Thursday 27 December 2012

2012 Scenic City Crokinole Championship Results


The 2012-2013 NCA Tour has begun quite similarly to the 2011-2012 tour as Brian Cook has once again had a perfect Fall crokinole season. In November he was once again declared the “King” of Scenic City crokinole after winning the tournament held in Owen Sound for the second straight year. 

Coming into the tournament the NCA points race was really starting to take shape. Jon Conrad led the Tour with 198 points, and Brian Cook sat with 150 points after only 3 tournaments. Well it was Jon Conrad who finished second in Scenic City, boosting his total score by four points to a total of 202, now leading Brian Cook by a slim two point lead with several tournaments to play.

The biggest thing to note is that since the NCA tracks the top 4 finishes in a year, both Conrad and Cook are now just trying to improve their point total. For Cook, winning any tournament between now and the NCA finale will not improve his total score as his lowest tournament score is 50 points. The only chance he has at improving his score is by finishing in the top two in St. Jacob’s, with a maximum total score of 205. However, finishing well at tournaments could be quite beneficial for Cook as he may attempt to limit the amount of points his competitors own. Jon Conrad is in a completely different position. Leading the Tour with 202 points, and he can still improve his score by another 13 points. His two lowest scores are 45 and 47, meaning that if he were to win another title, or finish in the top three in St. Jacob’s, he would clinch the NCA Tour victory for the season.

Finishing third at the Scenic City Tournament was Ray Beierling, who earned 45 points to boost his total to 185, to sit in 4th on the Tour behind Fred Slater with 192. Finishing in a well-deserved 4th place in Owen Sound was Howard Martin.

The Owen Sound Times also did a piece on the tournament. Here is a link to the article: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2012/11/25/crokinole-masters-descend-on-owen-sound

And here’s a look at the updated CrokinoleCentre Rankings of the Top 30 players:

Rank
Name
Points
1
Brian Cook
305.5
2
Jon Conrad
298
3
Fred Slater
295
4
Ray Beierling
287.5
5
Jason Beierling
282.5
6
Nathan Walsh
264.5
7
Eric Miltenburg
263.5
8
Clare Kuepfer
252
9
Louis Gauthier
245
10
Howard Martin
236
11
Matt Brown
235.5
12
Joe Arnup
231
13
Justin Slater
230
14
Paul Brubacher
226.5
15
Greg Matthison
220.5
16
Ron Haymes
219.5
17
Kent Robinson
210
18
Dave Brown
204
19
Nathan Jongsma
189.5
20
John Harvey
189
21
Jason Carter
188.5
22
Rex Johnston
187
23
Chris Gorsline
181.5
24
Brian Miltenburg
167
25
Wayne Gingerich
162.5
26
Rob Mader
160.5
27
Bob Mader
150
28
Ray Haymes
148
29
Marlin Lichti
146
30
Bill Freeman
133


And here’s a look at the Singles Rankings:

Rank
Singles Only
Points
1
Brian Cook
305.5
2
Jon Conrad
288
3
Ray Beierling
283.5
4
Jason Beierling
276
5
Eric Miltenburg
262.5
6
Fred Slater
259
7
Nathan Walsh
232.5
8
Clare Kuepfer
232
9
Louis Gauthier
222.5
10
Howard Martin
214
11
Joe Arnup
194.5
12
Paul Brubacher
194
13
Matt Brown
178
14
Greg Matthison
168.5
15
Brian Miltenburg
167
16
Justin Slater
154
17
Nathan Jongsma
147.5
18
Jason Carter
143.5
19
Kent Robinson
135
20
Ron Haymes
127
21
Rob Mader
126.5
22
Chris Gorsline
117.5
23
Dave Brown
116.5
24
John Harvey
104
25
Marlin Lichti
98
26
Rex Johnston
95
27
Dennis Ernest
94.5
28
Wayne Gingerich
87.5
29
Bob Mader
85.5
30
Ray Haymes
75.5


As you can see, not much has changed since the last Rankings update as the scores become much more consistent as the rankings begin to take shape.

And so that concludes the 2012 portion of the crokinole season. Even though the competitive side of crokinole will break for the holidays, there is sure to be much crokinole in play as families gather to rekindle one of the oldest family traditions over the Christmas break.

Join us once again in the new year of 2013 as we continue to follow the 2012-2013 NCA Tour, picking up with the Golden Horseshoe Tournament in Hamilton on January 26th.

