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Bedford Pick'em Tournament November 2003
This is where things get interesting! This format for a tournament was something that Alan Jones wanted to try: teams made from 5 players, each balanced in ability and each with an equal chance of winning. There were enough players to make 7 teams in total and on paper, no one could call it so we all held our breath as it started to play out. My own team started off badly, dropping a leg in our first match and no one of our 5 was hugely confident of winning at the end of the Saturday. However, Darren and Lorna came back in the morning and brought some tictacs with them! We played our arses off and got used to playing with each other (at Quasar). As the Sunday was played out, we didn't drop a game and we played right through. The comp was played as a round robin, everyone playing anyone with 1 point for a leg and 1 extra point for winning the match over all. Before our last game we were imformed by Alan that as the point stood, we were playing for anywhere between 4th and 1st!
Thanks to the great format, the games where tight and no one knew which team was stronger. Right until the end, it was anyones guess who could win but in the end we did by 1 point (I think).
The team was Darren, Victor, Lorna, Jimbo and myself.
Everyone on our team did brilliantly (if I say so myself) with Darren coming second in the 2's, Victor on the pair that won it and Jimbo impressing everyone by winning the 1's and earning himself the "Players Player" medal. I was the weakest player on our team and in some ways, we used that to our advantage. Players trying to get points off me found it a lot harder than it should have been. I owe my medal to a great team. Well done everyone!
Top row, Victor (South Shields), Darren (Bedford), Me
Front row, Lorna (ES), Jimbo (Bedford)