2010 Open Doubles Champions
Dean Welsh & Matt Harmon
Congratulations to Dean & Matt on their 2nd Doubles title as a pair, to go with their 2005 victory. But the going wasn’t always easy, as they had to fight back from an average first round to storm home into the finals.
The weekend began with 12 pairs fighting it out for the four spots in the finals, with last year’s finalists not competing (although runner up Anthony Chia had found a new partner in Stephen Thomas), the defending 3rd and 4th placings of Mongrel & Mick Norton and Michael Hazilias & Rony Sood looked to be favourites along with Dean & Matt and Anthony & Steve. But at this level, no one can be counted out, and backing up from last year’s Top 8 were Alessandro Nasca & Dragan Markovic (who had missed last year’s Top 4 by a playoff), while Top 16 pairs Ben Boyd & Troy Miller (again missing advancement by playoff), Nicole Welsh & Semisi Naupoto and 2008 Runners Up Peter Madden & Peter (Chippa) Penfold were back for another crack. Ian Stanley & Ted Mallowes, Jack Dehm & Matt Connor and Dylan McFawn & Kris Bandte joined my personal wildcards, Kenny Nicol & Richard Bondietti to make up the field.
Before you read on, I would like to thank the people who have given up their time to make these tournaments possible for the players to compete in:
Scrol, Cath Rollinson, Trent Billington, Penny Foudoulis, Jason Scott, Bushie, Susan Jones, Jeremy Smith, Nicole Welsh, Les O’Connor, Rebecca Billington, Melissa Kelly, Tolly, Dennis Bingley, Matt Power and I really hope I haven’t forgotten someone… [ed: you did – me! 😉 ]
The pairs were faced with 3 rounds of 11 frames, two to be played on the Saturday and one on the Sunday, with finals to follow. In a break from tradition, the finals were to be played in a 1v2, 3v4 format, with the winner of 1v2 qualifying for the final, while the loser faced the winner of 3v4 for the other spot.
“Punter” had made his opinion clear by placing Mongrel & Mick as favourites, and they backed him up with 9 frame first round. Hazza & Rony matched this, but Nicole & Misi and Anthony & Steve hovered close behind on 8 and 7 respectively. Dean & Matt, Ian & Ted and Kenny & Richard were one frame back, but the gaps were already starting to show in what was to be a 7 horse race.
Mongrel & Mick smashed another 9 frame round to finish 3 frames clear at the end of day one on 18, an astonishing feat given the quality of the opposition. Nicole & Misi consolidated 2nd place but top seeds Hazza & Rony (5) stumbled in round 2 to join a resurgent Dean & Matt (8) in equal 3rd on 14 frames. A sign of things to come…?
Anthony & Steve kept themselves in the picture with 6 to sit one frame back on 13, but Kenny & Richard and Ian & Ted were leaving themselves too much to do in the final round. With only one round to play on the Sunday, it needed a turnaround of Kieran Perkins proportions to help the other 5 teams.
Ben & Troy had enjoyed their 9th seed status, but it couldn’t help them this weekend as they struggled to 9 frames overall, while Dylan & Kris hit their best round in the last to finish equal 11th , a great result for a pair who said they were happy to just get through round one. Pete & Chippa would have had high hopes after last week, but a poor Saturday left them with too much to do and a last round of 6 frames saw them finish on 13 and equal 8th. Joining them were Alessandro & Dragan, who had suffered in round one but came home well, and Jack & Matt, who played consistently but just off the pace to still grab some more rankings points for the Matildas (do they need them…?).
I’d love to say there was a great contest for the top 4 places, but the 7 horse race after round one had quickly diminished to a 4 way battle for positions, nice if the Punter had offered odds on boxing 4 pairs…
Ian & Ted couldn’t maintain their good Saturday as they hit 4 in the last round to finish 7th on 15 frames, while Anthony & Steve and Kenny & Richard also couldn’t keep up with the top pairs as they hit 5 and 6 respectively in the last round to finish on 18, a full 4 frames out of contention, but still equal 5th is not a bad result at all.
So it was just left to the top four pairs to see how they would line up in the finals. Mongrel & Mick couldn’t keep their Saturday form up as they hit 5 in the last round to finish on 23 frames, allowing a 9 frame rout from Dean & Matt to get them equal 1st. Nicole & Misi hit consistently for 8/7/7 and 22, but Hazza & Rony recovered from their 2nd round slump to hit 8 in the last round, a last frame loss avoiding a regrettable 3 way playoff for the top two positions as they finished equal 3rd with Nicole & Misi.
After a short debate on the format for the first round of finals, it was agreed that a race to 5 should be played, followed by the nominated race to 5 in the preliminary final and a race to 6 in the final.
Top finishers Mongrel & Mick met Dean & Matt for a spot in the final, while Hazza & Rony battled it out with Nicole & Misi for the second chance.
