SIEGFRIED POHLENZ WINS ANGIE HAMBOUR MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

A field of 16 with 15 entrants started out on a very crisp winter Sunday morning, 8th July 2007, in Victoria Square Adelaide, having picked their way through the tramway construction site almost surrounding the Hilton Adelaide. And it’s timely to acknowledge the great assistance we have received from the Hilton over the years and note that a new General manager has joined – Chris Ehmann, whose last posting was The Nile Hilton. RH Finalist, JOHN McLEAN made a clean run through to the finals by defeating THEO GEORGIOU, GRIETO LUKJE and ANGEL ALI.
RH Finalist, SIEGFRIED POHLENZ also made a clear run into the finals by defeating NICK PAPADOPOULOS, NICK BEGAKIS, and PETER GEELEN.
LH Finalist, GRIETO LUKJE, after being knocked out in the second round RH, made a clear run to the LH finals by defeating JOHN O’GRADY, ANGELO ALI and PETER GEELEN. His run was stopped by SIEGFRIED POHLENZ for the chance to play JOHN McLEAN in the final. The final was played as follows. John needed to win 1 more game to be Champion. Siegfried needed to win 2 games to be Champion, with games to 11 points. Our system says the finalist who has lost a match has to win one more match than the finalist who made it to the finals without loss. So the final was between JOHN McLEAN and SIEGFRIED POHLENZ. John had already defeated Siegfried in the RH field was playing him yet again. The first match was very close as the score sheet above indicates – can’t get much close than 10:10. Siegfried triumphed. The second match was very different. Siegfried took a break to 4:2, then 6:2 and then 10:2 winning finally, after the Crawford Game, 10:3. We understand this is Seigfried’s first major tournament win – CONGRATULATIONS SIEGFRIED.

The Consolation Tournament had, finally, 16 entrants – all those who floundered in the main flight who were “robbed” by the dice. Your editor, on the day, would by now be rich, if he had a dollar for every time he heard “you wont believe it, I had 10 of his [or her] pieces on the bar and I needed to take 2 off and he [or she] threw 100 double sixes in a row to beat me”. I should point out your editor was one such backgammon tragic. Multiple entrants in the Consolation were DON SCHULZ [4], NICK BEGAKIS [3], NICK PAPADOPOULOS [3], ANGELO ALI [2], JOHN PAPADOPOULOS [2]. JOHN PAPADOPOULOS lost in the first round to NICK PAPADOPOULOS but came back to win by defeating along the way, NICK BEGAKIS, NICK PAPADOPOULOS, ANGELO ALI not once but twice. We understand this is John’s first major tournament win – and from the looks of him, this wont be the last. CONGRATULATIONS JOHN PAPADOPOULOS.

MONTHLY KNOCK OUT TOURNAMENTS

APRIL Won by EMMANUEL LAVRENTIADIS from VASSILIS TOUBAKARIS.

MAY Won by CHRIS BENHAM from JOHN O’GRADY.

JUNE Won by EMMANUEL LAVRENTIADIS from GRIETO LUKJE

JULY Won by ANGELO ALI from JOHN O’GRADY.

MONTHLY KNOCK OUT TOURNAMENTS – NEW RULES

To accommodate demand and ensure everyone gets a game, we ran a 16 draw in July and will continue running a 16 draw. Some draft rules have been circulated and will be trialled at our August 7th Knockout night. See the committee for a copy of the rules or request by e-mail from the editor as below.

30 YEAR CELEBRATION TOURNAMENT – “THE 30th”

So far, the top 5 are: NICK PAPADOPOULOS 50.0% - ANGELO ALI 50.0% - CHRIS BENHAM 44.6% - CLAUDIE TROMP 35.7% - SIEGFRIED POHLENZ 35.7%.

2007 MAJOR TOURNAMENT DATES

1. $50 SPECIAL TOURNAMENT – Tuesday 14th August – filling fast
2. SPRING TOURNAMENT – Triple Elimination – Sunday 4th November

LH PHOTO – “You have to be kidding” says JOHN PAPADOPOULOS [on the right], eventual winner of the Consolation Tournament plays NICK PAPADOPOULOS and shows some emotion in the second round of the Consolation Tournament, as Nick, with 3 pieces on the bar at the time, manages to secure the 1 point by throwing 1:5. John eventually won this match.

RH PHOTO – “I can’t bear to watch” says SIEGFRIED POHLENZ, eventual winner of the Tournament, and shows his disbelief as NICK PAPADOPOULOS throws the unexpected long range shot, a 4:6 from the 1 point to the 11 point, to put one of his pieces on the bar. Siegfried went on to win this match but was knocked out in the 4th round by JOHN McLEAN.