Saturday, 21 May 2016

2016 World Crokinole Championship Fantasy Pool

Back by popular demand, the WCC Fantasy Pool has returned for another round of wild speculation, bold prediction and seething crokinole players looking to destroy you after you left them off your list.

The 2015 Fantasy Pool victor was Clare Kuepfer, with co-2nd-place finishers of Fred Slater and Jon Conrad. Their prediction prowess proved preferable, but it is time to challenge those assertions, start your player analysis, and submit your Fantasy team once again.

The rules are simple (and the same as last year): 
1. Pick the best 8 player team consisting of:
         2 players from Group A
         2 players from Group B
         2 players from Group C
         and 2 players from Group D.
2. The higher up your players finish, the more points your team earns.
3. Whoever has the team with the most points will win the coveted title of Crokinole Fantasy Champion, and bragging rights until their title is challenged next year.

NOTE: Fantasy Pool results are limited to the Competitive Singles category.

The separation into 4 different groups is designed to spread out the talent, so a winning team will require a strong showing from many different players, who outperform their expectations.


Last year a ranking system was used to divide up the four groups, but due to some flaws in the rankings it was clearly far from perfect. This year, the groups are divided on a more simplistic basis where Group A consists tournament winners in the past year, Group B are top 16 finishers from the 2015 WCC, and Group C are top 40 finishers from the 2015 WCC. Group D consists of any players not listed in any of the previous groups.


Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Justin Slater
Robert Bonnett
Rueben Jong
Ron Haymes
Ray Beierling
Matt Brown
Howard Martin
Ray Haymes
Brian Cook
Ezra Jantzi
John Powers
Eric Miltenburg
Jon Conrad
Wilfred Smith
Robert E Mader
Beverley Vaillancourt
Tony Snyder
Rob C Mader
Clare Kuepfer
Kathy Geris
Jason Beierling
Nathan Walsh
Merv Wice
Cathy Kuepfer
Roy Campbell
Rex Johnston
Andrew Whitfield
Chris Gorsline

John Harvey
Lawson Lea
Peter Tarle

Raymond Kappes
Kevin Brooks
David Younker

Gregory Pinel
Tomes Mazzoni
Demian Johnston

Tom Johnston
John Lichty
Dale Henry

Ewen MacPhail
Jason Hogan
Ron Reesor

Roger Vaillancourt
Randy Harris
Barry Kiggins

Brian Simpson
Michael Renaud
Bob Mader


Ab Leitch
Darryl MacDonald


Alex Protas
Peter Carter


Kevin Bechtel



Fred Slater



Dave Brown


NOTE: For Group D, you are allowed to select anyone not listed in Groups A, B or C. The players listed here are simply a small collection of notable players eligible to be selected.

Points will be awarded as follows:
1st - 100
2nd - 90
3rd - 85
4th - 80
5th-8th - 70
9th-12th - 65
13th-16th - 60
17th-20th - 50
21st-25th - 45
26th-30th - 40
31st-35th - 35
36th-40th - 30
41st-45th - 25
46th-50th - 20
51st-60th - 15
61st-70th - 10
>71st - 5

To solve the issue of not knowing who is attending the event, there will be printouts provided at the tournament to set your Fantasy team at the last minute. Entries will be accepted on paper in Tavistock, or through the comment section of this post or on NING. (Whichever is submitted last will be regarded as the selected team.)

Entries will be accepted until 1:30pm EST on June 4th, 2016. 

That being said, feel free to comment below on your strategy and current picks to get a discussion rolling.

Good luck and have fun!

Monday, 9 May 2016

Slater Wins Ontario, Beierling Wins Tour

The Finale of the National Crokinole Association Tour usually does not lend itself to surprising results. That was only good news for Justin Slater, winning his 5th straight title, and Ray Beierling capping off the NCA Tour with the Championship title.

28 players descended on St. Jacobs for the last tournament of the 2015-2016 NCA Tour. Through the morning play Nathan Walsh qualified with the highest score to earn a spot in Group A, and was joined by Justin Slater, Roy Campbell, Jason and Ray Beierling, Ab Leitch, Andrew Hutchinson, Clare Kuepfer, Rex Johnston and Brian Simpson. Unfortunately, Jon Conrad’s run at the NCA title was stopped due to a tiebreaker loss for the 10th and final spot in Group A.

