Richard Tyler reports:
At the time of writing this year's Keeling Cup is still undecided. After 5 rounds Richard Tyler was holding a slim advantage, followed closely by Alex Illingworth and Tom Dunbar and then by Dan Hawkins.
Unfortunately, the Final Round fell victim to a combination of Ed Taylor's hectic work/social life and the lights out guillotine at Westway. Tom Dunbar (playing with Dave Mew) beat Dan Hawkins and Guy Chapman 3-0, thereby achieving 13.5 Tournament Points. The other game started later and was much more closely fought. Ed Taylor and Richard Tyler snatched the first game 15-14, but Pete Dunbar and Alex Illingworth fought back to win the next 12-5. Richard and Ed got away again in the third set and were leading 10-3, when darkness fell abruptly. This left the competition intriguingly poised whereby a 3-1 victory would have been sufficient for Richard Tyler to win the Keeling Cup, but anything worse would have seen Tom Dunbar emerge as winner. We are currently planning to replay the Final Round to resolve this unsatisfactory ending but, as yet, have not found a mutually convenient date.
The competition once again proved its worth with some enjoyable and competitive fives. There were debuts from Dan Hawkins and Rob Beenstock and reserve appearances from Dave Mew, Ross Bryan, Peter White and Pete Cohen. It is good to see the competition moving on to the next fives generation and we will be looking for fresh blood again next year!
Postscript: Winner Richard Tyler
