Sussex News – 2011 Issue Number

Sussex News – 2011 Issue Number 3

Spring is here, the sun is shining and the end of the season is drawing near in most Leagues, but I’m sure that the Opens and the Summer Competitions will keep the die-hards happy!

It must have felt like “Groundhog Day” to the visiting Romans Team as New Sussex Hotel A swept in to a 4-1 lead in the repeat of last years Watney Mann Cup Final. Kevin Tunstall (9,370) won the first and Rick Dewdney took advantage of Nigel Senior losing a big break in the second game to put the home side two up. Geoff Jukes (8,220) and Kevin Hall (7,820) made it 4-0, but Marcus Chipman (5,550) gave the visitors a glimmer of hope as he won the final leg of the night. The Gardeners enjoyed a close 3-2 home win over New Sussex Hotel B, despite the visitors flying into a 2-0 lead thanks to wins by Chris Cox (7,740) and Dave Jones (5,960). Bill Kerr (6,100) pulled one leg back, home team skipper Tony Jenner (9,710) levelled the match and Steve Aylmore (7,160) then took the last to leave the match nicely poised for the second leg.

Kevin Tunstall won his 6^th Sussex Open title at the Roffey Club in Horsham on Sunday 12^th June beating Steven Sheard (Oxon) in the Final. It was Kevin’s 3^rd consecutive win in the Opens so far this year and followed on from his back-to-back victories in Guernsey and Surrey last month and he also won the highest break award, while it was disappointment again for Steven having finished runner-up to Kevin in Surrey and Leon Beer in the Sussex Open Last year. Curt Driver (Kent) and Dave Ingram reached the semi-finals, Dave France, Ian Lelliott, Kevin Hall and Lorin Clough (Northants) were quarter-finalists and Dave Reeves and Tony Lewis reached the Last 16. A welcome return for Chris Reeves who made a rare appearance and won an exciting Plate Final against Geoff Powell (Oxon) with a last ball in the 200 hole to clinch the victory. Chris had earlier beaten Neil Higgins in the Plate Semi-Final, while Bella Stoner lost to Geoff in the quarter-finals. Ron Sheridan reached the last 16 of the Plate in his first ever Open, as did Andrew Hall, Jason Akehurst, Micky Fairs and Nigel Senior…. who has maybe played in a few more Opens than Ron!

A huge thank you must go to Jean & Alan Brackenridge for all their work over the whole weekend, also to Nigel Senior, Colin Robbins (for his usual lovely food), Dave Alder and the AEBBA and Tarratts Tables for providing the tables over the weekend and the Roffey Club for their terrific hospitality.

It was also lovely to see the Guernsey Team over the weekend for the international, although the match itself was won by the huge margin of 42 – 5 by a very strong England team. The England team featured several Sussex players with captain Kevin Tunstall winning his singles 3-0, as did Nigel Senior, Geoff Jukes, Richard Wooton and Jim Millward. In the doubles, Nigel (with Curt Driver of Kent) won their match 5-0,Richard and Jim beat their opponents 4-1 and Geoff (with Mark Brewster of Kent) had a narrow 3-2 win in their match.

Barry Holt won his first Sussex Masters title, overcoming a bad back as well as a strong field at the Roffey Club on Saturday 11^th June. Five of the eight “top seeds”, Kevin Tunstall, Richard Wooton, Geoff Jukes, Gareth Lloyd and Barry Holt won their Groups, while Rick Dewdney, Neil Higgins and Dave Ingram also emerged as Group winners, Dave defeating defending champion and Number 2 Ranked Nigel Senior. In the Quarter-Finals, Barry defeated Dave, Gareth beat Geoff, Richard beat Neil and Kevin defeated Rick. Barry then had a big win over Gareth to reach the final, while Richard overcame Kevin in a close battle in the other semi-final. Richard won the toss in the Final and put Barry on first, Barry played the table out with a superb 15,050, which proved too much with Richard breaking down at 8,470 in reply allowing Barry to claim the victory. Richard did have the highest break of the day, with a table play out of 18,030. Jim Greensted won the Plate Competition with a good victory over Dave Reeves in the Final, Bella Stoner and Marcus Chipman were the two losing semi-finalists.

The Atlas completed the line up for the Watney Mann Cup Quarter-Finals with a 3-2 win away at Hurst Club B and a 7-3 overall victory. Charlie Cooper won a tight first game for the visitors against the break and then visiting skipper Mick Pope hit the best score of the night (7,290) to make sure of the overall win. Darrell Skinner (4,620) pulled a game back for the home side then Gina Sherratt won on the last ball to give the visitors the win on the night leaving Ian Giffen to take a consolation last leg for the home team. The Atlas will now meet The Old House at Home.

