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Sonoma: England gets the Win, Place and Show

[<<] [>>] by John Taylor
19th May 2001 (International)

Stephen Mulliner beat Chris Clarke +26 in the final

Fournier and Burrow had a bit of a scrap morning with Burrow winning +3TP. Fourth place was as far as Burrow could get, however, as he then lost to Fulford who in turn lost to Mulliner. All three games began as "standard old TPs" but things happened and the advantages swapped back and forth.

Final Places

1 Steven Mulliner
2 Chris Clarke
3 Robert Fulford
4 Matthew Burrow
5 Jacques Fournier
6= Reg Bamford
6= Trevor Bassett
8= Jeff Soo
8= Leo McBride
8= Martin Clarke
8= David Maugham
12= Simon Williams
12= Wynand Louw
12= Ed Cunningham
12= Mik Mehas
16= Louis Nel
16= Helene Thurston
16= Brian Wislang
16= Malcolm O'Connell
20 Doug Grimsley
21 Tony Le Moignan
22 Johnny Osborn
23 Ren Kraft
24 Ian Burridge

Friday Knockout Results

Matthew Burrow beat Jacques Fournier +3 TP
Robert Fulford beat Matthew Burrow +26 TP
Stephen Mulliner beat Robert Fulford +13 TPO

Friday Plate Final Results

Doug Grimsley beat Tony Le Moignan +15 STP

Details of Some of the Games by Stephen Mulliner

1. Medallist Game 1: Clarke (BK) beat Fulford (RY) +26tp, 5th turn

1: K (from A) 3y NNW 5 (supershot); 2: R (from A) 4y NNE 5; 3: B (from A) h 13y K, 4b, 3WBL (see note 1); 4: Y (from B) m 18y B to 8y N C1; 5: K h R, standard TP

Note 1: 3WBL = 3rd turn West boundary leave - all 3 balls in approximate line from 18y N C1 towards peg.

Comment: CC hit a brave shot in turn 3 (a miss would have ended near B baulk) and then played with great precision in both turns. RF missed one 18y shot and lost.

2. Medallist Game 2: Mulliner (RY) beat Fulford (BK) + 10tpo

1: K (from A) 3y NNW 5 (supershot); 2: Y (from A) 15y N C4; 3: B (from A) h 20y Y, 4b, 3EBL (see note 2), K 10y N C4 with rush on Y towards B 10y S C2; 4: R (from A) m K;

5: K h R, prepares for standard TP but fails to approach 3 from side and faults jump stroke (double hit or SB hit foot);

6: Y h B, TPO, R C4, Y 6y S C2;

7: K takes contact from Y, over-approaches 3, plays K into position for hoop;

8: Y 1y N C1;

9: K runs 3 to S, h 7y R, approaches 4 to 5 feet, bounces off 4 to near R;

10: R h 4y K, splits K to 2, R h Y, just over-approaches 1 from C1, sticks;

11: K m R;

12: R runs 1, h Y, extracts 3-ball break after 3, finishes.

Note 2: 3EBL = 3rd turn East boundary leave - striker's backward ball has tight rush on enemy ball from E boundary towards the forward ball on or near W boundary.

Comment: RF committed an unexpected error at 3 with a standard TP laid out and SM took full advantage to complete a good TPO on the correct assumption that the court was quick enough to make life difficult for the single ball player.

3. Medallist Game 3: Clarke (BK) beat Mulliner (RY) + 8tp

1: K (from A) 3y NNW 5 (supershot); 2: R (from A) 15y N C4; 3: B (from A) m 20y R; 4: Y (from A) h 12y R, 6, 1b leave ( B SE 1, K NW 1); 5: B fails 1;

6: R h Y, 3 peels completed by 4b, STP attempted with half-jump of Y by R in 4b, faults (double hit);

7: B h R, 4b, DSL;

8: Y (from A) m K;

9: K h Y, (almost) standard TP.

Comment: SM's sextuple attempt encountered problems with the 3b peel and needed a STP to finish. CC took full advantage of the gift of the innings and again played with precision to win the game in 2 turns.

4. Knock-out game 1: Burrow beat Fournier +3tp

No turn-by-turn details available.

Comment: JF had the game won with a delayed TP but failed to hold position when peeling straight at rover. MB then showed great character to win the game in 2 turns.

5. Knock-out quarter-final: Fulford (RY) beat Burrow (BK) +26tp

1: B (from A) 9y N C4; 2: R (from B) 1ft S C2; 3: K (from A) m 16y B; 4: Y (from 4y W C3, making a double of B and K) h 24y dble B, 4b, DSL (B near 2, K near peg); 5: K (from C3) m 22y R to C4;

6: R h Y, delayed TP.

Comment: MB missed two shots and RF played a faultless delayed TP, extracting K from C4 before 4.

6. Knock-out semi-final: Mulliner (BK) beat Fulford (RY) +13tpo

1: K (from A) 3y NNW 5 (supershot); 2: R (from A) m 13y K to 6y E C2; 3: B (from B) h 7y R, rolled R to 5y N 1 and B to 5y N K, B m 5y K to 8y E C1;

4: Y (from A) h B, 4b, DSL with R and Y presenting 1.75 balls to K near 2;

5: K h 24y dble Y, TPO, B C2, K 7y N C4 (impeding direct roll to 1);

6. R took contact from B in C2, took off over E near K;

7: K h R, took off to B, laid rush for B on K to 1 near C2;

8: R m 37y K (almost hitting half-wired B) to C2;

9: B h R, extracted 3-ball break before 1 and finished.

Comment: SM had the first chance but handed the innings to RF who paid a severe penalty for a slightly careless DSL. After the TPO and losing the contact initiative, RF took the first shot on offer on the grounds that he felt it was unlikely that he would get anything better. SM made no mistake with the 3-ball break to take his first place in the Final since 1988.

7. Championship final: Mulliner (BK) beat Clarke (RY) +26

1: K (from A) 3y NNW 5 (supershot); 2: R (from A) m 13y K to 6y E C2; 3: B (from B) h 7y R, rolled R to 4y NNW 1 and B to 1y S K, took off short to 1 and retired to 13y N C4.

4: Y m 10y R to C2;

5: K m 16y B to E, replaced in contact with B;

6: R m 21y BK to 1ft S BK;

7: K tcf B, 4b, NSL with R at 3b, Y near 2 (see note 3);

8: R (from C3) m 20y B to C4;

9: B h K, attempted to set up delayed TP but B m hampered 4y Y after 5;

10: R (from WNW 4b) m 4y K to 2y W C4;

11: B h 6y Y, re-attempted delayed TP but finished on peg and penult with narrow DSL, R 8y WNW peg, Y near peg;

12: R (from A) m K to E;

13: B h K and finished.

Note 3: SM's attempt to get going with K was dogged by rushing into hoop 2 from E after making 1, and then again after making 2 when trying to rush B close to R 4y NE 4. B was then pass-rolled towards Y in C2 in an attempt to get behind Y with K but K stopped short. This forced a big pass-roll with K on Y out of C2 which put Y 3y E 5 and K 1y S R which allowed R to be rushed to 3. The rush was played for but it was rather lucky to end up so close.

Comment: CC had played very well earlier in the week but had a rotten day with his shooting, which cannot have been helped by the occasion, the noise and the intense heat (90 degrees plus). SM had an advantage in enjoying that sort of thing - plus the carrot of making a 13 year comeback. Victory for the middle-aged is very sweet.



 

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