61 NSW players made it to Revesby for the inaugural Matchplay Qualifier event, some of them braving Sydney's railway service to get there. Ironically, the only late players were ones travelling by car. We made a slightly late start due to a couple of latecomers and no-shows, and an issue with the number of tables at the venue not having been checked beforehand. We also welcomed Akegapun Erbprasartsook from Thailand, who is studying in Sydney in 2004 and made his debut in NSW tournaments, achieving an impressive 4th place and initial rating of 1733.
I was too busy being inaugurated into organising tournaments to collect many stories, but I did hear a few here and there. The upset of the first round was probably Jean Balmer's victory over Joanne Craig. Paul Cleary won his first game by 303 but went down to Moana Nepia in the next round, before scoring two more 500+ games to be sitting on an 800 margin after only four games. He played the classy ORIGIN(AT)E. I was pleased to find vAQUERO and LIFTGATE in my first game.
At lunchtime (after round 4) it was still unclear what sort of result would be required in order to attain a top 16 finish. Four players were still undefeated - Esther Perrins, Edward Okulicz, Bob Jackman and myself - with many others sitting one game behind. (These four were the top four going into the final king of the hill round, as it turned out). Several not rated in the top 16 for the event were also doing very well - Ram Mohe and Rex Shakespeare both had stints at the top tables.
Edward beat Esther and Bob beat me in round 5, and Edward beat Bob in round 6 to be the only undefeated player, and continued to win until he played me in round 8. Meanwhile some of the top players were getting some big scares - I had to find a four move outplay to catch Moana Nepia with the Q and win by 8, and Hanne Marks knocked over both Rod Talbot and John Barker. Open tournaments are certainly the ones to play for big ratings increases - Hanne took away 51 points.
Going into the king of the hill it was clear that everyone on 5 wins (16 people) was playing for a place in the top 16. Meanwhile Bob, Edward and I all had 7/8 and were within 34 spread points of each other. I had a rematch with Bob and Edward with Esther (top of the 6 win group), and the results did not change from round 5 - Bob and Edward both won. Meanwhile Akegapun and Joan Rosenthal had both finished strongly to finish on 7 wins, but neither had a sufficient margin to tip me out of 3rd. Had Tony Hunt won his final game against Joan he would have been 3rd. Interestingly, many people on 6/9 had superior margins to the people who finished on 7.
The king of the hill was kind to some and cruel to others. In particular, commiserations to Rod Talbot (last year's Matchplay runner up), who was paired with Joanne Craig in round 9 and lost by a 200 point margin, finishing 20th. However, there were some very happy people at the end of the tournament when I read out the top 16 and the likely pairings for the first round of knockouts (they did not always seem to stay so happy when they found out who they'd be playing).
It was nice to get some favourable comments about the tournament, and hopefully the event can get bigger and better. Thanks as always to Wilma for directing, Alan Gauci for saving the day with the equipment, and to the committee in NSW for their terrific help to me in organising an event for the first time, especially to Jean Balmer and Bob Jackman.
