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4 September 2000

The Millennium Tournament and The All England Handicap

Nailsea finish as runners-up in the Millennium Tournament

A total of twenty teams entered the Croquet Association’s Millennium Tournament held at Cheltenham Croquet Club over the weekend and competitors travelled from as far away as Tyneside and Cornwall for the event. Each team had four to six players with two games of doubles in each round of an eight round Progressive Swiss Competition.

On Saturday Nailsea got off to shaky start against one of six teams from Cheltenham, with PETER DYKE and MARY BARNES just winning their first game by one point on time, but 15 year-old MARCUS EVANS partnered by 16 year-old ANDREW LOWDON had a more convincing win by nine points. The two Nailsea pairs continued their winning form and after four rounds they were the only team who had won all eight games. Their last opponents of the day were the Angels of the North, one of two teams from Tyneside, who were lying in second place with six wins. The youngsters made their first serious mistake, missing a short roquet. They lost control of the game and were defeated by three points. Meanwhile PETER and MARY were behind in their game, but PETER managed to level the scores when time was called. Play then continued with the light fading for a further half-an-hour, until the Angels scored the winning point.

On Sunday PETER and MARY suffered two more defeats, the second by only two points, while MARCUS and ANDREW had two more wins. Meanwhile the Angels won three out of four games to put them one game ahead. This meant that in the final round Nailsea had to win one more game than the Angels to win the tournament. Nailsea had two good wins against the Northern Lights, the second Tyneside team. The Angels won their first game and were trailing in the second, but drew level as time was called. They went on to win the deciding hoop and the tournament.

Results:

1. The Angels of the North, Tyneside, 13 wins/16 games

2. Pete’s Pirates, Nailsea, 12 wins/16 game

3. Dave’s Diehards, Cheltenham

Nailsea’s Game Results:

PETER DYKE and MARY BARNES won +1T, +14, +2T, and +7T, lost –1T, -13, -2T and won +11

MARCUS EVANS and ANDREW LOWDON won +9, +10, +10, +3T, lost –3, won +8, +10, +7

All England Handicap Tournament

MARCUS EVANS has qualified for the Area Finals of the All England Handicap Competition, which take place at Bristol this weekend.

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