Samir Patel won the Surbiton Easter AC Open

[<<] [>>]

Samir Patel with the Robert Prichard trophy

Twenty five players, with a handicap range of -2.5 to +2.0, arrived to bright conditions which warmed in the spring sunshine. Play started at a brisk pace for some with an early flurry of one-sided triple-peel wins. However there was enough challenge to the courts, leading to three of the first games only finishing when the 3-hour time limit was reached. The closest saw Ailsa Lines and Teddy Wilmot-Sitwell both miss peg-outs. Ailsa hit in the turn after time to score a crucial point to level the score at 25-25, and closed out the game +1 (on time?) shortly afterwards.

A combination of a new lawn rotation scheme for winter play, a late Easter, and some favourable early-season weather created some of the best playing surfaces seen this early in the year. Although fast growing grass and some Monday morning rain slowed them for the final day's play. It's also possible that it was excellent catering, including Vicky's spicy bean stew and Monica's chicken curry which did more to slow down the players!

Played as a Flexible Swiss starting with a random draw (as usual for this event), Samir Patel and Mark Avery kept a step ahead of their opponents, conceding only 38 hoops and completing 9 TPs and one TPO between them to set up a repeat of the 2024 final. This was played under the Super-Advanced laws and after a quiet/defensive opening, Samir hit on both turns 5 and 7 to complete a +26tp win. Samir was also managing, so thanked all involved before presenting the Robert Prichard trophy to himself (pictured).

Congratulations also to Adam Swinton, returning to the game after a six-year break. He completed his first ranking triple peel to be awarded a gold merit award, and will surely be rising up the rankings soon.