The end of the beginning and then a Love-In

Ray and I went to up to Markham in time to watch the last few boards of the CNTC. I watched a few hands and chatted with a lot of people. I got to say hello to the entire Cimon team and even got a hand from Francine. Audrey Grant was there watching her husband, David Lindop who was fighting for a qualifying position. She promised to help raise some money for the Teams next year. Audrey is always a good person to ask for help. It was terrific to see everyone and then wait the final moments to see who would make the final eight.

Coming into the home stretch 1. Gartaganis 2. Todd 3. Janicki 4. Whiteman 5/6 Rayner and 5/6 Thurston looked pretty safe In the hallway I met up with John Rayner and the Piglet and they both felt very confident – yes, it was mathematically possible to miss out but it wasn’t going to happen and in fact they had a winning tie but that was enough for a tie for fifth/sixth.

It was the other two places that were more or less up for grabs. Going into the round: Hanna had 358 Gamble 352 Altay 352 Jotcham 345 Korbel had 345 When Hanna beat Todd decisively to win 21 VP they had locked in a spot. There was only one more.

Both Jotcham and Korbel seemed like they had little chance. Jotcham locked up 20 VP so if Korbel was to win they would certainly have to beat that total. They were fortunate enough to be playing Altay. A decisive win against Altay could blast them past both Altay and Jotcham. They won by 23 VP. Altay was out and so was Jotcham.  Only one more hurdle for Korbel. Gamble was playing Anderson a team that was at the bottom of the field. A small win of 17 VP would see Gamble as the clear winner. But Gamble had a small loss winning only 13 VP not enough. Korbel had made it through! There was much surprise and pleasure.

I talked to Darren Wolpert and his mother Hazel. She had been more worried about Darren’s win than her own. They will both play on tomorrow. Darren in the CNTC and Hazel in the CWTC. I also had the chance to meet and talk to the Todd team. Now that I have met them and seen them in action I know that I will be much more confident of their results. Could they win the whole thing? It seems possible to me. After a lot of chatting most of us went up to the meeting room where the Hall of Fame ceremony was being held. I want to write about that because it was a real love-in. It was fun and charming with a lot of laughs and good stories. But I will save that for tomorrow. Congratulations to all the winners and good luck in the knockout. For all the results Round Robin Results