New Sussex Hotel B booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Watney Mann Cup with a 5-0 home win against the Star, Eastbourne on Wednesday 7^th June to complete an 8-2 overall victory. Colin Green won the first game and wins for Chris Lucas (6,010) and Kim Hurley made sure of the win, leaving Steve Hurley and Dave Jones to complete the whitewash and book their next round clash against the Gardeners, Portslade.

The first quarter-final of the Watney Mann Cup was played on Sunday 5^th June and the Plough Plumpton managed a 3-2 win away at the Albion in Brighton. Jean Brackenridge (5,000) won the first game for the home team and Bella Stoner (8,450) quickly doubled the lead and set the Ladies High Break for the “new” season with 8,080. Dave Ingram (6,540) pulled a game back for the visitors in a close tussle with Alan Brackenridge (5,880) and then wins for Henry Brooks and Darren Newnham gave the Plough a narrow lead to defend in the second leg.

The arrival of June saw three Watney Mann Preliminary Round matches played with New Sussex Hotel B gaining a close 3-2 win away to the Star in Eastbourne. Martin Crowhurst (6,290) started the evening off well for the home team, but wins for Colin Green, Chris Cox (5,280) and Steve Hurley gave the visitors the advantage before Colin Southouse pulled the last game back for the Star. A double booking on the Hurst Club table saw the Hurst B v Atlas match having to be switched to the Atlas who then gained a good 4-1 win over the Hurst B side. Charlie Cooper won a close first game for the home side and although Chris Kirkham levelled the match wins for Gina Sherratt, Edge Butler and Alan Messer who top scored with 4,070 on a tricky table gave the Atlas a good lead to take to the second leg. The defending champions, New Sussex Hotel A, completed a bad evening for the Hurst Club teams as they defeated Hurst A 4-1 to go through to the Quarter-Finals. Kevin Hall won a close opening game for the visitors and Geoff Jukes (9,700) made sure of the overall win in the next. Rick Dewdney (8,630) and Kevin Tunstall (11,040) won the next two which left Adam Bateup (7,220) to win the last and save the whitewash.

The last individual Finals of the season were played at The Cabin in Elmer on Sunday 15^th May. In the Mixed Pairs, Sandra Race and Kevin Hall beat Bella Stoner and Kevin Stoner 2-1 in a close match, Sandra and Kevin won the first with both pairs struggling to get used to the table, Bella opened with a tremendous 10,870 break to take the second game and the Highest Ladies Away Break in Sussex this season but Sandra and Kevin hit back to win a close decider where there were chances for everybody. Doug Mahy then beat Colin Southouse in the Captains Cup Final, Colin winning a low-scoring first game before Doug settled to take the next 2 games and secure the victory.

The first Watney Mann Cup game of the season saw the defending champions, New Sussex Hotel A, play their home leg against the Hurst Club A. Kevin Hall won the first for the home side and although Rob Hall (5,100) pulled the next leg back for the visitors, wins for Kevin Tunstall (6,010), Rick Dewdney (6,350) and Jim Greensted (7,400) gave the home team a useful 4-1 lead to take to the second leg

The 3^rd Surrey Open took place at St Nicholas School in Merstham on Sunday 8^th May and Kevin Tunstall won his second back-to-back Guernsey and Surrey Double in a very exciting final against Steven Sheard, Steven made an excellent break of 17,930 in the first game to set Kevin a very tough target, but a brilliant table play-out of 19,530 secured the win and retained Kevin’s title. Kevin had previously defeated Curt Driver (Kent) in the semi-finals and Gerry Fitzjohn (Kent) in the quarter-finals, while Steven had beaten Tony Woolvin (Hants) and his dad, Keith Sheard in the quarter-finals. The other quarter-finalists were Kevin Hall and Dave Ingram, while Geoff Jukes and Gareth Lloyd both reached the Last 16. Sandra Race and Caroline Jones (Surrey) shared the honours for being the furthest lady by reaching the Last 32, Tony Woolvin won the Highest Break Award with 20,050 and Jean Brackenridge won the highest Ladies Break with 4,550. Gary Powell (Surrey) won the Plate Competition, beating Roger Taylor in the Final, Roger having defeated Nigel Senior in the semi-final with Pauline Withey (Oxon) the other Plate Semi-Finalist. Ian Lelliott, Denise Wills (Surrey), Geoff Powell (Oxon) and Richard Corbould (Kent) reached the Plate Quarter-Finals.

