Sunday 24 March 2013

Fred Slater wins in London, NCA Tour Title still in Question


Fred Slater became the 2013 Forest City Flickers Champion, but also ensured the 2012-2013 NCA Tour would come down to the wire. Competing against the current Tour leader, Jon Conrad, in the finals Slater had to win to prevent Conrad from clinching the Tour title, while simultaneously keeping himself in the race.

A well attended crokinole tournament in London, Ontario had 48 players packing into the St. James Westminster Lutheran Church this past Saturday. 29 players had signed up for the competitive division, including 3-time champion Raymond Beierling, 2012 World Champion Jon Conrad, and 6 of the top 10 CrokinoleCentre ranked players. Regrettably not in attendance was reigning champion Jason Beierling who could not attend

The preliminary round split the 29 players into 3 groups, all aiming to make the top 10 cut off for the second round.  Emerging from those groups were Ray Beierling, Fred Slater, Jon Conrad, Lloyd Wiseman, Rex Johnston, Nathan Walsh, Greg Matthison, John Harvey, Roy Campbell, and Robert Bonnett. What began as a tight contest turned into a relatively easy qualification as Jon Conrad, Ray Beierling, Fred Slater and Roy Campbell made the top 4.

From there the competition only intensified. Ray Beierling was targeting his fourth London title and his fifth trip to the finals, after losing to his brother the year before. Jon Conrad had the opportunity to win his first NCA title since World Championship double, and clinch his first ever NCA title. Fred Slater was trying to bolster his 3rd place NCA standing, but also avenge his 2009 London final loss to Ray Beierling at the first ever NCA tournament. And Roy Campbell, only in his second NCA season, had made his first final 4 appearance.

But in the top 4, Fred Slater and Jon Conrad were superior, and they became the 2013 London finalists.

In the final, Fred Slater got out to the early advantage, leading the opening game of the best of three final 4-0. Jon Conrad was able to get his foot in the door though as he fought his way back to tie the game 4-4. But Fred Slater got out to an early lead in the 5th round tiebreaker and went on to win the round, without hammer, to take game one.

Game two became a game of strategy, as both players made some interesting moves to try and gain the upper hand. Fred Slater won round one, then Jon Conrad won round two. Round three was a pivotal one as Conrad held an advantage without the hammer, but Fred Slater fought back to earn the tie. At 3-3, Jon Conrad had the hammer in the fourth round, but Fred Slater was only one round away from victory. And after earning a quick lead, Slater would hang on to win the 2013 Forest City Flickers Championship.

NCA Race

Early on this season appeared as though the Tour title would be wrapped up quickly as Jon Conrad got off to that fantastic start at the World Championships. But with Brian Cook’s four straight tournament victories, and Fred Slater’s most recent win, this is shaping up to be the most exciting Tour finish yet. With only one tournament to go, only three players have a shot at claiming the NCA’s top prize.


Name Points *Lowest Score Highest Possible
1. Jon Conrad 204          47         212
2. Brian Cook 200          50         205
3. Fred Slater 197          45         207


(*Lowest Score - Refers to the lowest score included in a player’s overall point total, i.e. their 4th highest score.)

For Jon Conrad, an appearance in the finals of St. Jacob’s will clinch in the NCA title, while a third place finish leaves the door open for Fred Slater to tie him in overall points if he were to win in St. Jacob’s. A fourth place finish for Conrad would mean that Slater could win the NCA title with a St. Jacob’s victory, or Brian Cook could tie Jon Conrad for the NCA title if he were to win. A 5th place or lower finish for Conrad means that his overall score will not change.

In that case, both Brian Cook and Fred Slater must win the NCA finale to win the Tour title. And just in case none of these three win in St. Jacob’s and Jon Conrad finishes no better than fifth, Fred Slater could share the NCA title if he were to finish second in St. Jacob’s. And while it goes without saying, a Jon Conrad NCA title can be assured if neither Brian Cook is victorious in St. Jacob’s, or Fred Slater is denied a top two finish.

At any rate, it’s shaping up to be a wild finish for the 2012-2013 NCA Tour.

Saturday 2 March 2013

Winter Crokinole Updates


With the Winter season coming to a close, the crokinole season is heating up to its dramatic climax. So to get you ready for the wild flurry of crokinole that is sure to come, let’s update the crokinole scene.

The NCA Tour only has two Ontario tournaments remaining, and the BC Provincial Championships. So here is a look at the top 25 ranked players on the NCA Tour thus far in the 2012-2013 season.


Rank
First Name
Last Name
Events
Points
1
Jon
Conrad
6
202
2
Brian
Cook
4
200
3
Fred 
Slater
6
192
4
Ray
Beierling
5
190
5
Jason
Beierling
4
186
6
Louis
Gauthier
6
174
7
Eric
Miltenburg
6
165
8
Matt
Brown
5
160
9
Howard
Martin
4
150
10
Nathan 
Walsh
4
149
11
David 
Brown
5
148
11
Clare
Kuepfer
6
148
13
Roy
Campbell
4
143
14
Chris
Gorsline
4
136
15
Peter
Tarle
5
131
16
Justin
Slater
2
104
17
Kent
Robinson
3
100
18
Reg
Chisholm
3
97
19
Ron
Haymes
2
96
20
Rex 
Johnston
2
88
21
Len
Chard
3
87
22
Tom
Johnston
2
83
23
Rob Jr.
Mader
2
83
24
John 
Harvey
2
83
25
Tony
Snyder
2
82



Since Jon Conrad’s magnificent start to the season, he has been able to hold the lead. The maximum amount of points any other player can achieve is 205, and Jon Conrad’s lowest scoring tournament this season has given him 45 points. So at 202 points, Conrad can secure the NCA title by either winning the London tournament, or by finishing in the top 3 in St. Jacob’s for the NCA finale. For Brian Cook, he can win his 3rd straight NCA title only if Conrad does not accomplish any of the aforementioned tasks, and he wins the tournament in St. Jacob’s. In fact, if Conrad finishes 4th in St. Jacob’s, and Brian Cook wins in St. Jacob’s, the two will tie for the NCA title.

