Brighton Finals Night 2017

["Silent"]

Schedule as follows:-

8.00pm Table 1 - Open Doubles - M.Baden & S.Hall v D.Ingram & G.Tully - (1-2 1680/7150, 5750/2460, 4050/11310)
8.00pm Table 2 - Over 55s - J.Brackenridge v S.Hurley - (2-1 8340/0, 3800/5060, 10850/2410)
8.00pm Table 3 - Lower Division Doubles - J.Baden & H.Millward v R.McGuiness & M.Parsons - (2-1 1270/1570, 5990/820, 4330/500)

9.00pm Table 1 - Under 25s - J.Baden v J.Oakley - (2-1 13330/70, 320/7310, 6960/1100)
9.00pm Table 2 - Mens Plate - G.Mechan v S.Burns - (2-1 6770/690, 1840/5770, 6120/3770)
9.00pm Table 3 - Mixed Doubles - M.Baden & N.Senior v J.Brackenridge & A.Brackenridge - (2-0 11490/730, 10150/1060)

10.00pm Table 1 - Mens Singles - N.Senior v K.Tunstall - (1-2 0/16840, 10020/0, 17320/18570)
10.00pm Table 2 - Lower Division Singles - J.Baden v C.Wheeler - (2-0 8380/0, 10320/970)
10.00pm Table 3 - Ladies Singles - J.Brackenridge v M.Baden - (0-2 2730/6380, 0/8150)

All matches to be played on neutral tables in back bar of Romans on Wednesday 17th May 2017 - good luck to everyone taking part

Note - the eagle-eyed amongst the readers will notice that Jean and Michelle are playing on the same table twice. This is because they are in three finals (but two different ones) which makes it impossible to ensure they don't use the same table twice.

[Mario]

What a wonderful (for the most part) night of Billiards was witnessed for the last time at the Romans tonight.
I saw a young Jack Baden (and when I say young, I have verrucas older then him!) play with such advanced years it makes me wonder if anyone will beat him in five years time.
I saw Michelle beat the almost unbeatable Jean in the Ladies singles, and what a treat we
were to witness in the Men's final.
Two of England's finest, KT v Nige. Kev went in first and settled straight away as he does,
taming the table to a modest 16k.
Nigel's turn... An unconvincing first 3-4 minutes ensued, but Nige settle and retire on 10k, only for Kev to concede the leg as nature had gotten the better of his bladder!
The decider. Kev said 'If I win the toss I'm going first'. Toss won, true to his word he set about raising the bar high.
After a slowish start, you could have bet your mortgage on the inevitable run out.
A few anxious looks at the pub clock (which is always 10 minutes fast) Kev amassed 18,570
pretty to watch.
Nige undaunted set about the task. At 6k he was a bit down on time, 10k a bit more down, thus he tried to force the pace only to compound the time gap. Not able to guide the balls cleanly enough down the holes, Nige ended the night a thousand short of the target, a terrific effort nonetheless. Great match.
So it's the end of an era. The two tables are to be taken out of the Romans later today, thus ending 45 years of Bar Billiards history at this once great venue.

[racehorse]

Thank you to all the volunteers on putting on a great finals night.

It was good to finally get name on plate after losing in the final 3 times previous :)

[doug]

I saw a young Jack Baden (and when I say young, I have verrucas older then him!) play with such advanced years it makes me wonder if anyone will beat him in five years time.

Don't worry, he would have discovered beer and women by then !!!!!!!

[marmite]

When you watch two gladiators do battle to the best of their abilities it is both inspiring and slightly intimidating. No two players could have been more evenly matched and to say Nigel lost is harsh but on the night Kevin was un beatable.I wonder if at some time we may have a match were the players can continue their breaks with more coins, we may have to start the finals in the afternoon to accomadate. Great win for Chelle, she played well all evening. Jack comes of age and time to carry on beating the big boys.

[BB Warrior]

An excellent evening, high quality games and perfomances to remember from many people some of who have already been mentioned by others on this thread.

Congratulations to all of the winners on the night, commiserations to the runners-up and thanks to Matthew for organising and running the competitions again this year, also to Ian and anyone else that helped to set up the tables which were all high scoring during the evening.

