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A thrilling tournament where Tim was attempting to become the first person to retain the main tournament trophy – this time he three league captains and his own brother to get past! It had also been 4 years since anyone went through the tournament undefeated.
GROUP A
Surprises galore in this group. Reigning champion and 1st seed Tim lost to Fru in his first game. Another defeat and he was out. Jan then beat Fru meaning he needed to win the rest of his games too. Meanwhile Tim’s brother Dave was making mince meat of the rest of the group. It came down to the final match between Dave and Tim. If Tim lost he was out. To win the group he needed to win by about 8. It was close but Tim pipped it by 1 and both brothers went through.
| |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
TD |
| 1. |
Dave W |
3 |
1 |
+14 |
| 2. |
Tim W |
3 |
1 |
+5 |
| 3. |
Fru |
2 |
2 |
+5 |
| 4. |
Jan |
2 |
2 |
-5 |
| 5. |
Dom |
0 |
4 |
|
RESULTS
Tim W beat Dave W by 1
Tim beat Dom by 4
Tim beat Jan by 4
Dave W beat Fru by 1
Dave beat Dom by 9
Dave beat Jan by 5
Fru beat Tim W by 4
Fru beat Dom by 3
Jan beat Fru by 1
Jan beat Dom by 6
GROUP B
2nd seed Ben W wasn’t faring much better in group B, losing his first ever group stage game against Trevor Arms Captain Roger. Roger then lost to Sean and Sean lost to Ben. Dermot looked nervously on, since the group would be decided on toad difference and the three 1st division players in the group needed big wins against him. Ultimately and unluckily Sean went out on toad difference.
| |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
TD |
| 1. |
Ben W |
2 |
1 |
+19 |
| 2. |
Roger |
2 |
1 |
+11 |
| 3. |
Sean |
2 |
1 |
+6 |
| 4. |
Dermot |
0 |
3 |
|
Matches
Roger beat Ben W by 2
Ben W beat sean by 6
Ben W beat Dermot by 15
Sean beat Roger by 2
Roger beat Dermot by 11
Sean beat Dermot by 10
GROUP C
This group saw the first of two to go through to the quarterfinals undefeated, but it was the top seeded player and ex champion Nathan – it was relative newcomer Mary, one of the stars of the Armless Ladies League Team. Unseeded, she managed to beat not only Nathan but her team captain Mary too, although only just. Nathan’s win over Cathy saw him go through in second place, with Cathy the first of the top 8 seeds to go out. Robyn improved through the day and is now playing for the armless ladies so will no doubt cause a few upsets next year.
| |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
TD |
| 1. |
Mary |
3 |
0 |
|
| 2. |
Nathan |
2 |
1 |
|
| 3. |
Cathy |
1 |
2 |
|
| 4. |
Robyn |
0 |
3 |
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Matches
Mary beat Nathan by 5
Nathan beat cathy by 5
Nathan beat Robyn by 19
Mary beat cathy by 1
Cathy beat Robyn by 19
Mary beat Robyn by 8
GROUP D
The second player to go through undefeated was Ben A who is always dangerous but was yet to make a final. Andy and Holly battled it out for the final place in the knock out stage, with Andy winning a hard fought contest. Dudley and Corina who have both made the knockout stages in past years struggled to recapture their form.
| |
NAME |
WON |
LOST |
TD |
| 1. |
Ben A |
4 |
0 |
|
| 2. |
Andy |
3 |
1 |
|
| 3. |
Holly |
2 |
2 |
|
| 4. |
Dudley |
1 |
3 |
|
| 5. |
Corina |
0 |
4 |
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Matches
Ben beat Andy by 7
Ben beat Holly by 2
Ben beat Dudley by 7
Ben beat corina by 4
Andy beat holly by 1
Andy beat Dudley by 1
Andy beat corina by 5
Holly beat Dudley by 1
Holly beat corina by 6
Dudley beat corina by 1
QUARTER-FINALS
Dave 2 : 1 Nathan
Dave who had been looking very impressive early on was starting to look beatable, but he managed to go through against previous winner Nathan.
Mary 0 : 2 Tim
Mary’s undefeated run came to an end against the reigning champ who was beginning to find his form at the crucial stage.
Ben A 2 : 0 Roger
Ben A looked just as impressive here as in the group stage. He despatched Roger and became the only undefeated player left in the tournament.
Ben W 2 : 0 Andy
Ben W also started to show his form against Andy who was unlucky not to win the first game.
SEMI FINAL
Having carefully fixed the draw so that he wouldn’t have to meet Tim til the final, Ben found his plan had come unstuck by Tim coming second in his group and the 1st and 2nd seed met at semi final stage. Ben W won the first game, but Tim held his nerve and his consistency as Ben W’s momentum deserted him. It’s the second year running that Tim’s knocked Ben W out and the first year that Ben W hasn’t made the final.
Tim 3 : 1 Ben W
There was going to be a new face in the final and Dave W needed to get past Ben A to set up an all Walker brothers final. But as Dave W struggled to show his form of the early rounds, Ben A was getting into his stride. It was close fought but Ben A edged it.
Dave 1 : 3 Ben A
FINAL
Ben A hadn’t lost a match all day, but the reigning champ proved too much in the final. Tim in with a chance of making history as the first person it retain the trophy made no mistakes and was crowned (?) the 2009 European Masters Champion.
Tim 4 : 0 Ben A
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