Fred Slater also has an opportunity to win the NCA title. Currently sitting at 192 points, he can earn up to a maximum of 207 points, and if the opportunity is there, Slater can take the title with one win and one high finish in two of the remaining tournaments. If he can make his way out to BC and performs well, he’ll be even better off heading into the NCA Finale.

With an outside chance of winning the NCA Tour is Ray Beierling. He has 190 points and can earn a maximum of 203. He’ll have to win the London tournament (which he has done 3 of 4 times) and then win in St. Jacob’s while preventing the three players in front of him from earning anymore points. Long odds, but at least he still has a chance.

CrokinoleCentre Rankings

After the Hamilton tournament I took to trying to perfect the ranking system. Before there had been some obvious errors in how the points were tracked. The worst errors were that some top players had been completely off the list. But now the list is much more complete and definitely contains less errors. Here are the top 50 CrokinoleCentre rankings:


Rank
Name
Points
1
Brian Cook
305.5
2
Jon Conrad
298
3
Fred Slater
295
4
Ray Beierling
291.5
5
Jason Beierling
283.5
6
Eric Miltenburg
265.5
7
Louis Gauthier
251
8
Clare Kuepfer
249.5
9
Paul Brubacher
236.5
10
Nathan Walsh
235
11
Matt Brown
233.5
12
Howard Martin
232
13
Justin Slater
230
14
Chris Gorsline
191
15
Kent Robinson
189.5
16
Lawson Lea
189.5
17
Joe Arnup
186.5
18
Tom Johnston
186
19
Dave Brown
173.5
20
Roy Campbell
173.5
21
Rex Johnston
173
22
Rob Mader
160.5
23
Nathan Jongsma
155
24
Ron Haymes
152
25
Greg Matthison
145
26
Tom Doucette
117
27
Wilfred Smith
114.5
28
Quinn Erzinger
113
29
Ed Ripley
104.5
30
Rueben Jongsma
99.5
31
Ron Reesor
99
32
Ed Erzinger
94
33
Denis Chartier
93
34
Brian Wensley
92.5
35
Wayne Gingerich
92
36
Len Chard
87
37
Linda Irvine
84
38
Raymond Kappes
83
39
Adrian Conradi
83
40
Merv Wice
81.5
41
Michael Hughes
80
42
Roger Vaillancourt
80
43
Ryan Hedley
77
44
Jason Hogan
75.5
45
Bill Freeman
74
46
Lou Dobos
73
47
Ray Haymes
70.5
48
Alex Protas
69.5
49
Kevin Bechtel
69.5
50
George Doughart
68


The top 5 still remains unchanged, but both Raymond and Jason Beierling have increased their point totals and are closing in on the top 3. I expect to see the top 5 ranking shift and change after the results come in from the March tournaments. In the latter half of the top 10, Eric Miltenburg, and Louis Gauthier have moved up while Paul Brubacher slides into 9th. Moving up well due to error corrections are Lawson Lea from PEI (16th), Tom Johnston (18th) and Roy Campbell (20th).

Here is a list of the top 50 Singles Only CrokinoleCentre rankings:


1
Brian Cook
305.5
2
Ray Beierling
289.5
3
Jon Conrad
288
4
Jason Beierling
280.5
5
Eric Miltenburg
261
6
Fred Slater
254
7
Paul Brubacher
233
8
Clare Kuepfer
231
9
Louis Gauthier
221
10
Howard Martin
213.5
11
Nathan Walsh
203
12
Justin Slater
154
13
Roy Campbell
153.5
14
Joe Arnup
149.5
15
Kent Robinson
146.5
16
Greg Matthison
145
17
Rob Mader
126.5
18
Matt Brown
109.5
19
Chris Gorsline
106
20
Dave Brown
105.5
21
Lawson Lea
103.5
22
Ron Reesor
99
23
Tom Johnston
94
24
Nathan Jongsma
92.5
25
Rex Johnston
81
26
Rueben Jongsma
79
27
Tom Doucette
76
28
Jason Hogan
75.5
29
Alex Protas
69.5
30
Quinn Erzinger
68
31
Lawrence Wicks
68
32
Wilfred Smith
67.5
33
Jason Carter
65
34
Ron Haymes
59.5
35
Ed Ripley
59.5
36
Len Chard
56
37
Bob Mader
54.5
38
Brian Wensley
53.5
39
Denis Chartier
53
40
Brian Miltenburg
51
41
Merv Wice
50.5
42
Raymond Kappes
50
43
Ed Erzinger
49
44
Roger Vaillancourt
48
45
George Doughart
47
46
Adrian Conradi
45
47
Linda Irvine
41
48
Ab Leitch
39
49
Michael Hughes
39
50
Ryan Hedley
39


Interesting to note, Ray Beierling swaps places with Jon Conrad in 2nd and 3rd, while Paul Brubacher moves into the top 10, all the way up to 7th, as Nathan Walsh falls out of the top 10 to 11th. With an appropriate point score, Roy Campbell now sits 13th.

Coming up in the next few weeks, we’ll get you ready for the London Crokinole Club Tournament, and the BC Provincial Crokinole Championship.