["Silent"]

Starting off the finals night report with the 8pm matches which saw Jack Baden and his partner Heather Millward win the Lower Division Doubles at the expense of Hikers B paring Rose McGuiness and Martin Parsons. Rose and Martin took the first leg which was very scrappy but in the second leg Jack made a winning break to make it 1-1. The County Oak B pairing dominated the decider with Heather making her second highest break of over 2k and Jack making sure.

A very good match on table 2 saw Jean Brackenridge win the Over 55s v Steve Hurley. The opening two legs were shared, both won against the break. Steve was off on just over 2k in the decider, Jean made an excellent 6k break to take the trophy.

A high quality Open Doubles final between Michelle Baden/Sandra Hall and Dave Ingram/Grant Tully was dominated by two players. Dave won the leg against the break with a very nice 6.6k and then Michelle returned the favour by making a 4k break after Grant had missed early. Dave went off with an excellent 11.3k break in the decider thus ensuring he didn't miss the whole match when he had the break. He was called off by his partner and I think the blood pressure was rising a little as Michelle got to 4k but she missed soon after to give the Albion C pairing the title.

In the 9.00pm matches Jack avenged his defeat by Joe Oakley in last years final of the Under 25s to give him two on the night. Table 1 continued to play well and Jack went off with a very comfortable 8.1k and touch before adding some more later. Joe went off with 3.5k in his break game and it was somewhat of a surprise that when Jack got the break back he knocked a peg over, a decider now required. Both players were feeling the nerves and it was 0-0 after both had their opening breaks. Jack first to get them back made sure next visit

Table 2 saw the battle of the Montreal boys with Gary Mechan beating team-mate Steve Burns in the Mens Plate Final. It was a very friendly start with both players struggling to get to grips with the fastest table on the night, I did see one break shot from Gaz whip out the 50 and straight down the 200!! Gary won the first leg but Steve came back strongly in the second winning out in a tough leg. In the decider it was another nervy leg with Gary doing enough for the win. Burnsy should be proud of his efforts but it was nice to see Gary win one after a few goes (too many) of trying

In the Mixed Doubles on table 3 Jean and Alan Brackenridge were asked to go first by Michelle Baden and Nigel Senior, that was significant as this table was the trickiest of the night with the break needing to be paced in (there were still high breaks and scores on it) We were 0-0 after the ladies had a break each and then Alan had a ball roll slightly right on him taking out a peg and giving Nigel the break back. He made a very solid 9k and touch to win the leg. Michelle didn't go off with many in her break game but it was soon round to her go again and a very nice 7k break gave her and Nigel the title.

In the 10.00pm matches Jack Baden completed a clean sweep on the night winning the Lower Division Singles title (think this might be his last year in that)! In beating Wellie player Chris Wheeler he avenged a couple of recent defeats by Chris. Jack played a very good match with 5k breaks in each of the legs and although Chris tried valiantly no-one could stop Baden Jr on the night....well done Jack

The Ladies Singles final between Michelle Baden and Jean Brackenridge was played on table 3 which Jean had not got on with in the mixed. Unfortunately for Jean this continued and Michelle took full advantage with a 4k break enough for the first leg and then in her break game Michelle went off with an excellent 8.1k (maybe her highest ever break)? Jean graciously conceded to give Michelle an overdue Ladies Singles title, well done Michelle

Steve's excellent summary of the Mens Singles final cannot be matched so I will just say well done to Kevin on a great win and to Nigel for being part of a great final

Ending, as always, with a few thank-yous....to everyone who supported the competitions this year and to those who came and supported finals night. To the Romans for hosting, sadly and disappointingly for the last time. Thank you to Toni for ensuring the tables were ordered and delivered. To everyone that scored.....Nigel, Sue, Alan, Kevin, Toni x2, Rick, Dave, DJ, Bob, Hayley and of course Ian who had the pleasure of scoring long into the night in the Mens final! Massive thanks to Ian again for giving up his afternoon to help me set up the tables, they are never all to everyone's taste but it was nice to receive some positive comments from a number of players. Have a good Summer

["Silent"]

Scores now added above