JUNE 2023 MONTHLY CLUB COMPETITION
The last Tuesday of June found us congregated, on yet another very hot and humid night, in the sports hall at Cygnet Leisure Centre. Traffic problems, which we hoped would ease and, train problems, which we hoped would speed up, were looking likely to scupper the chances of some of those who wished to attend. However, as time passed, the numbers slowly picked up until we eventually saw 16 entrants into this month’s competition.
Richard’s negative declaration that he was, yet again, in the ‘poule of death’ (clearly not true) and that he should ‘concede’ now, was only exacerbated by his first match being against his nemesis, Sofia. Slightly lifted by the prospect that she is a better fighter at the longer distance (15 points over 5 points) he set about his duel with more gusto than usual, all in vain though, as he lost 5 v 3. The negativity and heat clearly set in, unlike the previous month, as he only managed 57% of fights won in this month’s poule. Sofia, clearly buoyed and rested, since the end of her exams, was having a storming night, managing to win 5 out of 7 fights. Tadek, equally on form, also won 5 out of 7 of his fights. Was it an improvement in form, or just that the others could not handle a left-hander. Stuart was the champion of the poule, winning 6 out of 7 duels and only losing to on-form Sofia. Abs was present for the first time in a few weeks and took the title in two of his bouts, earning him the nickname ‘The Hustler’! Andrew, however, having arrived late, had to endure all 7 fights back-to-back, which proved catastrophic for any winning tally.
The actual ‘poule of death,’ on the night, should have been a much more closely fought battle, however, Sandy was clearly King on the night, winning 6 of his 7 matches and still managing 4 hits in the one that he lost. How he managed it whilst being the Health and Safety executive on the night I’ll never know; regularly informing the scorer to move on because a player needed a break due to the heat, or was it because he wanted a longer break? Was this his ploy? Is he indeed the master of the mental mind games? Hot on his heels were Phil and Henry who both won 5 out of their 7 battles, with Dave and Mark following on closely behind. Shawn was clearly affected by the rush, due to the trains and only managed 1 win, whereas the shock of the night was Rohan, who came away with 0% of games won – what is happening Debnam’s? With all of the poules completed, the teams were calculated for the team relay results to be fenced and finalised the following Tuesday – with any luck, in cooler circumstances!
The following Tuesday did indeed find us completing the June Monthly Competition in a cooler climate. All participants, bar Abs, were present and, he was replaced by Jaina in Team D. Fighting simultaneously on two pistes, Team A (Andrew, Stuart, Claudia and Phil) took on Team D (Mark, Peter, Jaina and Henry), whilst Team B (Rohan, Steve, Tadek and Sandy) took on Team C (Shawn, Dave, Sofia and Richard). With each team complaining that their opponents were the ‘team to beat’ the duelling commenced with gusto. Mark got Team D off to a flyer with a 3-0 advantage, however, Stuart managed to claw back Team A’s deficit to 5-6, giving the Claudia and Phil a fighting chance of winning against Jaina and Henry. However, the early lead proved too much and Team D managed to retain their winning stance taking the victory with a narrow 12-11 margin. Piste 2 had more turns, with Team B’s Rohan giving them a nice 3-1 lead off leg. A lengthy battle between Steve and Dave saw the taller man narrowly take the lead for Team C, ending the bout 6-5. Sofia managed to overcome the tricky left hander, Tadek and gain yet another point for Team C, whilst Richard finished off a dismal end to Team B’s run, again extending the point difference and giving Team C the win by 12 points to 9.
The third-place play-off was a quick affair with Team B taking an early lead through Rohan and, Steve, Tadek and Sandy followed in his lead quickly seeing off Team A, with a 12-8 victory. The victory bout was equally as conclusive. Mark gave Team D an early lead and Peter, Jaina and Henry had no problems seeing off their rivals to seal the win, also with a 12-8 victory. For the losing teams the lack of a team prize (it had been lemon and white chocolate hot cross buns back in March) had proved to be their downfall. Maybe, given the heat in recent days, they all claimed that they would have competed better if the promise of a winning ice cream were on offer…I’ll keep them in my bag next time! So congratulations to Team D – Peter, Mark, Henry and Jaina for being the June Monthly Club Competition winners.
