Kristian Chambers won the Nailsea Advanced Weekend 12-13 May 2012

[<<] [>>] by Marcus Evans at Nailsea Croquet Club
13 May 2012 (AC)

Kristian Chambers won the nailsea Advanced Weekend with 6 wins from 7 games.
As usual for this event but in contrast with the previous several
weeks, the weather was perfect all weekend, and considering the lawns
had been literally underwater just a few days before, they were in
great condition thanks to the efforts of Club Chairman Mike Tracy and
his team.

The manager (your correspondent) suffered from super-caprine levels of
indecision throughout the first day regarding almost everything,
especially the tournament format. After some lively debate he decided
that a flexible Swiss with eight players isn't actually very flexible
at all, and hence an all-play-all block was the final choice. Except
it wasn't quite all-play-all, as Dave Kibble replaced Pete Trimmer on
the second day. Further discussion ensued as to what to engrave on the
trophy if this composite entity were to win it. Initially it was felt
that "Dave Trimmer" was clearly the best option, "Dieter Trimble"
(German mother, Irish father) gained some traction, but once Robin
Brown informed us that a "Tribble" was a 'fictional asexual animal in
the Star Trek universe' and a 'mortal enemy of the Klingon Empire', we
were all rooting for their victory.

The tournament evolved into what could be described as a "Morecambe
Half-Eight", in that all the right games were played, but not
necessarily in the right order. A couple of games were played using
some super advanced rules but most players preferred to avoid them,
and indeed Nailsea's gently undulating playing surface and firm hoops
provided a sufficient challenge.

Four players were in close contention at the end of the first day,
which was rounded off by a few games of pool in the local pub where
the first stroke of a player who shall remain nameless potted the
black from the middle of a pack of reds and yellows, while his second
(in the second game, of course) sent the cue ball into the next room.
Rumour has it he may be trying to get into the Lancashire Inter-County
Pitch & Putt team (I understand their annual trial match is next
weekend).

Tribble was unable to "Klingon" to his good form on Sunday and
overnight leader Marcus lost to Jim Field for the first time in 9
games. Marcus's lengthy efforts to ensure the sextuple leave was not
wired (see attached photo) proved in vain when he misapproached hoop
one after the tea lady was missed, allowing Jim to finish with a nice
double peel. Jim had also beaten the other -2 handicap player, Robin,
but lost to everyone else. Kriss also beat Marcus but lost to Robin,
which meant that Robin had to beat Marcus in the final round to force
a play-off with Kriss. However, despite being out of contention for
the trophy, Marcus won a scrappy game, leaving Kriss as the winner on
6 wins from 7 games. He thus became the sixth person to have his name
engraved twice on the cup in only 15 years - no-one has yet won 3
times.

Steve Woolnough had some convincing wins and close losses but in the
end it was John Daniels who won the prize for "best scratch player"
with 3 wins, including a good one against Roger Tribe. The manager
apologised if any of the three scratch players felt patronised by this
award, but John replied by saying he didn't mind being patronised if
he got a bottle of wine out of it. All the players were of course
treated to excellent lunches and teas on both days by Nailsea's
enthusiastic volunteer catering team.

Full results:

1 Robin Brown beat Roger Tribe +26tp
2 Kristian Chambers beat Steve Woolnough +21
3 Pete Trimmer beat Jim Field +24
4 Marcus Evans beat John Daniels +20
5 Robin Brown beat Kristian Chambers +10
6 Marcus Evans beat Pete Trimmer +21tp
7 Roger Tribe beat Steve Woolnough +3
8 John Daniels beat Jim Field +3
9 Marcus Evans beat Steve Woolnough +24tp
10 Jim Field beat Robin Brown +15
11 Kristian Chambers beat John Daniels +25tp
12 Pete Trimmer beat Roger Tribe +13
13 Marcus Evans beat Roger Tribe +4tpo (2)
14 Pete Trimmer beat Steve Woolnough +8
15 Kristian Chambers beat Jim Field +17
16 Robin Brown beat John Daniels +15tp
17 John Daniels beat Dave Kibble +8
18 Kristian Chambers beat Roger Tribe +18
19 Robin Brown beat Steve Woolnough +14
20 Jim Field beat Marcus Evans +20
21 Kristian Chambers beat Marcus Evans +26tp
22 Roger Tribe beat Jim Field +15
23 Robin Brown beat Dave Kibble +21
24 Steve Woolnough beat John Daniels +24
25 Marcus Evans beat Robin Brown +3 (3)
26 Steve Woolnough beat Jim Field +26
27 John Daniels beat Roger Tribe +17
28 Kristian Chambers beat Dave Kibble +14