2010 Island Magic Touch Singles
TONY ALLCHURCH BEATS HOLDER TO TAKE TROPHY!
Tony Allchurch is the 2010 Magic Touch Island Singles champion, having beaten the previous holder Matthew Pinel in the final!
The twenty five competitors (three withdrew) were divided into four groups and played each other player in their group with the group winners progressing to semi finals. The largest group of 7 was included both the 2009 Champion Matthew and his dad Keith. It was Matthew who topped this group with 6 wins. Keith was next best with 5 wins and an impressive +29 followed by Lyndon Lewis who won 4 of his 6 games, beating Keith 13-12 along the way!
Making a stand for the ladies was Joan Lewis, who beat everyone in her group! Joan’s immaculate placing and her win against Neil Selby 13-10 took her through into the semi finals. Neil in turn won all his remaining games and finished with +27 to Joan’s +26 so it was certainly their encounter which swung the outcome!
Tony Allchurch reaped the reward for his hard work and practice by winning all 5 of his games; coming from 0-8 down against Elaine Paisnel to win 13-9 and clinching his win against Brian Corbel 13-12. Young Jake Romeril (15) gave Tony a tough challenge just losing to 10-13. In the last of the group games Tony faced Ross Payne. Up to this point Ross was also unbeaten having played well throughout the morning. However Tony proved too strong an opponent and took this decisive game 13-5.
The fourth semi finalist was Dave Grover who won 4 of his 5 games. The only player to beat Dave was Chris Pinel. Chris was one of two players to win 3 of their 4 and a 13-0 win boosted his point’s difference to +25! Ian Foster too won 3 of his 5. Ian had a roller coaster of a day with some big losses but some big wins too!
Tony Allchurch pulled into a significant lead against Joan Lewis in their semi final, but Joan was not cowed by this and persevered to pull back to with 2 points at 9-11. Tony then closed out the game 13-11 to book his place in the final.
Dave Grover too pulled away from Matthew Pinel, whose took a little while to settle into the semi final. When Dave got into a 7-1 lead, Matthew’s firing returned to its devastating form and he was able to steadily move in front and continue to win the game 13-7 despite Dave playing well and putting up a good fight.
As in the semi, Matthew struggled to find early form and Tony was concentrated and determined and proved a good match for the holding champion. Tony moved to an 8-1 lead before Matthew snatched another two points. However, Matthew’s firing again let him down and he found himself 3-11 down to Tony. In the next end Tony was holding one of the two points needed to win and had the option to point as second ball or promote another of his. However he went for the ‘attacking’ option and instead fired out Matthew’s second placed boule to win the championship in style!
Runner Up Matthew Pinel