Thursday 20 December 2012

2012 Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championship


For the third straight year Brian Cook and Fred Slater have been crowned the Ontario Doubles Champs, defeating a stacked field of opponents all looking to gun them down. The Toronto pairing have been quite successful despite never playing together at any other tournament, with the exception of the BC Championships. Speaking of which, they have earned the right, or rather the voucher of cash prizes to travel to BC and participate in the tournament, if they so choose. If they can fit it into their schedule they will be returning to defend their BC Doubles crown and a 1-2 singles finish.

Other strong finishes in the tournament included Jason and Raymond Beierling, tournament hosts, finishing in second. Their runner-up finish means that Brian Cook and Fred Slater have won the tournament in 3 straight years against 3 different opponents in the championship match. In those 3 years, Jason and Ray have been quite successful with back-to-back third place finishes in 2010 and 2011. Finishing in third place were Jon Conrad and Barry Kiggins to back up their runner-up performance in 2010.

NCA Tour Rankings

Both Cook and Slater will also gain some serious NCA points to bump up their ranking. Cook was sitting outside the top 5, due to him having only recorded points in two tournaments where everyone else had 3. And early in the season he will be up to a total of 150 points. Another victory anywhere in the season will push his total to 200 with a chance of reaching 205 points if he wins the NCA finale, all in the effort of chasing down Jon Conrad after his massive start to the 2012-2013 tour when he won 2 world titles.
Conrad had 153 points heading into the tournament and this score will move him up to 198, with lots of room to improve on his lower scores of 43 and 45 with several tournaments left on the NCA Tour. A victory in any tournament before the NCA final will guarantee a 2nd place finish on the Tour and a fantastic chance at winning the top prize. He still retains the top spot on the NCA Tour, just ahead of Fred Slater in second place.

It's hard to believe that 7 months before the NCA finale, also known as the Ontario Singles Championship, the Tour seems as though it will be decided among 2 men. The only foreseeable way anyone else could put pressure on Cook and Conrad is by winning 3 tournaments before the NCA finale. Definitely a tough task as no tournament is without several tough competitors and only 3 Ontario events remain before the tour finals.

Meanwhile, players like Fred Slater, Ray Beierling and Justin Beierling have amassed a decent amount of points this season with a chance for many more. But if they want to do more than challenge for the top 3 or the top 5, they will have to win a few tournaments.


To come in a few days: the slightly less late review of the 2012 Scenic City Crokinole Tournament.

Monday 19 November 2012

Scenic City Crokinole Tournament


This Saturday, November 24, Owen Sound will host the NCA in its final tour stop of the 2012 calendar year. In its second year the tournament will be looking to see who is the King of Scenic City Crokinole.
2011 Champion, Brian Cook, receives the top prize from tournament organizer Clare Kuepfer

Certificates and the Championship trophy.


Last year it was Brian Cook who took the first ever Scenic City Crokinole title to cap off a Fall crokinole season in which he went undefeated to sweep all three tournaments. Now in 2012 he is looking to repeat after wins in Belleville and Brucefield, after teaming up with Fred Slater.

According to tournament organizer, (Owen Sound and Scone crokinole club member, as well as the reigning PEI Doubles Champion) Clare Kuepfer competition is looking fierce with a few days until the tournament.

(Follow Clare Kuepfer on Twitter @sconecrokinole)

Already confirming their attendance are crokinole contingents from Belleville, Toronto, St. Jacob’s, and the USA (just a little south of the border). In the lineup is the reigning World Crokinole Champion along with 3 former singles World Champions, and a decent sized collection of homegrown crokinole talent ready to challenge all visiting players.

And with five days left until the tournament all we can ask is who will ascend the throne as Prince (2nd place) and King of Scenic City Crokinole.



To register for the tournament: 

Monday 22 October 2012

2012 Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championship Preview


This Saturday October 27, 2012, Brucefield will be the host of this year’s Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championships (ODCC). One of the best NCA tour stops in the year will once again hold the best doubles talent around. The two-time defending Ontario Doubles Champs are the Toronto pairing of Brian Cook and Fred Slater. They've claimed the only two ODCC titles with wins over Jon Conrad and Barry Kiggins in 2010, and over Eric Miltenburg and Joe Arnup in 2011. CrokinoleDepot’s own Raymond and Jason Beierling have twice finished in the top 4.

The tournament title is of great importance as all winning prize money is donated to the top team to attend the following BC Provincial Crokinole Championships held in March. In 2011 Fred Slater used his bid to score a second place in the singles category of the 2011 BC tournament. In 2012 Brian Cook and Fred Slater attended the event and scored a doubles victory followed by a 1-2 finish in the singles division.

