Nailsea B-Class Advanced Tournament Results
[<<] [>>] by Kathy Wallace
at Nailsea Croquet Club
30 Jun
2012 (AC)
After a drought- affected tournament last year, this event was most definitely rain-affected.
Play had to be abandoned on the Saturday after a downpour at tea-time proved to be the final straw for the ground that was already saturated. Players assembled soon after 8am next morning to try to catch up with the programme but every lawn had at least one significant lake. It wasn't until 11.30am that the sky finally cleared and play could begin with shorter time limits than originally planned. In the meantime, the competitors played Scrabble, Bridge and Bezique, did crosswords and read the papers. They also took turns at emulating King Canute, trying to disperse the puddles. There was an aroma of Famous Grouse around at coffee time.
By 2pm, the Block play was complete. Andrew Wise (Bristol 2), Les Bowker (Cheltenham,2) and Martin Leach (Ipswich,3) won all their 3 matches. The other Block had a 3-way tie with Alwen Bowker (Cheltenham,2, Chris Donovan (Budleigh Salterton, 3.5) and Jaimie Mussi (Cheltenham,3.5) all on 2 wins. Jaimie Mussie snatched the 4th semi-finals place by virtue of a higher net points score.
The semi-finals started around 2.30 but had to be restricted to 2.5 hours. Jaimie Mussi, whose handicap has dropped from 10 to 3.5 this year, beat Andrew Wise +13T. Martin Leach beat Les Bowker +16. As Martin had to get back to Ipswich and Jaimie's transport was leaving at 6pm, the final is going to be played at a later date. Martin and Jaimie were presented with bottles of Triple-A-Peeling ale. The Manager said she usually looked very small when presenting prizes so it was suggested that she stand on a chair. Jaimie Mussi, in the photograph, looks ready to catch the ale. The other photograph show Nailsea's Synchronised Water-sweeping team of Peter Dyke and Geoff Hughes in training for the Olympics.
Pat Long and Alwen Bowker won their matches in the competition arranged for Block runners up so also received some ale. Jonathan Toye (Downham, 8) won the prize for the biggest upset when he claimed 17 index points from Robert Moss (Bear of Rodborough,3). Andrew Wise had the fastest win of the weekend, beating Jonathan Toye +26 in 1 hour 26.5 minutes. Keith Apperley (Bear of Rodborough,7), playing in his first Advanced Tournament had stepped in to replace a late withdrawal. He deserves a mention for claiming second place in his block.
Full Results
Alwen Bowker beat Peter Dyke +7T
Jaimie Mussi beat Chris Donovan +17
Andrew Wise beat Adam Moliver +22
Jonathan Toye beat Robert Moss +15
Les Bowker beat Keith Apperley +18
Clive Goode beat Geoff Hughes +8T
Martin Leach beat Tony Backhouse +3
Pat Long beat Richard Way +11
Alwen Bowker beat Jaimie Mussi +14
Chris Donovan beat Peter Dyke +15
Andrew Wise beat Jonathan Toye +26
Robert Moss beat Adam Moliver +5T
Geoff Hughes beat Keith Apperley +3T
Les Bowker beat Clive Goode +15
Martin Leach beat Richard Way +18
Pat Long beat Tony Backhouse +14
Chris Donovan beat Alwen Bowker +13
Jaimie Mussi beat Peter Dyke +21
Andrew Wise beat Robert Moss +13
Jonathan Toye beat Adam Moliver +7T
Les Bowker beat Geoff Hughes +6T
Keith Apperley beat Clive Goode +6
Martin Leach beat Pat Long +7T
Richard Way beat Tony Backhouse +2T
Jaimie Mussi beat Andrew Wise +13T
Martin Leach beat Les Bowker +16
Alwen Bowker beat Jonathan Toye +12
Pat Long beat Keith Apperley +8T
Peter Dyke beat Adam Moliver +3T
Robert Moss beat Chris Donovan +1T
Clive Goode beat Tony Backhouse +11
Richard Way beat Geoff Hughes +6T
Chris Donovan beat Jonathan Toye +16