Peter Bennet
Mark Calderbank
Monica Beckerson
Jeff Barber
Ann Pocknell
Chris Ternel
Peter Chan
Paul Barwick

Bright 'n' Breezy January 2010

Report by Michael Crane

This year the tournament's title was well off target. It would have been more apt to have called it The Bright 'n' Snowy! The country has been in the grip of The Big Freeze (an annoying sobriquet) that started 18 December and is still going on. Global warming my arse! The weather had a huge affect on entries and with 54 brave souls bearing arctic conditions the turnout was very low for what is usually the biggest event of the year. Mind you, the weather wasn't as bad as predicted and overall it was relatively snow-free. Happily the sponsor, Cliff Connick made it - which I was relieved to see; I had brought along a special birthday cake to help him celebrate his 90th birthday (it's in February) and the thought of eating it all on my own was daunting.

Main (54): What can be done about John Hurst? Winner of this tournament in 2006, 2007, 2009 and now 2010? Mark Heidenfeld, the 2008 winner was snowed in in Germany and couldn't get to Brighton to wrest the trophy from John's grasp. Chas Perry (new member), Stuart Mann, Peter Chan, Jeff Barber and Paul Gilbertson all tried to stop him but to no avail.

Eventually it was down to Nicky Check to do it. He'd made it to the final via Carl Dell, Ian Tarr, John Wright, Angela Dell (three Liverpool club players, the Dells and John Wright!) and Sean Williams. He got off to an early lead but John soon got into his stride and then became unstoppable - and thus he retained the title and racked up his fourth win in five years! What can be done with John Hurst?

I have put the match through Snowie and it is availabe as a Jelly or Snowie match file via email.See the Snowie Stats here.

Main: Nicky and John	Consolation: Peter and Mark

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Consolation (50): Those of you that follow these things will have noticed that despite the fact that Nicky was Runner-up he was awarded fewer Grand Prix points than Peter Bennet. Why was this? It was because Peter had to fight his way through seven rounds of 7-point matches to win the Consolation final; something he achieved by beating new member, Mark Calderbank, who had finished on top of the progressive side. Well done, Mark, for doing so well first time out.

Last Chance (32): We have new member, Mark, taking home a trophy in the Consolation and now in the Last Chance another new member, Peter Finnimore, taking home the winner's trophy in this element. It wasn't an easy draw for him and he had to beat Jon Barnes (a super-man!) in the semis and then Ray Kershaw in the final. Well done, Peter.

Last Chance: Ray and Peter	Tidal Wave: Andy and Martin

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Tidal Wave (16): With the weather threatening to get worse many players headed home early so we were left with fewer to draw upon thus we had a 16 player knockout instead of the planned 32. This worked out well for Andy Darby and Martin Barkwill - Andy came out the winner over Martin in the final.
Other elements over the weekend were:-

Friday 500 (32): Peter Bennet and John Wright fought off Ann Pocknell and Myke Wignall respectively in the semi-final to meet in the final - a match from which Peter emerged the winner and the recipient of free accommodation and registration for the Scottish Open.

Poker (19): Due to the poor weather the entry for the first poker event of the year was fewer than expected, however, one brave soul (and her husband and dog!) did brave the weather and it was she that came out chip-leader over the weekend - Vicki Pemberton. Simon K Jones came in 2nd with Lawrence Powell 3rd. The 'usual suspects' didn't show until Myke Wignall made an appearance in 8th place!

Team (9): Usually, Richard Biddle or me end up winning, but this time we went out together when we were beaten by joint-winners, Tim Mooring and Ed Turner.

1-Point Knockout (54): Cliff donated £50 to be fought over throughout the weekend in a 1-point knockout. As an experiment it was decided to make the Main 1st Round and the 1-pointer 1st Round the same draw! That meant that you first opponent in the Main was your first opponent in the 1-pointer - a format that many said would end up with the same person winning both! They were wrong. The two finalists, Tony Fawcett and Arthur Wright both lost in the Main 1st round. In the 1-point final, Tony won . . . by one point!

Tony and Arthur ready to fight for the crab! An encounter that a very happy Tony emerged triumphant.

 

Finally. I'd like to thank Cliff for sponsoring the tournament, it was a shame the weather was against us getting a good turnout, but at least those that did attend had a good time. Also thanks to Sharen, Deana and Tony for their help and to Paul Barwick for two pints of excellent beer in The Cricketers!

Sponsor, Cliff Connick in the 1st Round wearing his special tee-shirt. Cliff was very pleased with his cake and despite what people say he did have his cake and eat it . . . he took the top half home for his family to enjoy.