[<<] [>>] by John Spiers at Roehampton
15th August 2011 (GC - Championships)

Report

The format for this year's Musk's once again involved a block of eight with all playing all in best of three 13-point games. Deciding games were occasionally deferred to allow the programme to continue. On average, each player competed in more than 17 off 13-point games over two days and physical endurance was certainly a factor in games later in each day. As expected, every match was keenly contested even when the scoreline suggested otherwise! Every player won at least two out of a maximum seven matches and every player lost at least once.

The ante post favourites were last year's winner Ryan Cabble and James Hopgood, a relatively recent newcomer to GC who did well in the World Championship. It was perhaps unfortunate that the random draw pitted them against each other in round one. Ryan came out on top and became the clear favourite. However, he was comprehensively beaten by Nelson Morrow. As the last round began there were three potential winners. If Ryan beat John Spiers he would prevail. If he lost, while James Hopgopod beat Don Beck then James would be the winner. If both lost then John Spiers would need to win a deferred game against Nick Cheyne in order to win.

James lost quite quickly to Don. Meanwhile, Ryan had started strongly winning the first 7-5 but then went 6-1 down in the second. A typical charge back took the score to 6-5 but he fluffed 12 and Spiers levelled the match. Ryan continued strongly, going to a lead of 4-1 with a strong position at 6 until a miss-hit clearance handed that hoop to John. Then it got closer, Ryan made 11 to go 6-5 up but after a tactical battle for a while at 12, it went to the 13th. After two misses, Ryan finally finished it and retained the trophy, with James second. Don Beck quietly came up on the outside to grab third. Martin French made up in accuracy what he lacked in tactical knowledge and stamina. Richard Thompson was typically tough to beat, 3 of his four losses involving 6-7 defeats.

The Roehampton lawns were characteristically well prepared and the hospitality was excellent. The soft ground made firm hoop settings impractical, otherwise the daunting timetable would have been more of an issue.

Final Standings

Game Results

• Richard Thompson beat Martin French, 7-5
• Martin French beat Richard Thompson, 7-3
• Richard Thompson beat Martin French, 7-2
• Ryan Cabble beat James Hopgood, 7-5
• Ryan Cabble beat James Hopgood, 7-5
• Nicholas Cheyne beat Nelson Morrow, 7-6
• Nicholas Cheyne beat Nelson Morrow, 7-4
• John Spiers beat Don Beck, 7-2
• John Spiers beat Don Beck, 7-5
• Don Beck beat Ryan Cabble, 7-6
• Ryan Cabble beat Don Beck, 7-6
• Ryan Cabble beat Don Beck, 7-4
• Martin French beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-4
• Martin French beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-5
• James Hopgood beat John Spiers, 7-4
• John Spiers beat James Hopgood, 7-4
• James Hopgood beat John Spiers, 7-6
• Richard Thompson beat Nelson Morrow, 7-6
• Richard Thompson beat Nelson Morrow, 7-3
• John Spiers beat Martin French, 7-3
• Martin French beat John Spiers, 7-6
• Martin French beat John Spiers, 7-1
• Richard Thompson beat Don Beck, 7-4
• Don Beck beat Richard Thompson, 7-5
• Don Beck beat Richard Thompson, 7-6
• Nelson Morrow beat Ryan Cabble, 7-4
• Nelson Morrow beat Ryan Cabble, 7-3
• James Hopgood beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-5
• James Hopgood beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-6
• Nicholas Cheyne beat Don Beck, 7-6
• Don Beck beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-6
• Don Beck beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-3
• John Spiers beat Nelson Morrow, 7-6
• John Spiers beat Nelson Morrow, 7-5
• James Hopgood beat Richard Thompson, 7-6
• Richard Thompson beat James Hopgood, 7-6
• James Hopgood beat Richard Thompson, 7-5
• Ryan Cabble beat Martin French, 7-4
• Ryan Cabble beat Martin French, 7-5
• Ryan Cabble beat Richard Thompson, 7-1
• Ryan Cabble beat Richard Thompson, 7-3
• James Hopgood beat Martin French, 7-3
• James Hopgood beat Martin French, 7-3
• Nicholas Cheyne beat John Spiers, 7-6
• John Spiers beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-6
• Nicholas Cheyne beat John Spiers, 7-3
• Don Beck beat Nelson Morrow, 7-3
• Don Beck beat Nelson Morrow, 7-6
• Nelson Morrow beat James Hopgood, 7-6
• James Hopgood beat Nelson Morrow, 7-3
• James Hopgood beat Nelson Morrow, 7-5
• John Spiers beat Richard Thompson, 7-6
• Richard Thompson beat John Spiers, 7-3
• John Spiers beat Richard Thompson, 7-4
• Martin French beat Don Beck, 7-3
• Don Beck beat Martin French, 7-5
• Martin French beat Don Beck, 7-5
• Ryan Cabble beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-2
• Ryan Cabble beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-1
• Ryan Cabble beat John Spiers, 7-5
• John Spiers beat Ryan Cabble, 7-5
• Ryan Cabble beat John Spiers, 7-6
• Nelson Morrow beat Martin French, 7-5
• Martin French beat Nelson Morrow, 7-4
• Nelson Morrow beat Martin French, 7-3
• Richard Thompson beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-4
• Richard Thompson beat Nicholas Cheyne, 7-6
• Don Beck beat James Hopgood, 7-5
• Don Beck beat James Hopgood, 7-4