Neil Higgins won his second Sussex Over 50’s title beating Colin Southouse 2-0 at The Royal Oak in Bognor Regis on Thursday 5^th May…. Here is a report from Neil about the game - I beat Colin 2 - 0 in the over-50s final tonight at the Royal Oak. Having won the toss and opting to go first, Colin looked comfortable until an unfortunate peg cost him his opening break. This seemed to unsettle him, and from then on he never really got to grips with the table. I found the table much to my liking, and won both games fairly comfortably. I would say the table was as good as any I've played on this season. Congratulations to Neil, who previously won the title in 2001.

The first weekend in May saw the 4^th Guernsey Open being held at Les Rocquettes Hotel in St Peter Port and it proved to be another successful weekend for the Sussex Players who travelled over. A new Pairs Competition was introduced on the Saturday afternoon and was won by Chris Tupper who was partnered by former Sussex player Harry Barbet, who now resides in Jersey. Chris and Harry beat England players Curt Driver and Mark Brewster from Kent in a close final having defeated Nigel Senior and Richard Wooton in the semi-finals. Perhaps one of the most interesting clashes of the day was the First Round match which pitched Hayley Tunstall (partnering Bob Chapple from Guernsey) against husband Kevin Tunstall (partnering Lewis Stratford from Oxford)…. Hayley and Bob proving victorious on the day.

In the Guernsey Open itself, a bit more joy for Kevin Tunstall who retained his title in style with a terrific table play out of 16,450 to beat Trevor Gallienne (Guernsey) in the Final. Kevin had a tough run to the final with narrow wins over Nigel Senior (Last 16) and Dave Ingram (Quarter-Finals) before beating Paul Barnett in the semi-final, Paul having beaten Mark Brewster and Geoff Jukes earlier in the day. Chris Tupper followed up his win in the pairs with a place in the Quarter-Finals and Steve Beach reached the last 16, Hayley Tunstall was the only lady to reach the Last 32 and also won the Ladies High Break Award with a break of 2,830, while Curt Driver won the Mens High Break Award with a First Round break of 17,900. The Plate Competition was won by Michael Phillips (Jersey) who beat Chrissie Newson (Hampshire) in an excellent final, Chrissie had beaten Colleen Park in the semi-finals and Dave Hampton reached the Quarter-Finals of the Plate.

Doug Mahy reached the final of the Sussex Captains Cup beating Tony Jenner 2-0 at the Roffey Club in Horsham, Doug will now meet Colin Southouse in the Final at The Cabin in Bognor.

Congratulations to Sandra Race, the new British Ladies Champion on her victory at the BIOC Championships at Salfords Club in Redhill on Sunday 17^th April, beating Jenny Edwards in the quarter-finals, defending champion Alison Norman (Surrey) in the semi-final and Genette Nicholls (Surrey) in the Final. Bella Stoner and Colleen Park were both defeated in the 2^nd Round of the main competition and, on another good day for the Sussex Ladies, former champion Lorraine Hall won the Plate Competiton, beating Melissa Standbridge (Oxon) in the Final, while Jean Brackenridge reached the semi-finals.

The final series of the Home and Away Inter League Competition was played on Sunday 17^th April and with the Division 1 Title already sealed by Worthing A, most of the attention was focused at the bottom end of the table where Tunbridge Wells hosted Horsham at The Imperial in a relegation decider. Bryan Stevens (17,580) got the home team off to a flying start, only for Gareth Lloyd (19,960) to hit back in style for the visitors. Wins for Ian Wright (10,430) and Pete Sainsbury (8,940) gave the home side the advantage and although Adam Kuzimski (11,490) pulled a game back for Horsham, Martin Russell and Richard Corbould (9,010) gave Tunbridge Wells a well deserved 5-2 win and meant that Horsham were relegated. Brighton A completed the double over champions Worthing A with a 5-2 home win at their new venue, The Bob & Tucker. Chris Tupper (10,570) found some good form to win the first game and wins for Steve Mariner (13,290), Jim Millward and Richard Wooton swept the home team to the win. Chris Lawman (13,120) and Martin Smith (despite losing his opening 10k+ break) pulled two games back for the visitors, but Kevin Hall (11,570) won the last for the home team, a win that means that he topped the Division 1 Averages this season. Worthing B secured 3^rd place in the table with a 5-2 win over Redhill A at the Swan. Nick Brown gave the home team an early lead and although Geoff Jukes (7,690) levelled the match, wins for Dave France (9,230) and Paul Barnett (7,750) put the home side in control. Visiting skipper Dave Constable (9,320) pulled a game back but a close win for Bill Kerr secured the match and Doug Mahy (7,680) added the icing on the cake for the home side.