In the afternoon, Eric Miltenburg and Rueben Jong excelled in Group C and claimed the top 2 spots to compete for the title. While Eric Miltenburg had the higher seed, Jong came through in the final to claim the C title.

Jon Conrad scored 50 points in the afternoon to win the top seed in Group B, while Tom Johnston battled away to score 42 points, to finish just ahead of Fred Slater with 37. Jon Conrad could not be stopped though, and went on to win the B title over Johnston in the finals.

In Group A, the 10 players vied for the 4 semifinal spots, while the NCA Tour race had come down to Jason Beierling needing the victory for the day to pass Ray Beierling. The round-robin led to some very clear results as Roy Campbell, Justin Slater and Ray Beierling scored 49 points, followed by Jason Beierling at 45, well ahead of 5th place finisher Nathan Walsh at 36.

The semifinal matchup intensified the drama as Roy Campbell and Jason Beierling met for a rematch of the Owen Sound final earlier this year, while Ray Beierling and Justin Slater met yet again in a playoff match.


Justin Slater, as usual at the Ontario Singles Crokinole Championship, looked dominant in the semifinals, winning the match over Beierling in 2-straight games. But any chances for the NCA title to be decided in the final game was eliminated when Roy Campbell overcame a loss in game 1 to defeat Jason Beierling in 3 games.

It was a first-time finals meeting between Campbell and Slater with 2016 Ontario Championship on the line. Slater took the first game and quickly grabbed the lead in the second. But just as it seemed the match would finish quickly, Campbell complicated the play with a series of “self-assist raises” (where the opposition disc is pushed closer to the 20 hole, rather than off the board, in an attempt to set up a 20 opportunity on the next shot). After a couple of long deliberations, Justin Slater found the clear edge he needed and won the match for his 6th Ontario title in 7 years.

Ray Beierling Wins 2015-2016 NCA Tour
Rank
Name
Points
1
Ray Beierling
194
2
Justin Slater
193
3
Jon Conrad
192
4
Jason Beierling
191
5
Roy Campbell
183
6
Andrew Hutchinson
172
The final standings of the NCA Tour were packed very tightly with only 3 points separating 1st from 4th. Andrew Hutchinson really did make a statement with his impressive 6th place finish on the Tour. He should be commended, not only for switching from cues to fingers so successfully, but for earning all 172 of his rankings points outside of the World Championships.

Roy Campbell’s best-ever season started with a 3rd-place finish at the World Championships, continued with his first NCA title in Owen Sound and ended with the runner-up finish in the Ontario finals. He made significant jumps this season and was rewarded with the #5 ranking.

Jason Beierling was on the wrong side of two different playoff match-ups with Roy Campbell, but did earn the higher ranking at #4. He earned three different 2nd-place finishes (WCC doubles, Turtle Island and Owen Sound) and won the Ontario Doubles title.
Jon Conrad started the Tour winning the World Doubles title, and was able to finish 3rd in Turtle Island and London. His 2nd place finish in Brucefield at the ODCC put him in contention for the NCA title, but it was the victory in Hamilton that clinched his top 3 finish.

Justin Slater finished the NCA Tour with more victories than anyone else, at 3, winning his 2nd World title, 2nd Belleville title, and 6th Ontario title. He impressively earned 193 points after only 4 events, with his low score still a very strong 4th place finish in the WCC Doubles event.

While he admitted it didn’t happen the way he wanted it to, Ray Beierling did secure the NCA title (his second after splitting the honour with Justin Slater in 2010). He had 2nd-place finishes in both the World Doubles and Singles events, as well as the Belleville tournament. His wins at the ODCC and in London were enough to secure the top spot on the Tour.


So the 8th NCA Tour has been completed, but the intensity of crokinole season only grows as all of the focus now shifts to Tavistock on June 4th for the 18th World Crokinole Championship.

Monday, 2 May 2016

Beierlings, Conrad Race for NCA Title

On Saturday, May 7th one of the most competitive crokinole fields will assemble once again for the Ontario Singles Crokinole Championship, and the finale of 8th National Crokinole Association Tour. With the 2016 Ontario Provincial title on the line, Ray Beierling, Jason Beierling and Jon Conrad will battle it out for the NCA Tour Championship.

The event will once again be played at the St. Jacobs Mennonite Church in St. Jacobs and serve as the final warmup event before the 2016 World Crokinole Championship.

