Quin Erzinger Crokinole Classic Quite a Success

Off to Hamilton today for more #crokinole

— Jason Beierling (@crokinoledepot) May 18, 2015

Players getting some early practice before the
start of the Quin Erzinger Classic

18 players took a rare opportunity on a holiday Monday in Hamilton to put together one of the most satisfying crokinole events in recent memory.

With a world-class crokinole player from British Columbia in the region, several other crokinole fanatics from Ontario gathered to play the 2015 Quin Erzinger Crokinole Classic.

With everyone wanting to face-off against the young stud from BC, the format was composed of a full round robin of singles action, with the remainder of the afternoon left for social play.

After completing 9 singles games before lunch, some players were eager to jump to a 6-player board, thankfully brought by Eric Miltenburg, to try crokinole from a brand-new point of view.

The remaining 8 games of singles were played after the fantastic lunch was held. As eloquently quipped by Clare Kuepfer the $10 event fee was broken down as “$10 for lunch, crokinole for free”.

After tabulating the scores, the following results were generated (listed below is the top 10).

Rank	Name	Points	20s
1	Nathan Walsh	104	157
2	Jon Conrad	104	122
3	Eric Miltenburg	90	126
4	Roy Campbell	89	130
5	Jake Ruggi	89	124
6	Quin Erzinger	88	174
7	Jason Beierling	88	150
8	Reuben Jongsma	84	108
9	Clare Kuepfer	83	91
10	Howard Martin	73	104

True to his lore, Quin Erzinger thumped in a tournament-high 174 20s, which also included a “perfect-round” in the very first game of the tournament against Roy Campbell. Also sharing in some fame was Jason Beierling, who scored a perfect-round in the very last game of the tournament against Nathan Walsh.

With trophies available for the top 3 finishers, the battle for the podium was incredibly tight. Through 17 games (and a maximum of 136 points) 5 players finished within 2 points of each other. Recognition should be given to Jason Beierling, Quin Erzinger, Jake Ruggi and Roy Campbell for an incredibly solid day. Jake Ruggi turned out a great performance, despite coming into the tournament out-of-practice.

Congratulations were given to Eric Miltenburg for squeezing through the heap and earning 90 points along with the well-deserved 3rd place finish.

Jon Conrad accepts the trophy for 2nd Place

The battle for 1st was also quite close as Jon Conrad and Nathan Walsh both earned 104 points. The tiebreaker went the way of Walsh, with Conrad having to settle for 2nd.

After the results had been announced, players took the opportunity to get a few more games of crokinole in before heading home. Some players used the chance to practice doubles before the World Championships, while others used the advantage of numbers to play more games on the 6-player crokinole board.

Nathan Walsh accepts the 1st Place prize from Quin Erzinger

While the 6-player board is large, and thus more difficult to transport, it was no doubt a hit among the attendees. If you are looking for ways to make crokinole tournaments more social and entertaining, a 6-player board can be great for a few laughs in between rounds.

Unfortunately, the day to which there was great anticipation, did come to an end. The tournament’s main guest of honour, Quin Erzinger departed along with others. The memory of a great time had, and the hope for more in the future was all that remained.

On a personal note, thank you to everyone who helped make this event a reality. Special thank you to my parent’s for helping with lunch, organizing and transportation. Thanks to Jake Ruggi and Reuben Jongsma for helping to secure the venue. Thanks also to Roy Campbell for bringing although the game-timer, and to Eric Miltenburg for the extra large crokinole board.

Lastly thanks to everyone who came along to partake in the special occasion. While crokinole tournaments come around every year, the opportunities we get to share the love of the game, with people who otherwise would be complete strangers from distant locations, are few and far between. 

Thank you for taking advantage of the opportunity. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

To the good times we’ve shared with crokinole, and to many more.
Nathan Walsh