Mid-Sussex A finished the season unbeaten and gained promotion from Division 2 with a close 4-3 win against Eastbourne at the Hurst Arms. Martin Crowhurst won the first game for the home side, but wins for Adam Bateup and Rob Hall (8,260) quickly put the visitors in the lead. Gary Sweeney (7,880) and Peter Payne won the next two to put the home side in front but the visitors were not to be denied as Lorraine Hall (7,100) levelled the game and Derek Taylor won the decider. Brighton B finished as runners-up, despite losing 4-3 at home to Littlehampton who ended up in 3^rd place. Marc Chipman (13,680) and Doug Dawson (8,970) swept the home side in to a 2-0 win, only for Alan Messer, Dave Simmonds and Paul Clifford (6.560) to roll off the next 3 frames and put the visitors in to the lead. Terrt Molloy (6.890) levelled the match, but Dave Hampton (6,950) won a captains decider to secure the win for his team. Plenty of tension and excitement at The Gardeners where Worthing C hosted Billingshurst in another relegation decider. Rick Cunningham put the home side in front, but Chip Sawyer (10,610) and Tony Temple won the next 2 games for the visitors. Colin Green made it all square in the next match only for Steve Eely (8,340) put the visitors back in front , Steve Aylmore levelled the match again and home captain Tony Jenner (13,130) took the decider with the best score of the night to secure the vital win to keep his team up and send Bilinghshurst down to Division 3 next season.

Redhill B secured the Division 3 title with a fairly comfortable 5-2 home win over bottom team Worthing D at the Old Oak. Wins for Frank Doyle, Graham Holman (5,080) and Pete Nicholls swept the home side in to a 3-0 lead and although James Osborne and Chris Cox pulled two legs back for the visitors, Richard Plaw (10,230) and Martin Greenway (5,220) secured the win and promotion for the home team. Lewes grabbed the runners-up spot with a close 4-3 win away to West Sussex at The Cabin. Martin Cole put the home team in the lead, but wins for Ric Bithell, Dave Knight and Jan Bithell gave the visitors a 3-1 lead. Kevin Charlton (4,600) and James Bicknell levelled the match but Kevin Stoner (4,140) won a captains game to bring the points back to Lewes. Mid-Sussex B suffered a surprise 4-3 home defeat at the hands of Brighton C to end their chances of silverware, although Darrell Skinner (5,160) had given them a good start at the Hurst Club. Steve Hurley and Brian Muggeridge put the visitors in to the lead and although Paul Jobbins made it all square after the 4^th game, Gary Mechan (5,540) and Mike Pope (5,200) gave the visitors the victory leaving Ros Appleby to win the last in consolation for the home side.

Mid-Sussex A retained their 100% record in Inter League Division 2, with a good 6-1 win over bottom side Billingshurst at the Hurst Club. Henry Brooks (7,100) gave the home side the lead with a tough win over visiting captain Mick Johnson (6,520) and Andy Farmer-Wright put the home team two up. Steve Holden pulled one back for the visitors, but the home team swept to victory thanks to wins for Adam Bateup (8,250), Pete Edwards and Rob Hall (6,650) with Lorraine Hall getting a walk-over in the last game as the visitors were a player short.

Mid-Sussex B played their postponed Series 7 Inter League match at the Hurst Club against Worthing D and a close 4-3 victory for the home team moved them up in to 2^nd position in Division 3. The visitors started well with James Whittle winning the first game of the night and although Ros Appleby levelled the match, the visitors then swept into a 3-1 lead thanks to wins for Chris Oakley (5,570) and Rob Driver, whose score of 1,080 is the lowest winning score so far this season. Geoff Fairs and Darren Newnham both won to force the decider, which was won by Steve King with best score of the night of 8,770.

A number of Sussex based players made the fairly short trip to the Moneyfields Social Club on Sunday 10^th April for the Portsmouth Open and were greeted by some fairly unfriendly tables that caused a number of shocks in the early rounds of the Competition which saw several of the leading players go out. Leon Beer (Oxon) was the eventual winner, beating Curt Driver (Kent) in the Final.

