Roger Mills won Sidmouth B-Level Advanced Tournament

[<<] [>>] by Peter Nelson at Sidmouth
17th August 2021 (AC)

The tournament attracted an entry of 14 who are listed at the end of this report. The tournament was thus played in 2 seeded blocks with 7 players in each. Peter Nelson retired due to injury on the first day and his 2 games on that day were not considered in determining placings and are not reported in the results.

Play on this first day commenced in light rain and persistent drizzle in the morning which made conditions unpleasant but thereafter the weather was dry and mainly sunny.

In block A Mike Hedge and Philip Harris emerged early as the form players but David Mooney, the top seed, struggled and lost his first 3 games. In block B games ran more to form. By the end of the second day Mike Hedge was the clear winner of block A having won all his games to that point. In block B the top 2 seeds were in contention, Chris Donovan with 5 wins and Roger Mills with 4. Their match on Saturday morning thus determined the block with Mills winning convincingly and thus progressing to the final. Block A, as stated, had already been determined but the last series of games saw a return to form for David Mooney who triumphed over the previously undefeated Mike Hedge.

The final between Mike Hedge and Roger Mills promised to be a close affair. Mills having progressed with his first ball to 4 back was never seriously challenged by Hedge whose impressive accuracy in the earlier rounds deserted him in the final. Mills won the game, and hence the tournament, the final ending on time with a score of 24 -13.

Richard Williamson was the runner-up in block A both with 3 wins having narrowly beaten Philip Harris who had the same number of wins. Chris Donovan was the clear runner-up in block B.

Roger Mills won the prize for the fastest game in 1hour 30 minutes.

Block A Block B

David Mooney (1) Roehampton Roger Mills (1) Sidmouth

Mike Hedge (1.5) Nottingham Chris Donovan (1.5) Sidmouth

Peter Nelson (2.5) Sidmouth (Retired) Robert Moss (3) Budleigh

Philip Harris (2.5) Sidmouth Andrew Thomas (3) Sidmouth

Richard Williamson (3.5) Bristol Colin Walls (3) Sidmouth

Mike Taylor (5) Sidmouth Jane Babbage (4.5) Sidmouth

Richard Way (5) The Bears Wendy Dominguez (7) Budleigh