2015 Watford One-Day Open AC Tournament

The hoops were challengingly firm and set to 1/16", and the sun was out for the annual Watford 1-day AC tournament. There was a stiff breeze which belied the sunny conditions and kept everyone quite cool - apart from the occasional flash of frustration at a failed hoop.

In the Level Advanced block Gary Bennett was trying win his third consecutive title, but his hopes were dashed in the first round when he unexpectedly lost by 1 on time against Alan Clark. The other games in rounds 1 and 2 went more or less according to the form-book, and so the final ended up between Terry Mahoney and Bryan Harral. This proved to be a closely contested affair. After some to-and-fro Bryan gained the upper hand, but when reaching 4-back on his second break decided that he ought to be doing some peels to save lifts, and so tried to peel his other ball, then also for 4-back, from a difficult position and without an escape ball. The peelee stuck on a wire leaving Bryan hampered and unable to run the hoop, so he had to run and hide in a corner. Terry hit the 7-yarder he had been left, picked up a break to gain the innings and his second break around, and eventually won +5 for the title.

Meanwhile on an adjacent court Gary Bennett nearly managed to salvage some consolation in the third round for his first-round defeat by almost completing a standard tp. The third peel went through nicely on the way to 3-back, and with all the balls in place for a routine break to finish it looked to be in the bag. But the demons were busy, and Gary was thwarted by sticking in the jaws of 4-back. Too bad. But his lead was already too great for his opponent to recover, and Gary ended up with a regular +22 win to salvage 2/3 and second place for the day.

The consolation prize for the largest net index-point gain amongst the losers went to John Smallbone.

In the Handicap Advanced block Carole McLoughlin emerged the winner with 3 out of 3, narrowly avoiding the need for the manager's nightmare 3-way tie-breaker with Robin Barry and Robert Skeen, when she managed to beat Robin +1 on time in a tense golden-point finish as the evening shadows encroached.