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2005 European Master's Toad in the Hole Championship |
This was the third annual European championship and the year that saw the
end of the Sean-Ben domination of the tournament, thanks to the rise of
a new star. A new European champion whose flawless toadmanship swept all
before him.
The tournament began with a Group stage - each player playing everyone else
in their group once, the top two in the group then went into the quarter
finals. Any two players finishing with the same stats (and also a chance
of progressing) played a one-off decider to see who progressed.
GROUP STAGE
GROUP 1
LEAGUE TABLE
| POSITION |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
| 1. |
NATHAN |
5 |
0 |
| 2. |
DILS |
3 |
2 |
| 3. |
FRU |
3 |
2 |
| 4. |
EMMA (EMILY) |
2 |
3 |
| 5. |
DUDLEY |
1 |
4 |
| 6. |
NICK |
1 |
4 |
Nathan won the group without losing a game and Dils progressed after a play
off with Fru who showed that he may be one to watch in future championships.
Emma and Nick, both newcomers achieved respectable wins, while Dudley's
form was erratic in part due to the fact that he had to leave early and
was replaced by spectators David and Lesley whose enthusiasm was sadly no
substitute for the years of dedicated training needed to reach the higher
echelons of the sport.
RESULTS
Nathan beat Dils by 8
Dudley beat Fru by 4
Fru beat Dils by 10
Dils beat Dudley by 12
Dils beat Emma (Emily) by 12
Nathan beat fru by 8
Nathan beat Nick by 13
Nathan beat Dudley by 2
Nathan beat Emma (Emily) by 14
Fru beat Nick by 11
Fru beat emma (Emily) by 3
Nuick beat Dudley by 6
Emma (Emily) beat Nick by 12
Emma (Emily) beat Dudley by 10
GROUP 2
LEAGUE TABLE
| POSITION |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
| 1. |
SEAN |
5 |
0 |
| 2. |
BEN A |
4 |
1 |
| 3. |
JITU |
3 |
2 |
| 4. |
DOM |
2 |
3 |
| 5. |
JAN |
1 |
4 |
| 6. |
HOLLY |
0 |
5 |
Sean, the 2003 Champion romped through to win this group and seemed a good
bet to go all the way to the final. The groups other seed, the reigning
European Masters Ladies Champion Holly suffered a disastrous drop in form
and finished bottom of the group. Jan (my mum) achieved her first win of
the championship and Dominic and Jitu were both unlucky with very tight
losses of 1 and 2. Ben A, a newcomer to the sport, progressed in second
place with good wins against everyone except Sean.
Sean beat Holly by 19
Jitu beat Holly by 18
Ben A beat Holly by 3
Jan beat holly by 6
Dominic beat Holly by an unrecorded amount
Sean beat Jitu by an unrecorded amount
Sean beat Ben A by 17
Sean beat Jan by 18
Sean beat Dominic by 10
Ben A beat Jitu by 2
Jitu beat Jan by 10
Jitu beat Dominic by 1
Ben A beat Jan by 13
Ben A beat Dominic by 6
Dominic beat Jan by 2
GROUP 3
LEAGUE TABLE
| POSITION |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
| 1. |
BEN W |
4 |
0 |
| 2. |
CORINA |
3 |
1 |
| 3. |
GUY |
2 |
2 |
| 4. |
KATIE |
1 |
3 |
| 5. |
SARA |
0 |
4 |
While 2004 Champion Ben progressed safely, despite a close win against Corina,
the group's second seed Guy was effectively knocked out by one this year's
big stories - Corina. Not only did she progress to the second round and
thereby book her place in the ladies final, she came very close to actually
winning the group. Despite pushing guy close, Katie didn't manage to make
the impact many had expected and newcomer Sara was unlucky to finish without
a win after some startling late form.