Results after game 9
MATCHPLAY QUALIFIER 04 -- OPEN
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Bob Jackman 8 626
2 Edward Okulicz 8 588
3 Chris May 7 399
4 Akegapun Erbprasarts 7 311
5 Joan Rosenthal 7 250
6 Paul Cleary 6 1006
7 Joanne Craig 6 643
8 Esther Perrins 6 588
9 Tony Hunt 6 494
10 John Holgate 6 380
11 John Spaan 6 257
12 Sam Greenberg 6 86
13 Ram Mohe 6 17
14 Hanne Marks 6 2
15 Rex Shakespeare 6 -9
16 Sharon Sorensen 6 -39
17 Jean McGiffen 5 513
18 Norma Tracey 5 232
19 Moana Nepia 5 202
20 Rod Talbot 5 187
21 Louise Kobler 5 149
22 Peter Shaw 5 129
23 Jan Pincott 5 118
24 Betty Foreman 5 72
25 Edith Lowbeer 5 18
26 Nanette Reynolds 5 13
27 Greg Pinchbeck 5 -3
28 Jean Balmer 5 -25
29 Pat Schuberg 5 -50
30 Liz Jackman 5 -134
31 Teresa Traynor 5 -196
32 John Barker 4 240
33 Ian Close 4 196
34 Donna MacDonald 4 59
35 Jenny Templeton 4 -55
36 David More 4 -61
37 Jan Serisier 4 -86
38 Judy Hay 4 -107
39 Jean Noonan 4 -110
40 Raya Wilkinson 4 -142
41 Audrey Newman 4 -159
42 Fay Van Oyen 4 -169
43 Bev Purkis 4 -219
44 Rocky Sharma 4 -220
45 Pearl Gillott 4 -279
46 Frank Hunt 4 -504
47 Alan Gauci 3 -40
48 Mark Smith 3 -104
49 Jan Tomlin 3 -120
50 Margaret Andrews 3 -179
51 Margaret Berliner 3 -268
52 Margaret Ackman 3 -309
53 Basil Sands 3 -341
54 Wendy Macquart 3 -370
55 Joy Morris 3 -374
56 Arie Holla 3 -412
57 Yvonne Edwards 3 -544
58 Sue Tuckett 2 -251
59 Maree Heynen 2 -342
60 Diana Field 2 -724
61 Maria Kaye 2 -821
62 A Bye 0 -9
HIGH GAME: Moana Nepia 601
HIGH WORD: Moana Nepia 158
"DEPORTEE"
Stats for Tournament : MATCHPLAY QUALIFIER 04
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *OPEN + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Edward Okulicz:act | 1 1 | 1 1 | 7.1 8.0 | 1908 +15 1923 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 10 6 | 6 4 | 5.7 8.0 | 1762 +47 1809 |
| NSW Chris May | 5 4 | 3 2 | 6.4 7.0 | 1835 +10 1845 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 17 13 | 8 8 | 5.9 7.0 | 1715 +23 1738 |
|*NSW Akegapun Erbprasarts | 0 14 | 0 9 | 7.0 7.0 | 1733 1733 |
| NSW Paul Cleary | 4 5 | 2 3 | 7.6 6.0 | 1850 -26 1824 |
| NSW Tony Hunt | 45 40 | 14 15 | 4.6 6.0 | 1586 +28 1614 |
| NSW Esther Perrins | 12 12 | 7 7 | 5.6 6.0 | 1742 +9 1751 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 31 33 | 10 11 | 6.4 6.0 | 1644 -7 1637 |
| NSW John Holgate | 7 9 | 5 6 | 6.9 6.0 | 1791 -18 1773 |
| NSW John Spaan :act | 34 37 | 11 12 | 6.6 6.0 | 1631 -11 1620 |
| NSW Hanne Marks | 163 123 | 46 34 | 3.6 6.0 | 1395 +51 1446 |
| NSW Ram Mohe | 229 195 | 59 53 | 3.8 6.0 | 1312 +45 1357 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg | 134 114 | 38 29 | 4.3 6.0 | 1426 +34 1460 |
| NSW Sharon Sorensen | 353 293 | 87 72 | 2.4 6.0 | 1127 +88 1215 |
| NSW Rex Shakespeare | 257 243 | 63 61 | 4.8 6.0 | 1270 +23 1293 |
| NSW Moana Nepia | 95 70 | 26 20 | 3.2 5.0 | 1488 +36 1524 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 37 38 | 12 13 | 5.1 5.0 | 1619 -1 1618 |