The 2015-2016 NCA Tour has been one of the most even and tightly-contested tours in its short history, which has resulted in extremely close points totals with a 3-way race for 1st place, a 4-way contest for the top 3 podium, and 16 players capable of finishing in the top 5. 

Battle for 1st Place
Found below is a look at the current NCA Tour standings. Ray Beierling holds the top spot with 194 points, but can be overtaken for the title by both Jon Conrad and Jason Beierling. 

Jason Beierling holds the longest odds of winning the title, needing a victory in St. Jacobs to do it. The win would give Jason Beierling 194 points to share the lead, and the clear edge given as he will have clinched the tie-breaker which awards higher ranking to whoever places better at the St. Jacobs tournament. Regardless, Jason Beierling has a chance to have his highest ever Tour ranking. He has finished 4th twice, and 5th twice, but never inside of the top 3.

Jon Conrad has a slightly better chance at being victorious. A first place finish in St. Jacobs would clinch the NCA title, as would a 2nd place finish so long as Ray Beierling does not finish 1st. Conrad won the NCA titles in 2013 and 2014, but came into the final event in both of those years with a lead in the ranking points. He now faces the more difficult task of trying to come from behind.

And simply put, Ray Beierling’s poll position heading into Saturday can be converted into a NCA title so long has he can stop the winning attempts of Jason Beierling and Jon Conrad. A victory would be Ray Beierling’s second NCA title (he once had a 1st-place tie with Justin Slater in 2010).


Rank
Name
Events
Points
4th Score
Max Score
2nd Place
Max Rank
1
Ray Beierling
8
194
47
197
194
1
2
Jon Conrad
7
192
45
197
194
1
3
Jason Beierling
5
191
47
194
191
1
4
Roy Campbell
8
176
40
186
183
4
5
Nathan Walsh
7
165
40
175
172
5
6
Rex Johnston
4
164
35
179
176
4
7
Clare Kuepfer
8
163
39
174
171
5
8
Rueben Jong
6
156
35
171
168
5
9
Tom Johnston
4
155
28
177
174
4
10
Fred Slater
5
155
37
168
165
5
11
Tony Snyder
4
152
20
182
179
4
12
Howard Martin
7
152
35
167
164
5
13
Eric Miltenburg
7
152
37
165
162
5
14
Justin Slater
3
143
0
193
190
2
15
Roger Vaillancourt
4
140
29
161
158
8
16
Andrew Hutchinson
3
133
0
183
180
4
17
Wayne Scott
4
132
23
159
156
8
18
Robert Bonnett
3
123
0
173
170
5
19
Ab Leitch
4
123
20
153
150
11
20
Peter Tarle
4
123
20
153
150
11
"4th Score" indicates the lowest tournament point total included in a player's score. This number helps calculate the "Max Score" a player would have if they win the final tournament, and the "2nd Place" total received for finishing in second.

The Top 3
The fight to reach the podium of this year’s NCA Tour is not particularly interesting as we have 4 players looking make the top 3 (above any score which would earn a top 3 finish is highlighted in yellow). Jon Conrad and Ray Beierling are both guaranteed to finish in the top 3, while Jason Beierling can only be removed from the top 3 if Justin Slater wins on Saturday. That makes 2016 the 5th straight year Ray Beierling has finished in the NCA top 3, equalling the streak of Brian Cook set from 2009-2013.

The Top 5
The green cells in the chart above indicate potential scenarios for different players to finish in the Top 5 on the 2015-2016 NCA Tour. The chase is quite crowded, but spots are sparse with Ray Beierling, Jon Conrad and Jason Beierling all guaranteed to make up 3 of the spots. The odds are also favourable for Justin Slater to finish in the Top 5 due to his 143 point total after only 3 events. Similar comments can be made for both Andrew Hutchinson and Robert Bonnett.

Ontario Singles Crokinole Championship
The OSCC has a long history dating back to the 1970s, before falling away and being rebranded along with the NCA Tour Finale. The new version of the tournament has been dominated by Justin Slater, who can lay claim to 5 of the 7 tournament titles since 2009, along with a current streak of 4 in a row.

Last year’s St. Jacobs final match included Slater and Ray Beierling (video footage below), and the matchup was replayed one month later at the World Championships. With the World Championships ever closer, practice time will certainly increase for most players, and the 2016 Ontario Singles Crokinole Championship on Saturday will undoubtedly showcase some extremely strong crokinole.


Last years St. Jacob's final: