Sidmouth B-Class AC Advanced Weekend

[<<] [>>] by Ed Dolphin at Sidmouth
29th July (AC)

Planned originally for two American blocks ranked by D Grade and playing for the Regency Salver and Fortfield Cup, entry levels and withdrawals meant the weekend had to be reorganised the day before as a flexible Swiss format with two nominal blocks eligible for the trophies.

On day one the eleven entrants enjoyed wonderful sunshine with a cooling breeze for the day's three rounds. There was a bye in each round with the odd number of entrants, fortunately the club was able to provide a number of players to give the resting players a game if they wanted.

The fortunes ebbed and flowed during the day, Philip Harris won his two opening games, but Chris Donovan took just 54 minutes to beat him 26-0 in round three. Most of the games were much closer and day one ended with Richard Williamson in pole position, but with a net hoops score of only two.

There was more cloud and it was cooler on day two, the much stiffer breeze in the afternoon was blamed for some missed shots. The Swiss format took effect and Richard was reeled back in by the number two ranked Philip who took top spot at the end of the day, with his nemesis Chris Donovan ranked number two.

A brief shower greeted the players on day three, but the weather soon cleared to give yet another enjoyable day's croquet. There were several shifts in the relative positions during the day, but Philip and Chris confirmed their top places with wins, one by the narrowest margin of an extra hoop after time and the extension period had expired.

Finally, the Regency Salver was won by Philip Harris with 7 wins out of 8 games. The highest ranked player in the B block and winner of the Fortfield Cup was Chris Donovan with 6 wins out of 8 games.

There was much discussion about the suitability of arranging the blocks by D Grade for this tournament whose players included several with D grades which bore no relation to their handicaps because they played mainly in internal and local league competitions rather than level advanced tournaments.

Had the tournament gone ahead in American blocks, we would have had a handicap 6 locked into a block ranging from ½ to 3, while the lower ranked block contained players ranging from 3½ to 5 with another 6. It is likely he would have been destined for a miserable three days. Luckily, the Swiss format soon had him playing more evenly matched opponents and by Sunday afternoon he said he was looking forward to coming back next year.

Using the D Grades may be appropriate for competition at the highest levels, but the considered opinion among the B-Class group playing at Sidmouth was that they hoped this very enjoyable weekend would return to being ranked by handicaps next year.