THE 2008 EUROPEAN MASTERS ROUND UP

GROUP STAGE

GROUP A

While 4th Seed Andy showed strong early form in his first tournament since returning from playing abroad in the Rwandan league, the other seed, Dudley found himself locked in a vicious battle for 2nd place. The position was ultimately decided by toad difference and David Spicer’s big wins against Matt Vines and top US player Weslie secured him a place in the quarter finals, despite having lost narrowly to third place finisher and first timer Dave Lamb. The other two newcomers in this group, Matt and Weslie struggled to find their form but showed promise for the future. Weslie was the top ranked US player with no wins.

Andy beat David S by 6
Andy beat Dave L by 6
Andy beat Dudley by 6
Andy beat Matt by 11
Andy beat Weslie by 9
David S beat Dudley by 2
David S beat Matt Vines by 15
Dave L beat David S by 1
David S beat Weslie by 18
Dudley beat Dave L by 1
Dave L beat Matt by 9
Dave L beat Weslie by 12
Dudley beat Weslie by 10
Dudley beat Matt Vines by 7
Matt beat Weslie by 4

GROUP B

The first shock of the tournament saw 2005 champion Nathan lose to James F in a match plagued by poor out-age. Despite this thrilling win James F’s tournament was ended at the hands of one of the most exciting finds of the tournament – 14 year old James Newing. Newing was unlucky to finish only second in the group on toad difference. Dermot’s travel problems meant he had to play several games back to back and the muscle strain took its toll. Newcomer Nikki scored an impressive 2 wins including the notable scalp of James F.

Nathan beat James N by 7
Nathan beat Dermot by 15
Nathan beat Nikki by 9
James F beat Nathan by 1
James N beat James F by 9
James N beat Nikki by 2
James N beat Dermot by 11
Nikki beat James F by 5
James Fenton beat Dermot by ?
Nikki beat Dermot by 14

GROUP C

The second big upset of the tournament saw 2006 and 2007 ladies champion Katie defeat former world champion Tim by 6. It was a rare slip up from the Old Azurians captain who signed for the DCC this year on a league only basis. Newcomers Simon and Lucy showed a lot of promise and were unlucky to find themselves in a group with two champions. It was a hard but welcome return to the sport by Matthew who found himself squeezed by the top regular players and a couple of promising newcomers.

Katie beat Simon by 7
Katie beat Matthew by 20
Katie beat Tim by 6
Katie beat Lucy 15
Tim beat Simon by 14
Tim beat Lucy by 8
Tim beat Matthew 22
Simon beat Lucy by 2
Simon beat Matthew by 5
Lucy beat Matthew by 14

GROUP D

Ben W played brilliantly, watching him play is much like watching a great artist at work. Handsome and slim, yet modest, he is towering figure in the sport. He won the group. The second quarter final spot went to the highest ranked overseas player, Arnaldo the current Cuban number 1. Former ladies champion Holly found herself battling it out for 3rd with Malcolm and Mary/Cathy – it was a battle that was ultimately decided on toad difference causing a dead heat between between Mary/Cathy and Malcolm.

NEW RULING: This has never happened before so this year we’ll call it a dead heat. If it happens again the position will be decided according to who won their head to head match – in this case that would have been Mary/Cathy.

Ben W beat Arnaldo by 6
Ben W beat Holly by 8
Ben W beat Cathy/Mary by 11
Ben W beat Malcolm by 7
Ben W beat Joelle by ?
Arnaldo beat Holly by 5
Joelle beat Arnaldo by 4
Arnaldo beat Malcolm by 8
Arnaldo beat Mary by 8
Malcolm beat Holly by 7
Holly beat Mary by 1
Holly beat Joelle by 4
Mary beat Malcolm by 4
Malcolm beat Joelle by 8
Mary/Cathy beat Joelle by 12

QUARTER FINALS

Andy beat Arnaldo 2-0

Andy’s great form continued with a 2 nil win – he’d now won 7 and lost none on the day. But it was a disappointing end for the newcomer and currently the highest ranked Cuban player, Arnaldo.

Tim beat Nathan 2-1

The battle of the 2nd and 3rd seeds was close but Tim’s form was ominously improving as the day went on and Nathan ultimately didn’t have quite enough to beat him.

James N beat Katie 2-1

One of the big stories of the tournament was the emergence of 14 year old James Newing and this was his biggest scalp of the day. 2 time ladies champion Katie had won a famous victory against Tim earlier but maybe the physical exertion had taken too much out of her. On his first competitive outing, James Newing was through to the semi finals.

Ben W beat David S 2-0

2-time European masters champion Ben W made short work of David Spicer, who battled impressively considering he had a small child attached to his leg throughout the match.

SEMI-FINALS

Tim beat Andy 3-0

Tim was hitting form just at the right moment and made the final in his first appearance while Andy struggled to maintain his early form.

Ben W beat James N 3-0

The odds of an unknown newcomer winning the tournament were always long but even Ben W was starting to think it could be on the cards when the match started. James N really should have won the first game and was unlucky to bust an out – the disappointment seemed to affect his play and from then on it was all one way. The 3-0 score really didn’t do him justice. Ben W made his 6th consecutive Masters final.

FINAL

Tim beat Ben W 4-3

Going into the final Ben W had a record of played 10 won 10, while Tim had played 10 won 8 lost 2, but form-wise Tim had been improving all day and it looked to be a very evenly matched between the two top ranked DCC league players.

Tim won the toss and the first three games all went to serve giving Tim a 2-1 lead. By now Ben was struggling to match Tim’s form and lost his serve in the 4th game giving Tim a 3-1 lead. All Tim had to do was hold serve to win the match – he set up a 1 toad out and people started packing their bags to leave, but to everyone’s surprise Tim missed his out and Ben was left to finish himself for the 5th game. Suddenly it was 3-2 and Ben could hold his serve to tie the match. Tim pulled ahead in the 6th game and with Ben to play, the score was 8-12 to Tim, it looked ominous, but two straight sixes from Ben won the game and tied the match. It was all down to the final game and in the end, Tim held both his nerve and his serve to win the match and the 2006 world champion became 2008 European Masters champion on his first attempt.

Ladies Final

There was some debate about who should play Katie in the final of ladies tournament and the ladies decided to play a mini-tournament with the top 4 players all competing for the trophy.

Mary beat Holly
Katie beat Lucy

Which set up a final of Katie against Mary which Katie won two nil.

KATIE beat MARY 2-0

Katie has now won 3 ladies championships back to back and it’s hard to see anyone beating her next year so get practicing.

NEXT STOP: FEBRUARY and the European Open where Sean Sexton will be defending his title.