2012 Scenic City Crokinole Championship Results

The 2012-2013 NCA Tour has begun quite similarly to the 2011-2012 tour as Brian Cook has once again had a perfect Fall crokinole season. In November he was once again declared the “King” of Scenic City crokinole after winning the tournament held in Owen Sound for the second straight year. 

Coming into the tournament the NCA points race was really starting to take shape. Jon Conrad led the Tour with 198 points, and Brian Cook sat with 150 points after only 3 tournaments. Well it was Jon Conrad who finished second in Scenic City, boosting his total score by four points to a total of 202, now leading Brian Cook by a slim two point lead with several tournaments to play.

The biggest thing to note is that since the NCA tracks the top 4 finishes in a year, both Conrad and Cook are now just trying to improve their point total. For Cook, winning any tournament between now and the NCA finale will not improve his total score as his lowest tournament score is 50 points. The only chance he has at improving his score is by finishing in the top two in St. Jacob’s, with a maximum total score of 205. However, finishing well at tournaments could be quite beneficial for Cook as he may attempt to limit the amount of points his competitors own. Jon Conrad is in a completely different position. Leading the Tour with 202 points, and he can still improve his score by another 13 points. His two lowest scores are 45 and 47, meaning that if he were to win another title, or finish in the top three in St. Jacob’s, he would clinch the NCA Tour victory for the season.

Finishing third at the Scenic City Tournament was Ray Beierling, who earned 45 points to boost his total to 185, to sit in 4th on the Tour behind Fred Slater with 192. Finishing in a well-deserved 4th place in Owen Sound was Howard Martin.

The Owen Sound Times also did a piece on the tournament. Here is a link to the article: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2012/11/25/crokinole-masters-descend-on-owen-sound

And here’s a look at the updated CrokinoleCentre Rankings of the Top 30 players:

Rank	Name	Points
1	Brian Cook	305.5
2	Jon Conrad	298
3	Fred Slater	295
4	Ray Beierling	287.5
5	Jason Beierling	282.5
6	Nathan Walsh	264.5
7	Eric Miltenburg	263.5
8	Clare Kuepfer	252
9	Louis Gauthier	245
10	Howard Martin	236
11	Matt Brown	235.5
12	Joe Arnup	231
13	Justin Slater	230
14	Paul Brubacher	226.5
15	Greg Matthison	220.5
16	Ron Haymes	219.5
17	Kent Robinson	210
18	Dave Brown	204
19	Nathan Jongsma	189.5
20	John Harvey	189
21	Jason Carter	188.5
22	Rex Johnston	187
23	Chris Gorsline	181.5
24	Brian Miltenburg	167
25	Wayne Gingerich	162.5
26	Rob Mader	160.5
27	Bob Mader	150
28	Ray Haymes	148
29	Marlin Lichti	146
30	Bill Freeman	133

And here’s a look at the Singles Rankings:

Rank	Singles Only	Points
1	Brian Cook	305.5
2	Jon Conrad	288
3	Ray Beierling	283.5
4	Jason Beierling	276
5	Eric Miltenburg	262.5
6	Fred Slater	259
7	Nathan Walsh	232.5
8	Clare Kuepfer	232
9	Louis Gauthier	222.5
10	Howard Martin	214
11	Joe Arnup	194.5
12	Paul Brubacher	194
13	Matt Brown	178
14	Greg Matthison	168.5
15	Brian Miltenburg	167
16	Justin Slater	154
17	Nathan Jongsma	147.5
18	Jason Carter	143.5
19	Kent Robinson	135
20	Ron Haymes	127
21	Rob Mader	126.5
22	Chris Gorsline	117.5
23	Dave Brown	116.5
24	John Harvey	104
25	Marlin Lichti	98
26	Rex Johnston	95
27	Dennis Ernest	94.5
28	Wayne Gingerich	87.5
29	Bob Mader	85.5
30	Ray Haymes	75.5

As you can see, not much has changed since the last Rankings update as the scores become much more consistent as the rankings begin to take shape.

And so that concludes the 2012 portion of the crokinole season. Even though the competitive side of crokinole will break for the holidays, there is sure to be much crokinole in play as families gather to rekindle one of the oldest family traditions over the Christmas break.

Join us once again in the new year of 2013 as we continue to follow the 2012-2013 NCA Tour, picking up with the Golden Horseshoe Tournament in Hamilton on January 26th.

2012 Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championship

For the third straight year Brian Cook and Fred Slater have been crowned the Ontario Doubles Champs, defeating a stacked field of opponents all looking to gun them down. The Toronto pairing have been quite successful despite never playing together at any other tournament, with the exception of the BC Championships. Speaking of which, they have earned the right, or rather the voucher of cash prizes to travel to BC and participate in the tournament, if they so choose. If they can fit it into their schedule they will be returning to defend their BC Doubles crown and a 1-2 singles finish.

Other strong finishes in the tournament included Jason and Raymond Beierling, tournament hosts, finishing in second. Their runner-up finish means that Brian Cook and Fred Slater have won the tournament in 3 straight years against 3 different opponents in the championship match. In those 3 years, Jason and Ray have been quite successful with back-to-back third place finishes in 2010 and 2011. Finishing in third place were Jon Conrad and Barry Kiggins to back up their runner-up performance in 2010.

NCA Tour Rankings

Both Cook and Slater will also gain some serious NCA points to bump up their ranking. Cook was sitting outside the top 5, due to him having only recorded points in two tournaments where everyone else had 3. And early in the season he will be up to a total of 150 points. Another victory anywhere in the season will push his total to 200 with a chance of reaching 205 points if he wins the NCA finale, all in the effort of chasing down Jon Conrad after his massive start to the 2012-2013 tour when he won 2 world titles.

Conrad had 153 points heading into the tournament and this score will move him up to 198, with lots of room to improve on his lower scores of 43 and 45 with several tournaments left on the NCA Tour. A victory in any tournament before the NCA final will guarantee a 2nd place finish on the Tour and a fantastic chance at winning the top prize. He still retains the top spot on the NCA Tour, just ahead of Fred Slater in second place.

It's hard to believe that 7 months before the NCA finale, also known as the Ontario Singles Championship, the Tour seems as though it will be decided among 2 men. The only foreseeable way anyone else could put pressure on Cook and Conrad is by winning 3 tournaments before the NCA finale. Definitely a tough task as no tournament is without several tough competitors and only 3 Ontario events remain before the tour finals.

Meanwhile, players like Fred Slater, Ray Beierling and Justin Beierling have amassed a decent amount of points this season with a chance for many more. But if they want to do more than challenge for the top 3 or the top 5, they will have to win a few tournaments.

To come in a few days: the slightly less late review of the 2012 Scenic City Crokinole Tournament.