BTTC Annual Hardbat Tournament.
2011/12
West denies Dove third
consecutive hardbat title.
The 2011 Britannia hardbat tournament which took place at the Defoe Road Dome on a very warm July Sunday included some of the top hardbat players in the country. Indeed, the top four seeds, Tony West, Fred Dove, Wayne Shaw and Andy Holmes are all currently ranked in the top 100 players on the world hardbat ranking list, and it was therefore no surprise when they all progressed safely through the group stages of the tournament.
Number one seed Tony West powered his way through to win group one with consummate ease, Nigel Hodder finishing second after close encounters with both Tim Diss and Sonja Talbot.
Richard Hutchinson is almost as handy with a hardbat is he is with his ‘normal’ bat, but although he took the first game off number two seed, Fred Dove, it was Fred who came through to win two games to one to head group two, consigning Richard to second place, with the match between the two having produced some top class play thoroughly enjoyed by the spectators.
Andy Warner had to settle for second place in group three after loosing out to number three seed, Wayne Shaw in another lively encounter similarly enjoyed by the onlookers.
There was a surprise group stage result when number four seed Andy Holmes took a hammering from an inspired Kevin James who won group four without dropping a single game, leaving Andy to struggle through in second place to complete the quarter final line up.
The quarter finals provided interesting contests which provided equally interesting and high quality play enjoyed by both the players and onlookers. Tony West progressed to the semi’s after an entertaining match with Richard Hutchinson, Tony dominating the rallies with his attacking style forcing Richard to defend way back from the table, Tony’s consistency taking him through. Andy Holmes surprise loss in the groups meant he had to face another seed, Wayne Shaw, Wayne winning relatively easily to progress to the semi’s, and also meant that the third quarter final would be contested by two unseeded players, Kevin James and Nigel Hodder. Nigel was simply unable to cope with the prolific attack of Kevin who continued his earlier fine group form to dominate the contest, taking him into the semis. Last of the quarter finals featured two previous winners of this event, Andy Warner, and Fred Dove looking for a third consecutive title. Andy took the first game, but Fred, never one to give up easily, hung on to take the second after several long rallies. Fred attacked Andy earlier in the rallies to secure the third and decisive game taking him through to the semis.
The first semi-final between Tony and Wayne turned out to be probably the best match of the tournament. Tony took the first game, but Wayne countered superbly to level the match. There was never more than a couple of points separating them in the decisive third game which was eventually won by Tony after a cruel net in his favour late on enabled him to secure his place in the final. The other semi-final was dominated by Fred who brought an end to Kevin’s fine run of form to set up a final between the top two seeds.
The final was a seesaw affair with Fred winning the first with apparent ease and Tony taking the second in similar fashion. However, it was the sheer consistency of Tony that allowed him to take the final third game and with it the 2011 Britannia Hardbat title.
FINAL PLACINGS :
Winner – Tony West, Runner-up – Fred Dove,
3rd.Kevin James, 4th.Wayne Shaw, 5th.Richard Hutchinson, 6th.Andy Warner, 7th.Andy Holmes, 8th.Nigel Hodder, 9th.Tim Diss, 10th.Michael Wright, 11th.Richard Goodhand, 12th.Terry Kirby, 13th.Ken Lewis, 14th.Sean Gridley, 15th.Bob Jennings, 16th.Bob Jennings.
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BTTC Hardbat 2010/11.
The Britannia TTC’s annual hardbat tournament took place at the Dome on Sunday 27th.June 2010, with Fred Dove, considered by many to be a hardbat ‘specialist’, attempting to retain his title.
In Group 1, Fred, seeded 1, stamped his authority on the tournament from the onset, romping through the group stage virtually untroubled. Even number 4 seed, Andy Dosher, was unable to get more than 15 points on the scoreboard, defeated in two straight, such was Fred’s tenacity !! The surprise in the group was club chairman, unseeded Ken Lewis, who proved he can be as wylie with a hardbat as he can be with his ‘normal’ bat, loosing only to the two seeded players.
Group 1 finished as follows : 1)Fred Dove, 2)Andy Dosher, 3)Ken Lewis, 4)Michael Wright, 5)Sonja Talbot, 6)Lucy Zhu.
Group 2 similarly went as per the seedings with Wayne Shaw, seeded 2 remaining undefeated, although he was pushed to three games by both number 3 seed, Andy Warner, and the unseeded Gary Young.
Group 2 finished as follows : 1)Wayne Shaw, 2)Andy Warner, 3)Gary Young, 4)Bob Jennings, 5)Ray Zhu, 6)Jason Annal.
So to the semi finals which saw Fred against Andy Warner and Wayne against Andy Dosher. Andy W put Fred under pressure winning the first end at deuce, but that was as far as Andy was to go, Fred upped a gear taking the next two comfortably to progress to the final. Wayne had no difficulty disposing of Dosher in two to also progress to the final.
The final involving the top two seeds, hardbat ‘specialist’ Fred and Wayne a player who mostly plays with a hardbat even in league play, promised to be a cracker. However, it fell somewhat short of such description, Fred dominating the rallies and winning comfortably two straight to retain his title and add credence to his hardbat ‘specialist’ label.
Final positions :
Winner : Fred Dove.
Runner-up : Wayne Shaw.
3rd & 4th : Andy Dosher beat Andy Warner.
5th & 6th : Ken Lewis beat Garry Young.
7th & 8th : Michael Wright beat Bob Jennings
9th & 10th : Sonja Talbot w/o Ray Zhu
11th & 12th : Lucy Zhu w/o Jason Annal (retired injured)
BTTC is grateful to Andy Warner for organising this event.
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Past winners