Colin Southouse had a good week and reached the Finals of 2 of the remaining Sussex Individual Competitions, firstly beating Nigel Pead 2-0 at the Montreal in Brighton in the Captains Cup and then beating Dave Ingram 2-0 in the Over 50’s at The Limeburners.

Worthing A won the Inter League Home & Away Division 1 title with a close 4-3 win over Worthing B at the New Sussex Hotel. Neil Higgins (7,040) gave the home team the lead and Ian Lelliott and Tony Lewis then swept them in to a 3-0 lead which seemed to put the home team in complete control. Dave France (7,130) pulled one back for the visitors and wins for Nick Brown (9,290) and Paul Barnett (7,560) levelled the match, but home captain Kevin Tunstall knocked in the best score of the night (10,640) to seal the victory and the title. Tunbridge Wells completed a memorable 4-3 win over Brighton A in a very high scoring match at The Imperial. Bryan Stevens (8,530) won the first for the home team only for Richard Wooton (14,730) to level the match. Richard Corbould (10,190) put the home team back in front and Pete Sainsbury (11,530) then beat Jim Millward (7,480) to put the home team in control, with Ian Wright (12,600) then hitting the best score of the night for the home side to seal the victory. Kevin Hall then played the table out for a new personal best of 21,050 and visiting captain Nigel Senior then hit a new record away score against the break of 22,340 to end the evening. Redhill A moved up the table to be level with Brighton thanks to a 4-3 win against bottom side Horsham at the Stout House. Tony Cross won the first game against the break to put the visitors in front, only for Gareth Lloyd (8,850) and Rick Dewdney (7,850) to win the next two games against the break and put the home team 2-1 up. Visiting skipper Dave Constable (6.610) won the next to level the match and Laurie Roberts and Terry Oakley (7,190) secured the points for the visitors, leaving John Miller to pull the last leg back for Horsham.

In Division 2, leaders Mid-Sussex A match against Billingshurst was postponed, allowing Brighton B to close the gap and move clear in 2^nd place thanks to a 5-2 win over Worthing C at The Albion. Mick Hall (8,200) put the home side in front only for Gina Sherratt (5,340) to level the game. Marc Chipman (7,430) and Alan Brackenridge (11,030) the put the home team firmly in control and although Tony Jenner (6,200) pulled one leg back for the visitors, wins for Bella Stoner (5,940) and Terry Molloy (11,450) ensured the win for Brighton. Eastbourne moved up to 3^rd place with a close 4-3 win over Littlehampton at the Hurst Arms. Martin Crowhurst (7,630) started the evening well for the home team, only for Alan Messer (4,770) to level the match. Colin Southouse (9,740) won an important game against the break for the home team with the best score of the night and Roy Jenkins won a low scoring game to put the home side 3-1 up. Dave Simmonds and Paul Clifford won the next 2 games for the visitors to level the match, but Nigel Pead (8,830) beat visiting skipper Dave Hampton to send the visitors on their long journey home empty-handed.

Redhill B took a big step towards the Division 3 title with a 7-0 whitewash over promotion rivals West Sussex at the Old Oak. Mark Fraser (12,450) started the evening well for the home side and wins for Frank Doyle, Martin Greenway and Pete Nicholls (6,090) made sure of the points. Graham Holman (5,670) won the closest game of the night against Martin Cole (4,630) to make it 5-0 and Richard Plaw (14,340) and Genette Nicholls (11,700) finished the evening off in style. Mid-Sussex B have a game in hand and are now the only team that could catch the leaders and they kept up their challenge with a 4-3 win away to 2^nd place Lewes at The Bridge. Dave Todd put the home team in front only for Darrell Skinner (4,240), Trevor Rees and Paul Jobbins to win the next 3 games to put the visitors in charge. Ric Bithell (3,760) hit the best score of the night for the home team and then Kevin Stoner won a last ball game to level the match, only for Ros Appleby to win a very low scoring decider to take the points for the visitors. The two teams at the bottom of the League met at the Gardeners and the home team Worthing D just got the better of visitors Brighton C with a 4-3 win that leaves the two teams level on 4 points. Lorenzo Hickman won the first game for the home team and Chris Cox (5,440) and Dave Collins won the next two to put Worthing in charge. Chris Elliott (6,480) pulled one back for the visitors, but Rob Driver took the next to give the home side the match, leaving Matt Knight and Mick Pope to win the last 2 games in consolation for the visitors.