Nailsea Class Advanced Singles Weekend

[<<] [>>] by Kathy Wallace at Nailsea
16th June (AC)

The Nailsea Class Tournaments are always popular and fun to play in, with very few big mis-matches of ability. There is a loyal band of regulars but usually a few brave souls venturing to the West Country for the first time, often because they have friends or relatives living nearby. Usually they enjoy themselves and return the following year. The Margaret Fleming class attracts several scratch or similar players and competition is fierce between them. The hoops are always well-set and firm.

Home player, Roger Baddeley, 4.5, was surprised on the Saturday morning to learn that he was in this section, in one of the two blocks of 4. He had won the higher handicap class in the May Tournament (his first ever tournament)and was expecting to be playing some of the same people again. Instead, he found himself facing Neil Kingston, 1, from neighbouring club Bristol, with a dg about 200 points higher than himself. With nothing to lose, Roger played steadily and won +5T. His next opponent was Guy Hewitt, 1.5 (Hurlingham). Confidence was growing and Roger dispatched Guy +15T. In the final Block game, Roger met Peter Allan, 0, (Blewbury). Peter showed his class and very nearly triumphed but succumbed -1T.

Meanwhile, In the other Margaret Fleming block, Alex McIntyre, 0 (Nottingham) was showing his quality, winning all three games. His +26TP in one hour, won the prize for the fastest win. It was the first ever triple in a Nailsea Class Tournament and was Alex's third competitive triple. In this block, Erica Malaiperuman (2.5, Nailsea) was also playing well and above her grade. She succumbed to Alex but won her other two games with aplomb, +17 and +25.

One of the two semi-finals was an all Nailsea affair with Roger playing Erica. Erica made a good start and was well ahead with little time left. Roger, with what is becoming a trademark last turn, settled in to a beautifully controlled 4-ball break. Undeterred by the ping of the timer, he carried on and ran 7 or 8 hoops. A mistake at the end of his turn left Erica with an easy roquet but she was unable to capitalise and Roger had made it to the Final, +3T. His opponent in the Final was Alex who had just beaten Peter Allan +21 in the other semi-final. In the Final, Alex triumphed over Roger with a score of +22., although, at times, victory didn't seem guaranteed. Roger is definitely one to watch and is an excellent advert for the advice to do the simple things well and to take the occasional risk if a successful shot will reap high rewards. Roger won the prize for the biggest upset by gaining 18 index points in one match. Overall, he gained over 50points, losing just 1 in the Final.

Players in the other class were competing for the Greta Stringer Cup. There were no peels in this section, but there were plenty of peg-outs - a tribute to the players but also to the quality of the Nailsea lawns and hoops, which, in both cases, were good and very consistent. Both blocks had promising players who are fairly new to the tournament scene. Mark Gardner, 5(Canterbury) had played no previous ranking games but he won all three matches. His unusually high swing was very accurate and produced some wonderful rushes. Chris Donovan, found some form again and also qualified for a semi-final. In the other block, the defending champion, Paul Arbos,6 (Nailsea), and Bob Whiffen won 2 games each to qualify. In one semi-final, the hard- hitting Paul played an excellent last turn against Mark to win +1T. Chris Donovan beat Bob Whiffen to earn a place against Paul in the Final. Paul defended his title well and beat Chris +16T.

In the consolation matches, Mark Gardner gained a Silver award for a 12-hoop break in a winning game.

The manager, Kathy Wallace, was particularly grateful to Marcus Evans, who along with Nailsea member, Kevin Payne in just his second year at the club, moved and set the hoops in the rain. Marcus then rushed off to Surbiton at 10am to play in the Men's in the afternoon. Kathy also thanked husband John, and grandson Charlie for resetting the hoops on Friday afternoon, many members for general help, and Andrew Wimshurst for mowing the lawns both ways to produce an excellent playing surface. She presented Doreen Wallace with flowers in appreciation of her hard work serving refreshments all weekend but also helping from early morning to get the lawns set up for play and packing up at the end of the day. Like so many Clubs, Nailsea relies on willing volunteer effort, for which the Committee and managers are very grateful.