Mongrel & Mick grabbed the first frame but then were blocked by some great eight ball from Dean & Matt to fall back 1-3. Mongrel kept it alive with a strong runout to chip it back to 2-3 but then Dean & Matt took it up a notch and ran the match out 5-2. Mongrel & Mick then looked over to the other table, where Hazza & Rony were holding a 4-1 lead over Nicole & Misi.
Truth be told, Hazza & Rony should have been dominant 5-0 victors but for a crucial miss, but they had played an excellent team game to be one frame away from a chance at the final, testament to the quality of their game as they completely outplayed their opponents in the first 5 frames.
Then came Misi.
Seemingly leaving his best for last, Misi took control of the next 3 frames, leaving Hazza & Rony to defend stoically as he narrowly missed runouts on each frame, including an unlucky snooker on his last object ball for a master break. But doubles is a team game and Nicole produced a great length of the table white ball double to finish two frames in a row, before Misi finished the next to tie it at 4-4.
It was Nicole who narrowly missed a runout in the deciding frame, but Hazza & Rony had already set the table up, and a disappointing miss on the black from Misi left Hazza to complete a clinical runout and keep his team alive.
Hazza & Rony then met Mongrel & Mick for a place in the final, once again a race to 5 for the winner. This time Hazza & Rony made no mistakes and despite a little help from Mick potting the black early in one frame, they produced the kind of eight ball that has seen them make Top 4’s in doubles and singles over the past few years in running out 5-0 victors.
So the pedigree of the final could not have been higher out of all this year’s doubles contestants. Dean & Matt have made 3 Open Doubles Finals, while Hazza & Rony have contested the last 3 Top 4’s including this one. Plus all four players have competed in the Open Singles Top 4 in the last three years. And made State Teams. Not to mention that the players involved are all currently ranked in the top 5 in ACT. Can I build this Final up any further?
Hazza won the lag and broke first in the race to 6 final. As clinical as he had been all weekend, Hazza continued until he missed a tough pot on his last object ball, bringing Dean & Matt back into the frame. Dean & Matt fought hard to get it back and did well but Hazza hit a huge double to nail that last object ball and drilled the black for a 1-0 lead.
Rony then showed why he is ranked 5th in the ACT as he took over the play to give his team a 2-0 lead, but Dean & Matt pushed and pushed in the next two frames until Hazza & Rony finally cracked and it was 2-all.
With referee Matt Connor looking on, Hazza dominated the next frame to leave Dean & Matt struggling for control before Rony gave them a 3-2 lead, definitely a product of the top ranked player in the ACT in Hazza.
Hazza & Rony then took control of the next frame, their quality showing as they looked to gain a big lead. But a miss gave Matt a chance and, yeah, you don’t give Matt Harmon a chance. Matt completed probably the biggest out of the finals to draw the scores level at 3-3.
Keen not to be out done by his partner, Dean watched Rony break for an open table, then ran the table to give his team a 4-3 victory, punching the air with his cue as the black went down.
With momentum going with Dean & Matt, Hazza & Rony played the perfect tactical game after a difficult break from Matt. Both pairs played it brilliantly and then Hazza left an impossible shot for Matt with only one object ball left each. Left with no option, Matt played for the snooker, but gave Rony about half a millimeter to see on his ball. Rony opted for the straight shot and missed, giving Dean an easy out with two visits and a foul snooker. Dean finished easily and the score was 5-3 to Dean & Matt.
With no disrespect to Hazza & Rony, Dean & Matt completely controlled the next frame to complete the match 6-3, Matt sinking the black to nail the pair’s second ACT title. I wonder, as much as you must get satisfaction out of potting that black, I reckon you’d love it just as much to see your partner nail it.
So again, congratulations to Dean & Matt on their second ACT Doubles Title. The reaction from Dean and Matt after Dean ran out in the 7th frame to give them a 4-3 lead proved the passion players have for the Doubles Title, as a normally composed Dean pumped his cue holding fist in the same manner Anthony Chia did when he qualified for the singles final.
But congratulations must also go to Hazza & Rony for an exciting final, and definitely for an exciting Top 4. The level of play they brought to the finals was fantastic.
Well done to all players in this year’s Open Doubles Top 12, especially the finalists, 3rd place Mongrel & Mick Norton and 4th place Nicole Welsh & Semisi Naupoto.
A massive thank you must go to the venues who have supported us this year: The Maram, Canberra Labor Club, The Basement, Kaleen Bar & Bistro and Ojo Bar & Café. Their donation of their venues is greatly appreciated and if you are ever in the area of one of these fantastic bars, drop in and buy a drink to say thanks.
And so, with only the Nine Ball left, this is me signing out on the Eight Ball Trials season.
Please find attached the results for the Top 12 and the Finals.
http://www.acteba.com.au/downloads/2010_Open_Doubles_Top12.xls
Regards,
Chris Jones
ACTEBA Tournament Director
