the last game - tonight this happened to be Richard (17/15 in the fifth). Will he recover in time for his match against young Tom Heneghan tomorrow???
Dave Potter (-2) and Mark Coppen (+1) would normally play off scratch, but due to Dave's amazing performance last year, he has a tougher handicap this year. This seemed to be enough to spur him on, and up until the middle of the fifth game, there was a chance that he might just take it. In the end, it was Mark's day and he took the fifth game 15/10.
Paul McLennan (+4) played really well in his match against Mike Woodedd (-4). Mike plays some really powerful wristy shots, but Paul worked out that if he kept returning them and then played short whenever he had the chance, he'd get enough points to keep Mike in trouble. Paul took this match 3-0.
What happened to our Scottish Star this evening? In his match against Kristin Carsberg (+8), Jimmy Harrison (-9) never really got going. In the third game, his famous repartee had begun to kick in, and he managed a string of 10 consecutive points, but Kristin knew she only needed another couple of points and went on the attack, hitting two clear winners to take the match in three.
Our group A player Tom Bomford (-4) had to have his handicap re-evaluated after his first-round match so it would be interesting to see how he would cope with his tougher handicap in his second-round match against Wayne Hooper (+3). Surprisingly, Tom got off to a very slow start, letting Wayne control the pace, and only when he was two games down did he show his true ability. In the third game, he put on an awesome display of attacking squash, giving Wayne no time on the ball and hitting outrageous volleyed winners from every part of the court. Wayne only got one point in that game! The momentum took Tom through the fourth game as well, but Wayne dug in and took the first four points of the fifth game putting it out of reach. A cracking match!
Tom Richardson (+4) surprised John Enstone (-4) by winning more points in the first game. The second game had a similar scoreline and it looked as thought the handicappers may have got the handicap seriously wrong. John put in a magnificent effort to take the next two games and at 12/13 in the fifth looked like he might take the match, but wily Tom matched him point for point and kept just ahead to take the match.
Once again, Mary Boyle (-1) showed how good she is at this tournament, making life difficult for Steve Wheeler (+1). Although they were close games, Mary won in three.
Tuesday 5th July - First Round nearly complete
As predicted, match of the night was Wayne (-12) v Lisa (+11). Both players gave their all, but Wayne emerged victorious after five games.
Two players played so far above their handicap group that they have had to be re-handicapped. Tom Bomford (-2) showed some class squash in his match against Rupert (+2), so Tom's Group A has been pushed up 17% to a 3.5 scoring ratio. This gives Wayne a real chance tomorrow in their match Tom (-4) v Wayne (+3).
Paul Heneghan (-11) suffered at the hands of Steve Guoite (+10). Paul got to 14-all in the first and lost the next point. The second game was also close, but Steve got into his swing in the third, and Paul only just managed to get into positive scores before the inevitable. Steve gets bumped up a massive 29% into Group L for his trouble!
The handicapping for all the other matches was pretty close with most matches going to four.
The rest of Round 1 and some of Round 2 is on tomorrow night. Jimmy (-9) v Kristin (+8) is definitely a match not to be missed. Someone needs to take Kristin aside before the match and give her some coping strategies - earplugs might be useful! The match between Tom Bomford (-4) and Wayne (+3) should be worth watching as well - for different reasons!
Saturday 2nd July - Draw done
Just done the draw. Please contact Granthan or Lisa if you have a problem with any of the scheduled times.
Round-up from the 2010 Handicap Tournament
This was a really good tournament with lots of great games. I know you're expecting some statistics, so here goes:
- 29 players entered the tournament
- 42 matches were played
- 15 went to 5, 11 went to 4 and 16 were won in 3
- In 60% of the matches, the higher-ranked player won (tougher handicaps coming up next year!)
- Dave Potter (despite his 'epic' match against Lady Vic) has come out top scorer of the tournament, with a scoring factor of 2.73. Imagine what his handicaps are going to be in 2011!
- George Shorthouse wins the award for 'most improved in a year' with a massive 240% improvement in scoring factor, followed closely by Craig Whiting with an improvement of 214%. Tom Heneghan only managed a measly 75% improvement. Our beloved Vice Captain (and ultimate Tournament Winner), Lady Vic also improved by 75%. I won't embarrass the grown-ups by divulging what their 'disimprovement' factors were!!!
It was great to see so many new faces enter the tournament. Sorry if some of your handicaps were a bit on the stiff side - it's always difficult to gauge it the first year - next year they will be more accurate. Thanks to the prima donna first-team players who entered the tournament, for setting themselves to be knocked down and for throwing everything into their games to try to avoid humiliating defeat (and in most cases except for a certain 'epic' match, succeeding). It really wouldn't be much of a tournament without their presence. Thanks to all the markers for turning up to mark all the matches - much appreciated. See you all in 2011.