Ben beat guy by 4
Ben beat Katie by an unrecorded amount
Ben beat corina by 3
Ben beat sara by 19
Guy beat Katie by 4
Corina beat guy by 4
Guy beat sara by 15
Katie beat corina 13
Katie beat sara by 6
Corina beat sara by 10
GROUP 4
LEAGUE TABLE
| POSITION |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
| 1. |
ANDY |
4 |
0 |
| 2. |
CATHY |
3 |
1 |
| 3. |
JIM |
2 |
2 |
| 4. |
CASEY |
1 |
3 |
| 5. |
EMMA |
0 |
4 |
Andy beat cathy by 15
Andy beat jim by 6
Andy beat casey by 16
Andy beat emma by 11
Cathy beat jim by 1
Cathy beat casey by an unrecorded amount
Cathy beat emma by 6
Jim beat casey by 2
Jim beat emma by 10
Casey beat emma by 12
The only group to finish with the seeds totally in tact. World Championship
regular Andy topped the group without dropping a game while 2003 ladies
champion Cathy made it through in second place. Unknowns Jim, Casey and
Emma all put in creditable performances with each giving Cathy a run for
her money but in the end experience told and the professionals made it through.
Cathy's second place set up her place in the final against Corina for the
2005 ladies trophy.
QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)
1. Nathan beat Cathy by 2 games to 0
By now Nathan having played 7 games and lost none was beginning to get some
serious consideration for the title and his consistency was getting some
nervous looks from Ben W and Sean.
2. Sean beat Corina by 2 games to 1
Corina finally went out of the main competition after a close match with
2003 champion Sean. She forced Sean into his first loss of this championship.
3. Ben W beat Ben A by 2 games to 0
Reigning champion and at this point still favourite Ben W beat newcomer
Ben A and had still not dropped a game.
4. Andy beat Dils by 2 games to 1
Possibly the closest of the quarterfinals saw Andy edge out Dils 2 games
to 1. This meant that the four group winners had all made it through to
the semi-finals with only 2 games dropped between them all day.
SEMIFINALS (best of 5)
1. Nathan beat Sean 3-1
For the second year running 2003 champ Sean was knocked out, in the semi
finals. But where last year he could blame the drink this year there was
one simple reason for his defeat. He was steam-rollered by Nathan. Nathan
had a hit an astonishing patch of form, averaging nearly 6 points per turn.
At this point all the smart money started drifting away from Ben W and onto
this unrelenting Toad-machine.
2. Ben W beat Andy by 3 games to 0
It was a score that flattered the reigning champ and Andy was unlucky to
miss out-shots in the first two games that would have given him a 2 game
lead. Video tape is still being studied after an alleged toad abuse incident
at the end of the 2nd game. But by the third game Ben had refound his form
and a great final was in prospect. Nathan may have been playing text-book
toads but Ben was yet to lose a game.
FINAL (best of 7)
1. Nathan beat Ben W by 4 games to 1
It was carnage. Last year Nathan had been knocked out in the group stage,
this year he was unstoppable. He romped into a 3 game lead and looked for
a while like claiming a white wash, but a hard fought win by Ben in the
4th game set up a fifth game that proved to be one of the closest and highest
quality singles games ever seen. Ben W scored 6, 6, 5, 5, 4… and lost to
a sublime series of throws by Nathan 7's and 6's right the way through to
take the Championship. "He's like Wayne Rooney, only without the knockers"
one Uckfield based competitor was heard to remark.
Nathan is the new European Masters Champion 2005
Meanwhile…
WOMEN'S FINAL
1. Corina beat Cathy
This was contested by Corina and Cathy, the two highest placed ladies in
the main tournament. With Holly out, we knew there would be a new champion
but on past form Cathy should have been the favourite. Those who had been
watching the play during the afternoon knew differently - with her regular
throws of 4 Corina has set a new standard of consistency in the ladies game
and it will take a serious upset to deprive her of a Martina-style domination
of the women's game over the next few years. Maybe one day she might even
take on Nathan in the final of main event… although she'll have to get past
me first.
Corina is the new European Masters Ladies Champion 2005
Thanks to the 24 players (including subs) and all the spectators - see you
on the lead in May at the World Championships
Sincerely
Ben
(self-appointed chairman of the E.M.T.C (European Masters Toad Council)
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