2002 Handicap
Tournament
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Plate Schedule
Sunday, 23rd November - Finals Night
The evening opened with the finals of the plate competition between Brian Cole and Bob Speake. Brian stated off a bit nervously and in the first game gained most of his points from Bob's mistakes. In the second, Brian settled down and a real battle began. Bob was playing his usual high-risk game, going for every drop he could, and Brian was trying to thump the ball to the back. Brian pulled ahead to a small lead of 6/4, and a few rallies later at 10-all, the outcome was uncertain. Bob then turned on the pressure with some great serve/volley-drop combinations and took that game. The third followed the same pattern - Brian went ahead in the early stages, Bob levelled, the score reached 10-all and then Bob surged ahead. 15/5 15/11 15/11 to Bob - yet another trophy for him to add to his collection.
David Potter (+4) had his work cut out for him in the handicap final against Ed Thorneywork (-4). Ed had sailed through four matches with the loss of just one game. Dave's game plan looked a bit flawed in the first game as Ed played some superb squash to level the score at 7-all. This gave him a comfortable cushion and removed the pressure for the rest of the first game, which he won with a comfortable 15/9. Dave got off to an electrifying start in the second game. He played safely, but threw in some attacking shots and Ed struggled to stay in the rallies - at one stage throwing himself across the court. Dave got 5 out of the first 7 points, which put him in a really good position to take the game. But ... Ed cut out all the loose shots and pressurised Dave into lots of risky shots which didn't come off. There were some great rallies, but Ed won all of them, and he went from -2/9 to 15/9 in a single hand. Impressive!
Ed kept up the same pace in the third game, and Dave was beginning to tire, which meant that many of his attacking shots went down. Ed caught up with him at 8-all, Dave rallied to get back in front to 10/8, but could do nothing to stop Ed taking the game 15/11. The final score was 15/11 15/9 15/11 to Ed. This was a good match, and Dave can console himself with the thought that the post mortem statistics show that Ed should have been TWO groups higher in the handicapping! Wait till next year Ed!!!
Thanks are due to all the people who entered and helped out during the tournament. In particular, thanks to Steve Dyke for marking the finals, and many thanks to Neil T for marking a huge number of matches throughout. It was also good to see many of the participants turn up to cheer on the finalists - I don't think many of us will forget Dave Potters t-shirt - my colour vision has only just returned!
Sunday afternoon, 23rd November - Semi Finals
The last semi final was played this afternoon. Ed Thorneywork (‑4) dispatched Paul Heneghan (4) in three games. Paul played well, but Ed's speed around the court and attacking shots meant that he was never in danger. 15/9 15/11 15/10 to Ed.
Saturday, 22nd November - Semi Finals
Wayne Hooper and David Potter (0) had a very exciting game this afternoon. Wayne had plenty of opportunities and built up convincing leads in all three games, but Dave just kept reeling him in. 15/14 15/12 15/13 to Dave.Bob Speake (9) got off to a very slow start against Richard Chinn (‑10). He was tinning all his drops and never seemed to have the time to select his shots. However, in the second game, Richard couldn't keep him under the same pressure and Bob then started producing the famous Speake winners. Richard couldn't regain the concentration and even server out twice! In the last game Bob hit some superb winners which I doubt even Peter Nicol could have got to. 11/15 15/‑5 15/11 15/‑6 to Bob.
Brian Cole (‑11) beat Lauren Campbell (10) in what I'm sure was a closely fought match. Lauren has really impressed me in this tournament. She has some great retrieving skills and knows the value of hitting the ball down the side wall. Brian must have showed great concentration to beat her of this handicap. ‑6/15 15/14 15/13 15/14 to Brian.
Friday, 21st November - Quarter Finals
Main event
Tom Bomford played well to take a game off Ed despite an adverse handicap.
Errol got off to a great start against Paul, but then struggled in the later games.
Wayne had his usual close game against Graham and just squeezed through with no points to spare.
Dave beat Sarah 3-0, but they were all very close games
Plate Competition
Victoria played well in patches, but couldn't match Brian for consistency.
Lauren gave her usual brave performance against Tom Richardson. Tom showed great concentration in taking the second game, but with Lauren only needing two points per game, and Tom serving out three times, Lauren's win was inevitable.
Richard Chinn and Bob Speake got walkovers.
Sunday, 17th November
I don't know if any matches are being played today - there are still quite a few outstanding.
Saturday, 16th November
No time to write any match reports.
Lots of people didn't show - I'm probably wasting my breath, but PLEASE let me know if you rearrange your matches.
In the main event, Wayne Hooper (-17) beat Charlotte Campbell (13) by the narrowest of margins - in fact, if Charlotte had gone for 'set one' instead of 'set three' in the second game, she would have won the match! Lucky Wayne!
