In a rematch of the 2012 London Crokinole Club final, Raymond Beierling met brother Jason Beierling in the finals of the 2013 Golden Horseshoe Crokinole Championship. Jason Beierling won in London a year ago, following an exciting third game tie breaking round. But revenge was in the cards on the day as Raymond Beierling took match in the three games to win his first NCA title of the season.
The day began with 24 competitors at the Cornerstone Reformed Church in Hamilton. A small note was made to start the day that winners of the tournament had historically went on to be successful at the World Championships. (Champions Brian Cook and Justin Slater had won the World title in 2009 and 2010.)
And with that the action was under way. Several 20’s were made on the boards in the preliminary round. It seems as though the Hamilton boards, made by Jake Ruggi, are quite “20 friendly”.
After the first round the top group had emerged from the pack with Ray Beierling, Jason Beierling, Fred Slater, Eric Miltenburg, Jon Conrad, Louis Gauthier, Paul Brubacher and Ron Reesor making the cut.
In the A group round-robin the Beierling brother’s grabbed the number 1 and 2 seeds. That set up semifinal matches of Jason Beierling vs Louis Gauthier and Raymond Beierling vs Jon Conrad.
Meanwhile, in group C, Jake Ruggi took the top spot in the round-robin and then followed it up by winning his semifinal match over Tom Doucette, who finished 3rd, and then defeating Len Chard in the finals. Kent Robinson grabbed the 4th spot.
In the B group, the Waterloo Crokinole Club grabbed the top 4 positions. After sorting things out in the playoffs, Roy Campbell had claimed the B title, followed by Nathan Walsh, Barry Kiggins and Alex Protas.
It seemed almost destined that the two Beierling brothers would compete in the championship match as Jason Beierling knocked off Louis Gauthier, and Ray Beierling eliminated Jon Conrad. In the 3rd place game Jon Conrad and Louis Gauthier split their first two games, of the best of 3 match, with 6-2 victories each way. That led to drama in the third game, where following Quinte Convention rules, tie breaking rounds were required as the score was tied 4-4 after 4 rounds. But in the tie breaking rounds Louis Gauthier grabbed the advantage and achieved the 3rd place finish.
And in the Championship Finals, an interesting and highly competitive affair began with Ray Beierling cruising to an opening game victory by winning 6-0. Jason Beierling would right the ship though, narrowly avoiding elimination in the second game and forcing a 4-4 tie. And so, following the Quinte Convention, Jason’s only chance of winning the match was to force tie breaking rounds by winning the 3rd game outright. But in the 3rd round of the 3rd game, Ray Beierling prevailed, earning 4 points in the game to win the 2013 Golden Horseshoe Crokinole Tournament.
Footage of the Championship match is now available and you can find it here:
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