Hi all
A huge day at The Maram on Sunday 24 July saw both the Ladies Doubles Top 4 and the Masters Singles Top 8 play off for their respective titles, with the Masters also playing for the 4 spots in this year’s ACT Masters Team. With ACTEBA’s most experienced adjudicator overseeing the two groups, the 16 participants were assured of a smoothly run day.
To the Masters first, the field of 8 had three former champions in there, with Jack Dehm, Pete Smith and Kev Harrow holding 6 of the 9 titles between them. Top 4 regulars Ted Mallowes and Neil Whitbread joined them, along with Will Cowie and newcomers (juniors?) Mongrel and Vince Wood.
Four players enjoyed a fruitful round one out of three, with Mongrel, Neil, Pete and Vince hitting 5 out of 7 frames to take an early lead. Jack pulled a couple back in round two to sit equal 4th with Neil, but Mongrel took a one frame lead into the final round.
Two time champion Kev struggled for most of the day to finish 8th on 6 frames, while Ted had smashed 5 frames in round two but couldn’t back it up as he finished 7th on 8 frames. Will had also had a dominant round two with 5 frames, but rounds one and three weren’t as good as he finished 6th on 9 frames.
Neil’s 2 frame second round had let Jack back into the game, and while Mongrel was streaking away to a 14 frame finish and 1st place, the former champions went frame for frame in the last round. While they were a bit off the pace for the final, the all important 4th spot in the ACT Team was up for grabs as they matched each other with 4 frames in the last round to finish equal on 11. Vince and Pete, meanwhile, were locked in a tight battle for 2nd, but despite Pete taking the frame off Vince, it was the latter who snuck home by one frame to finish second behind Mongrel and achieve his first state final after a 14 year break from trials.
As Mongrel and Vince prepared for the final, Neil and Jack were playing off for 4th spot. Neil took this 2-0 and then Mongrel turned up the heat a number of notches to cruise through the final, winning 5-0 against a valiant but overwhelmed Vince.
Congratulations not only to Mongrel on becoming the 2010 ACT Masters Champion, but also to Vince, Pete and Neil, for earning first qualification to the ACT Masters Team.
For the ladies, the day started in disappointment with Kathy Harmon and Theresa Whitten unable to compete. The dynamics of a Top 4 is changed entirely when one entrant is absent, as we saw last year in the Open Singles where Dean Welsh had to wait an hour and a half before his first frame. With this in mind, the ladies agreed to extend the format to two round robins, still at a race to 3, to allow each pair a fair chance to qualify for the final.
Three time defending champions, Cindy Blackmore & Nicole Welsh took on Lee Love & Michelle Massey and 2006 winners Kylie Power & Lesieli O’Connor. Lee & Shelly played Kylie & Les in the first match, with frames being swapped until Kylie & Les nabbed the last 2 for a 3-2 victory.
As was expected, Cindy & Nicole came in fairly cold against Lee & Shelly and dropped the first two frames before succumbing 3-1, but they found their rhythm with a 3-0 defeat of Kylie & Les to leave the three pairs at one win each going into the second round. Frame counts were going to be important as Kylie & Les had some work to do at 3/5, but Lee & Shelly and Cindy & Nicole weren’t that far in front of them at 5/4 and 4/3 respectively.
Lee & Shelly opened the second round by taking the first two frames off Kylie & Les, but the experience of the latter pair showed as they nailed the next three frames to come from behind for a 3-2 victory, reminiscent of Les’ charge to the 2008 Ladies Singles Final, where she came from behind in every match to challenge for the title.
Cindy & Nicole then took on Lee & Shelly, but unfortunately for Lee & Shelly it was an easy victory for Cindy & Nicole at 3-0.
This left Kylie & Les and Cindy & Nicole on 2 match wins, with Lee & Shelly on 1 match win. With only the Kylie & Les vs Cindy & Nicole match to play, it was decided to skip ahead to the final, as the result of the final match would not affect who qualified for the final.
You’d have to go back to 1993 to find a Ladies Doubles Final which did not include one of the four ladies present today, although to be fair, you would be looking at either Cindy or Nicole to fill many of these spots. But this was the 4th time these pairs had faced off on the final, and although Cindy & Nicole had been triumphant the first three times, I can assure you Kylie & Les would rate this win higher than their ’06 victory if they could get over the line in the race to 5.
I’d love to give a blow by blow description of what was about to happen, but I’d need a whole other webpage. The ladies split the first two frames, as both pairs felt out each others game initially. The tight frames continued in the next two but unfortunately for Kylie & Les they fell to Cindy & Nicole for a 3-1 lead.
To the outsider, Cindy & Nicole were riding their experience, but Kylie & Les had all but nailed them in the 3rd and 4th frames and proceeded to outlast them in the 5th frame for 2-3 deficit.
Again, another tight frame but this time it gave Cindy & Nicole 4-2 lead and a view of an 8th title. But never discount a champion and Kylie & Les dragged the final back to 4-4 by sheer determination and I am sorry that I can’t do this final report justice.
Pretty much all I can say is that both pairs had countered each others moves in the most tactical ACTEBA Final I have witnessed in my 4 years of adjudicating. To come back from 2-4 down to force a final frame by Kylie & Les was huge.
So I’m going to say it now – 8 frames – nothing in any of them – 4-all – State Final – Here we go…
True to form, the final frame was another tight affair, too long to give shot by shot but Cindy & Nicole finally outlasted Kylie & Les 5-4.
In my time watching State Finals over the past 4 years (we’re talking Open Singles, Open Doubles, Ladies Singles, Ladies Doubles, Masters Singles, Under 21’s, Open 9 Ball, Ladies 9 Ball), that’s right – 32 plus finals, this is by far the greatest final I have ever witnessed. I said as much to one of the players, who replied “that’s because you didn’t have play in it!!!”.
So while I normally should be congratulating the victors, you know who they are so I would like to congratulate the finalists of the greatest ACTEBA Final I have seen – Cindy Blackmore, Nicole Welsh, Kylie Power and Lesieli O’Connor. Yes, I know it’s a sad and sorry cliché but seriously, eight ball was truly the winner in this final. (I can’t believe I just wrote that…).
For the record, this was Cindy’s 13th Ladies Doubles Title, and Nicole’s 8th, which were all with Cindy to make the pair unrivalled in any ACTEBA Tournament.
So congratulations again to Mongrel, Cindy and Nicole for their titles, and well done to Vince, Pete, Neil, Kylie and Les for their performances on the day.
Click to download full results:
http://www.acteba.com.au/downloads/2010_Masters_Results.xls
http://www.acteba.com.au/downloads/2010_Ladies_Doubles_Top4_Results.xls
Regards
Chris Jones
ACTEBA Tournament Director