In the plate, Richard (-8) and Granthan (+7) had a predictable ding-dong game - including a burst ball. Richard kept his concentration in the critical deciding game and squeezed through. John Lowe's heart wasn't in it in his match against Laura Campbell (the youngest competitor this year?). He lost the first two fairly easily and then settled down in the third. But he had too much work to do - I think the fact that he had broken into positive figures destroyed his concentration! Frances lost the first game heavily against Duncan. Then she turned on the concentration and took the next three.
Friday, 15th November
No time to write any match reports.
In the main event, Ed played extremely well against Lorna (who made quite a few unforced errors). I don't know how Errol pulled his match out of the bag - when I left, he was 2-1 down and suffering. Wayne squeezed through against Duncan who isn't the pushover he was last year - he is developing an unreturnable shot off the frame! Dave Potter was stretched by Mary Boyle, but won in four. Neil Healey got off to a tremendous start against Charlotte, but wavered and let her through to face Wayne tomorrow.
In the plate, Tom R and Neil T's match developed into the battle of the Titans with no quarter given or received. Granthan kept his concentration against Danielle to win a place against her dad tomorrow. Alison was off the mark slightly and let Brian Cole through.
Friday, 9th November
Tom Bomford (-11) beat Bob Speake (10) 3-2.
11/15 5/15 15/13 17/14 15/13
This was a great game - worthy of a finals! Bob was in great form - his returns of serve on the left hand side put Tom under real pressure from the beginning. In fact, Bob led comfortably for the first two games. Tom made a superhuman effort in the third and never let anything go and managed to claw back from his impossible deficit to a 15/13 win. Both players were tiring in the 4th and luckily for Tom, this meant that Bob's reaction shots were slightly off the mark. Despite this, Bob got to match ball at 14/11 and Tom had some anxious moments as Bob attempted three winners off the serve. Once Tom got to 14 all and Bob called 'set three', the outcome was inevitable - a deciding game was called for! In the fifth, both players stuck to their game plan - Bob attempted winners and Tom retrieved them. In the end, Tom's retrieving won through and he took the fifth 15/13.
Bill Ingles (6) beat Jimmy Harrison (-3) 3-0.
15/14 15/11 15/5
Jimmy couldn't talk his way out of this one! He played really well in the first, got up to a winning 12/10 and then blew it! Bill kept up the pressure in the second and got lots of points early on. Jimmy responded by serving out! In the third, Bill once again surged ahead and there was nothing Jimmy could do to catch him. I'm afraid Bill will have to have his handicap altered after this performance!
Charlotte Campbell (0) beat Victoria Porter (0) 3-1
15/10 15/6 11/15 15/7
Ben Salcedo (-17) beat Laura Campbell (13) 3-2
7/15 5/15 17/14 17/14 17/14
I wonder how many match points Laura had - I would imagine it was double figures! It must have been a great match.
Sunday, 3rd November
Paul Heneghan (-15) beat Danielle Chinn (12) 3-0
15/12 15/13 15/13
Paul had to be on his toes for this. Danielle never gave up and forced Paul into some desperate retrieving in several rallies.
Errol Ferris (-18) beat Kate Oakley (13) 3-2
-8/15 15/14 -2/15 15/13 15/13
A good result for Errol.
Graham Hemming (3) beat Anne Tomkins (-4) 3-0
15/12 15/5 15/3
Everything was going to plan for Anne in the first game. She was playing some really good squash - very tight drops, good lengths and widths. But at 12/11 to Anne, having done all the hard work, she could do nothing to prevent Graham from hitting three outright winners, and by lowering her margin for error, Anne made one mistake to give Graham the first game 15/12. The next game started badly for Anne. Her drops were tinning, and Graham was playing some really good squash. In fact, Graham got the first four points of the second game! There was no coming back from there, and although Anne started putting some good runs of points together, Graham was matching her point for point after that. It was the same pattern in the third - even down to Graham's initial four points. Anne never really recovered the form of the first game, and Graham got better and better as the match went along.
Sarah Bent (6) beat Peter McFarlane (-7) 3-2
15/10 15/13 13/15 14/17 15/7
An interesting battle of two good retrievers. Peter gets the prize for the most somersaults ever produced during a match at the Rowing Club!