| NSW Norma Tracey | 91 101 | 24 28 | 5.8 5.0 | 1493 -14 1479 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 6 7 | 4 5 | 7.0 5.0 | 1829 -31 1798 |
| NSW Jan Pincott | 244 235 | 60 60 | 4.1 5.0 | 1284 +19 1303 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 63 71 | 20 21 | 6.0 5.0 | 1537 -19 1518 |
| NSW Betty Foreman | 82 94 | 21 26 | 5.6 5.0 | 1502 -13 1489 |
| NSW Jean Balmer | 400 378 | 95 90 | 4.1 5.0 | 1072 +19 1091 |
| NSW Greg Pinchbeck | 344 323 | 86 83 | 3.5 5.0 | 1137 +29 1166 |
| NSW Louise Kobler | 157 155 | 44 44 | 4.9 5.0 | 1400 +2 1402 |
| NSW Nanette Reynolds | 482 460 | 115 110 | 3.9 5.0 | 988 +25 1013 |
| NSW Liz Jackman | 335 325 | 83 84 | 4.1 5.0 | 1144 +18 1162 |
| NSW Pat Schuberg | 131 136 | 37 38 | 5.2 5.0 | 1427 -4 1423 |
| NSW Edith Lowbeer | 530 489 | 125 117 | 2.8 5.0 | 938 +44 982 |
| NSW Teresa Traynor | 679 622 | 170 157 | 3.3 5.0 | 823 +36 859 |
| NSW John Barker | 46 67 | 15 19 | 6.9 4.0 | 1583 -56 1527 |
| NSW Jean Noonan | 121 150 | 32 41 | 6.3 4.0 | 1449 -45 1404 |
| NSW Fay Van Oyen | 446 417 | 106 99 | 2.7 4.0 | 1020 +25 1045 |
| NSW Donna MacDonald | 249 252 | 61 64 | 4.2 4.0 | 1274 -1 1273 |
| NSW David More | 448 459 | 107 109 | 4.3 4.0 | 1020 -6 1014 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 127 182 | 34 52 | 6.5 4.0 | 1428 -50 1378 |
| NSW Ian Close | 266 277 | 66 69 | 5.2 4.0 | 1262 -24 1238 |
| NSW Bev Purkis | 300 311 | 73 78 | 4.6 4.0 | 1201 -12 1189 |
| NSW Rocky Sharma | 923 759 | 240 195 | 1.1 4.0 | 643 +113 756 |
| NSW Raya Wilkinson | 218 234 | 55 59 | 5.1 4.0 | 1325 -22 1303 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 54 81 | 16 22 | 7.1 4.0 | 1566 -62 1504 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton | 265 271 | 65 66 | 4.5 4.0 | 1262 -10 1252 |
| NSW Judy Hay | 228 247 | 58 62 | 5.8 4.0 | 1314 -34 1280 |
| NSW Pearl Gillott | 693 680 | 174 171 | 3.3 4.0 | 809 +14 823 |
| NSW Frank Hunt | 557 559 | 135 136 | 4.1 4.0 | 912 -1 911 |
| NSW Jan Tomlin | 465 463 | 110 112 | 2.7 3.0 | 1003 +8 1011 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews | 331 353 | 82 87 | 4.2 3.0 | 1147 -22 1125 |
| NSW Margaret Berliner | 311 333 | 77 85 | 4.7 3.0 | 1185 -34 1151 |
| NSW Alan Gauci | 439 443 | 104 106 | 3.1 3.0 | 1027 -3 1024 |
| NSW Mark Smith | 480 492 | 114 119 | 3.4 3.0 | 990 -9 981 |
| NSW Wendy Macquart | 894 862 | 230 223 | 2.3 3.0 | 661 +23 684 |
| NSW Margaret Ackman | 934 936 | 244 246 | 3.0 3.0 | 632 -1 631 |
| NSW Basil Sands | 621 649 | 156 162 | 3.9 3.0 | 859 -18 841 |
| NSW Yvonne Edwards | 739 712 | 189 184 | 1.9 3.0 | 778 +21 799 |
| NSW Joy Morris | 909 916 | 234 238 | 3.2 3.0 | 652 -5 647 |
| NSW Arie Holla | 799 815 | 203 208 | 3.4 3.0 | 726 -8 718 |
| NSW Sue Tuckett | 340 386 | 85 91 | 5.1 2.0 | 1140 -59 1081 |
| NSW Maree Heynen | 675 709 | 168 182 | 3.3 2.0 | 824 -25 799 |
| NSW Maria Kaye | 1014 1035 | 274 280 | 2.9 2.0 | 573 -18 555 |
| NSW Diana Field | 1042 1059 | 281 288 | 2.8 2.0 | 551 -16 535 |