It was hardly world peace breaking out but a little bit of history was made yesterday as the Tangga blasted past its previous record of 18 Challenges in a single Tangga day, to go to 27 and counting!
Hardly know where to start on commenting on that lot and will therefore instead stick to the highlights as advertised.
- Michael Ha virtually cleared his backlog by creating another one day record – this for most Challenges played by one Player in a single Tangga Day – SEVEN – winning 5 and losing just 2 in doing so!
- One of Michael’s losses was an early one to Richard Kwan who elevated himself 8 places in the process
- A talented but inexperienced young man, Chris Hepworth, visited the lion’s den at Aphro and emerged with a 3-2 after playing some fine shots especially in the fifth where he cleared five to win against the tough and experienced Sarge Sergeant.
- Highlights witnessed the finest single frame he has ever seen in the Ladder as, from a VERY unpromising looking early position in the second frame against Alex McMillan, Geoff Culshaw ran the table with at least two long shots along the cushion at quite astonishing speed and otherwise drew, stunned and deep screwed to secure position and break up clusters at will before finally sinking the black with the confidence of a man on top of his game. The virtuosity of the performance drew frenzied applause from an audience, including Alex, which had been spellbound by what they had just witnessed. That frame took Geoff to 2-0 up and he had a relatively easy black to take it 3-1 later but missed it and Alex, cool, clinical gunslinger that he is, came back to win it 3-2 with five and six ball clearances, all starting from behind.
- Action is hotting up in the rungs 40-50 area as a whole bunch of talented and up-for-it newcomers demanding elevation set about their business. Rungs 30-39 had better watch out as a tsunami will be hitting them in a week or three.
- Christer Foldnes continues his progress up the Ladder, tonight with a fine win over a Neil Stewart, who was to put up a hell of a battle. Neil has an opportunity to take it to a fifth with decent chance at a black to win – only to let is slip by with a shot that may have caused a little loss of sleep later.
Highlights is sad to report that Greg Wilcox has withdrawn from the Ladder for personal reasons and has been “oranged out” on the Ladder and, for administrative reasons, will only be removed in the new Ladder month. Greg has been a strong supporter of the Ladder from the start and both his play and his always lively contribution to Ladder issues will be missed.
On the brighter side, that fine player Gareth Hopkins has decided to re-enter the Ladder and not only that, but to have some fun and come back in at the bottom. Good luck on your journey through the Tangga heartlands, Gareth!
The catalyst for the huge amount of activity at Crossroads last night was of course the imminent departure of Carl Cook and his family and a return to the USA. Carl played a lot of pool, talked in his quiet way to his mates, drank a lot of beer and even got a final Challenge match under his belt with a 3-2 against John Fall. We are holding a rung with your name on it for you Carl – just in case you ever decide to return!