Matt Smith (10) beat Steve Porter (-12) 3-2
15/12 12/15 15/-6 10/15 15/6
Steve did all the hard work in the first game, but he was always under pressure serving to Matt's forehand - the famous Smith forehand volley has passed to another generation! Matt clinched the first game with some great attacking returns of serve. Steve turned up the concentration in the second and took it with a loss of just two points. The third was a disaster for Steve - some unforced errors from him and some great shots from Matt gave Matt the first three points in the game. -12/10 is difficult. -12/13 is impossible! The fourth game was a completely different scenario. Steve served really well to Matt's backhand, and Matt's return of serve let him down on his forehand side. Steve took that game without dropping a single point! In the fifth game, it all depended on Steve holding onto his concentration. He did, mostly, but one serve out and one serve down meant that he was under impossible pressure. Matt was also getting used to the speed of the ball, and a few rallies developed. At 14/2, Matt needed just one point to take the match, and five points later on, with Steve stranded at the front, Matt hit a beautiful length shot which was a clear winner. Well done Matt!
Saturday, 2nd November
Ed Thorneywork (-15) beat Mark Dewdney (12) 3-0. 15/12 15/14 15/12. Ed was very focused and made one mistake in the entire match.
Mary Boyle (6) beat John Lowe (-7) 3-1. 15/5 15/1 13/15 15/7. John never really got going in the first two games - in fact Mary scored more points than John in the second game. In the third game, just to show that the handicapping wasn't back to front, he concentrated hard and did some great retrieving to claw back a game. In the fourth, Mary just hit too many winners!
Rachel Price (13) annihilated Tom Richardson (-16) 3-0! 15/-13 15/-14 15/3. Poor Tom! I didn't see this match, but I can guess what happened. Rachel can really hit the ball and no one (even Rachel? and especially Tom) knew where it was going. He obviously settled down in the third and started developing long runs of points, but it was too late!
Peter McFarlane (-4) beat Neil Thorneywork (4) 3-0. 15/11 15/1 15/7. Neil fell over on his ankle early on in the first and bravely decided to play on, but in the later games he really wasn't interested in pushing off for the ball. Still, he had a big chance in the second game and built up an impressive lead, but Peter reeled him in with some amazingly speedy retrieving.
Friday, 1st November
Tom Bomford (-12) v Mark Williams (+10)
Tom got off to a shaky start against Mark. He was making too many mistakes in the first game, and Mark had some very good attacking returns of serve. Mark took that with a very comfortable 15/5. In the second game, Tom kept the pace up and cut down on unforced errors. At one stage he won 14 points in a row to get back to '13 all', and then lost the next point to give Mark game ball and the possibility of a 2-0 lead. Tm needed to do some good retrieving to take the next two points to level the match. There was more excitement in the third game where Tom concentrated hard to get back to 11/12. Having done all the hard work, then he relaxed and Mark snatched the opportunity to take two of the next three points to go into game ball position again. However, Tom kept his nerve ad took that game 15/14. In the fourth game, Mark was tiring and hit a lot of returns of serve down. To had settled into it at this stage and dropped only one point to take it 15/11.
The final score was 3-1 to Tom (5/15, 15/14 15/14 15/11).
Paul Heneghan (-4) v Granthan Speake (4)
Paul struggled in the first game and at the half-way point Granthan managed to increase the offset to nine points. Although Paul managed a surge towards the end, he left it far too late and Granthan went 1-0 up with a score of 15/13. In the second and third games, Granthan struggled. Paul dominated the T and kept up the pressure to take two easy games 15/9, 15/10. The fourth game followed a similar pattern and Paul pulled back from the starting -4/4 to an unbeatable 13/7 lead. He then watched his unbeatable lead disappear as Granthan hit winner after winner to level at 13 all. I think Granthan used up all his luck to get those six consecutive points, and the final two eluded him so Paul took the game 15/13
The final score was 3-1 to Paul (13/15 15/9 15/10 15/13).
Other matches
Karen Campbell (-8) beat Ros Porter (7) 3-0. 15/11 15/13 15/11
Lorna Robinson (2) beat Tony Whitehouse (-3) 3-2. 15/10 10/15 15/7 9/15 15/10
Brian Ireland (9) beat Richard Chinn (-10) 3-2. 15/9 15/14 11/15 13/15 15/12
Jimmy Harrison (-8) beat Richard Evans (7) 3-0. 17/15 15/10 15/13
Neil Healey (-4) beat Jonathon Bomford (3) 3-2. 15/11 10/15 9/15 15/9 15/8
Samantha Porter (-3) beat Wendy Hall-Barnes (2) 3-2. 8/15 17/15 15/9 10/15 15/11
Anne Tomkins (-4) beat Alison Chinn (3) 3-0. 15/10 15/8 15/8
Graham Hemming (3) beat Brian Cole (-4) 3-1. 15/9 10/15 15/4 15/0
Friday, 25th October
Due to no heating (courts & showers), the tournament has been postponed by one week.
Wednesday, 16th October
We've got 31 names now. I'll try to do the draw for Friday 18th.
Monday, 7th October
Just waiting for the names to come in.