Charlie Ponente triumphed in the fourth annual Andy Lee tournament, beating valiant runner-up Ankur Sawant.
19 Northern Squash members contested the fourth annual Andy Lee Memorial tournament on Saturday 22nd June 2019 and while the night was not without controversy, it was a top night of great squash.
The tournament was a handicap event with the 19 players split into three groups. The games were played first to 15, PAR scoring, sudden death at 14. The handicap was applied so that the weaker player started on 0, leading to the vast majority of matches played as closely scored affairs. The winners of each group were decided by highest number of points.
While the top players battled it out to be top of each group, their were some great matches being contested all through the rankings and the handicap format, as it always does, through up some unlikely pairings and so exciting matches. There was Bob Aynsley battling back from starting -23 down to Sharon Naisbitt and finishing 15:7, and Philip White starting -6 down against Dave North and just edging Dave to win 15:14. The loudest cheers of the night though were for Denise Thompson. Every point she won was met with ferocious cheers from the crowd and although she didn't manage to win a game, she did accumulate 41 points and finished above some much more experienced players.
Sadly, we were not without injury on the night and top-ranked player Jack Cornell had to pull out early due to an foot injury. The other players took full advantage of Jack's absence and their experience and skill saw them striving to the top of the groups. And here is where the controversy arose! Ranked overall 2nd, Philip White won all of his games and so fully expected to place number 1 in his group. He was cruelly robbed by an administrative error that one of his matches failed to be recorded on the system. With those vital points missing he was sadly misrepresented by the scores and missed out on first place. Full apologies to Phil for this terrible oversight on the part of the organisers.
The final standings of the groups were as follows:
Group 1
| # | Player | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Score | Points | Points Earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roger Tames | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 73 | 73 | 86 |
| 2 | Ankur Sawant | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 70 | 75 |
| 3 | Bob Aynsley | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 68 | 68 | 132 |
| 4 | Chris Johnson | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 65 | 65 | 114 |
| 5 | Sharon Naisbitt | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 56 | 56 | 56 |
| 6 | Gordie Robertson | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 48 |
| 7 | Jack Cornell (injured) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -42 | -42 | 40 |
Group 2
| # | Player | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Score | Points | Points Earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philip White (corrected) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 75 | 138 |
| 2 | Dave North | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 68 | 68 | 104 |
| 3 | Sam Ponente | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 65 | 71 |
| 4 | Ben Ward | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 52 | 52 | 52 |
| 5 | Tony Cornell | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 50 | 50 | 62 |
| 6 | Paul Bell | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 49 | 97 |
Group 3
| # | Player | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Score | Points | Points Earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlie Ponente | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 75 | 138 |
| 2 | Simon Lynch | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 65 | 65 | 101 |
| 3 | Wayne Eastaugh | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 61 | 61 | 73 |
| 4 | Joel Birch-Machin | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 60 | 108 |
| 5 | Matthew Mahoney | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 58 | 58 | 64 |
| 6 | Denise Thompson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 41 | 41 | 41 |
The play-offs were contested by the top players from each group (due to the error in group 2 scores, Philip White was replaced by 2nd placed Dave North) and the highest ranked 2nd-placed player who was Ankur Sawant. Drawn out of a hat by Bridgette Lee, the matches (played with handicaps) were:
Roger Tames vs Ankur Sawant
Charlie Ponente vs Dave North
Charlie Ponente then faced Ankur Sawant in the final on the show court, Court 1. Ankur fought valiantly but Charlie's experience won through in the end, Charlie beating Ankur 15-9 to win the Andy Lee Memorial tournament for the first time, and break the stranglehold that Matthew Thompson had enjoyed for the last two years.
Congratulations to Charlie Ponente and well done to Ankur Sawant for playing such a brilliant and entertaining final, in such a great sportsmanlike manner.
Having brought her family and spent the whole night with us Andy Lee's daughter, Bridget presented the trophy to Charlie. It's always great to see Bridget and her being with us always makes the night special.
Thanks to everyone who took part and made the event such a blast. In particular I'd like to thank Julie Cornell, and Dave North for all their help and support.
See you next year!
