Jan Serisier was fastest out of the blocks, managing to win her first six games. A swab failed to reveal any foreign substances had been imbibed before this Olympic event. After only a few later hiccups, Jan continued her good run to finish a very creditable 6th.
Back into Scrabble with a vengeance, John Spaan, now resident in the ACT, wasn't having such a good time. He remained winless up to game 10, yet on the way had picked up high word scores first for STEENING (145) and later against Paul Cleary for JOTTINGS (185).
Paul himself got off to a poor start, dropping three of his first four games, but recovered well to find himself in a position to challenge John Holgate for the honours in the 14th and final game which was King of the Hill. John was one game clear, but Paul had a larger spread thanks mainly to a 350 point drubbing of Norma Tracey in the previous game. The winner of the final game between John and Paul would win the event.
And for once it was not Paul who won the playoff. Bad memories of the International Masters would have been with John as this time he successfully defended Paul's challenge to win the final game and overall first placing two games clear of Paul, me and Esther Perrins.
Many thanks go to the Zetler family for giving up their residence for one day in the name of Scrabble. The move from the old Carlingford garage was welcomed, and those there yesterday were hopeful that the experience will be repeated next year.
Results after game 14
ROUND ROBIN -- A
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 John Holgate 12 918
2 Paul Cleary 10 1095
3 Bob Jackman 10 843
4 Esther Perrins 10 724
5 John Foley 9 588
6 Jan Serisier 9 54
7 Joanne Craig 7 -288
8 Peter Shaw 6 297
9 Ivor Zetler 6 -944
10 John Barker 5 -323
11 Rod Talbot 5 -404
12 Norma Tracey 4 -947
13 John Spaan 3 -710
14 Gloria Gallagher 2 -903
HIGH GAME: Peter Shaw 577
HIGH WORD: John Spaan 185
"JOTTINGS"
Stats for Tournament : ROUND ROBIN
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *A + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW John Holgate | 8 6 | 3 2 | 9.6 12.0 | 1824 +40 1864 |
| NSW Paul Cleary | 5 5 | 1 1 | 10.5 10.0 | 1877 -6 1871 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 12 10 | 5 4 | 8.8 10.0 | 1774 +26 1800 |
| NSW Esther Perrins | 6 7 | 2 3 | 10.4 10.0 | 1865 -5 1860 |
| NSW John Foley | 10 11 | 4 5 | 9.8 9.0 | 1807 -9 1798 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 127 54 | 34 16 | 3.6 9.0 | 1474 +131
1605 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 47 42 | 14 11 | 6.3 7.0 | 1621 +16 1637 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 38 45 | 10 12 | 6.8 6.0 | 1644 -14 1630 |
| NSW Ivor Zetler | 101 78 | 25 22 | 4.3 6.0 | 1513 +36 1549 |
| NSW John Barker | 43 60 | 12 18 | 6.8 5.0 | 1631 -33 1598 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 17 29 | 6 8 | 9.1 5.0 | 1763 -79 1684 |
| NSW Norma Tracey | 137 131 | 38 36 | 3.5 4.0 | 1458 +9 1467 |
| NSW John Spaan :act | 106 126 | 26 33 | 4.4 3.0 | 1501 -27 1474 |
| NSW Gloria Gallagher | 118 149 | 32 42 | 4.0 2.0 | 1478 -39 1439 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+