This year’s tournament may prove to be the best yet. Jon Conrad and Tony Snyder may not team up, but both return as World Doubles Champions. Fred Slater and Brian Cook return as the Ontario and British Columbia Doubles Champions, while Fred Slater also recently finished 2nd in the doubles category at the World Championships. 6-time World Champions, the Beierling Brothers will attempt to improve on two consecutive top 4 finishes at the Ontario Championships. They arrive at the tournament after a 7th place finish in doubles at the World Championships and a 4th and 5th place finish in the singles competition. Ron and Ray Haymes come in to the tournament as the 3rd best doubles team in the World. Clare Kuepfer will come in as one half of the PEI Provincial Doubles Championship team. And the Belleville club will arrive having put two teams into the top 4 of the World Championships in the last two years as Dave and Matt Brown finished 2nd in 2011 and Louis Gauthier and Chris Gorsline finished 4th is 2012. Eric Miltenburg and Joe Arnup will look to avenge their finals loss in 2012. And the best part about the ODCC is that there is always a couple of teams, that you would never have expected, who will make an impact.

Either way, get your game face on, and your strategy prepared for the 2012 Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championships.


For more info about the tournament and to register visit http://www.nationalcrokinoleassociation.com/tournaments.php

Friday 19 October 2012

Crokinole Rankings (2nd Edition)


Crokinole Rankings (2nd Edition)

So I've received feedback from some on the CrokinoleCentre Rankings, which were released a month ago. The feedback was from players prominently featured in the rankings, which is encouraging, because it shows that the best in the game are at least interested in them.

Much positive feedback has been received about the 2 year format, and it will be interesting to see how the rankings change over time.

One suggestion was to separate the singles and doubles categories of the rankings and release two different sets. The main reasoning for this was to eliminate the possibility that any one player could receive a large amount of points based on having a strong partner. My two main concerns with doing this are: 1. There are not enough doubles tournaments in the year for a solely doubles ranking to be accurate. and 2. Doubles is a unique part of crokinole that emphasizes different skills and strategies. I think that by eliminating doubles results, a true standing of a player cannot be realized. For example, singles focuses largely on 20's scoring, and open 20 shots. It's no surprise that those who score the most 20's are at the top of the rankings. And to go further, singles play is usually confined to play inside the 15 circle with most players "peeling" discs off, to force play back to the middle, whenever a disc ventures outside. The same cannot be said for doubles where multiple discs are on the board, and because partners sit opposite each other, every disc is in play, making ricochet shots extremely important.

With that said I've decided to release two sets of rankings. One to include both doubles and singles (my personal preference) and another to include only singles rankings. It will be interesting to see the differences between the two formats, and get a clearer idea of who the best singles players are.

So here are the full CrokinoleCentre rankings. 

Rank
Name
Points
1
Brian Cook
305.5
2
Jon Conrad
298.5
3
Fred Slater
296.5
4
Ray Beierling
285.5
5
Jason Beierling
281.5
6
Eric Miltenburg
270.5
7
Nathan Walsh
264.5
8
Joe Arnup
262.5
9
Clare Kuepfer
248.5
10
Louis Gauthier
244.5
11
Ron Haymes
240
12
Paul Brubacher
239
13
Matt Brown
235
14
Howard Martin
232.5
15
Justin Slater
230
16
Rex Johnston
226.5
17
Greg Matthison
220.5
18
Dave Brown
219.5
19
Jason Carter
192.5
20
Nathan Jongsma
189.5
21
Kent Robinson
167
22
Brian Miltenburg
167
23
Chris Gorsline
165.5
24
Rob Mader
160.5
25
Bob Mader
150
26
Ray Haymes
148
27
John Harvey
146
28
Marlin Lichti
146
29
Bill Freeman
133
30
Rich Mader
130.5

As you can see Brian Cook remains on top for the 2nd straight tournament, Nathan Walsh moves up from 8th to 7th, Louis Gauthier cracking the top 10 and Matt Brown moving up well to 13th. Obviously not a whole lot of movement but that is to be expected with a ranking system that takes place over 2 years. With the official release of the WCC points there are quite a few new faces on the list who now hold their rightful positions in the rankings, which I was unable to capture with the first ranking release.

And here is a similar, but different, only singles ranking. 

Rank
Singles Only
Points
1
Brian Cook
305.5
2
Jon Conrad
284
3
Jason Beierling
278.5
4
Ray Beierling
277.5
5
Eric Miltenburg
266.5
6
Fred Slater
263.5
7
Joe Arnup
235.5
8
Nathan Walsh
232.5
9
Clare Kuepfer
228.5
10
Louis Gauthier
222
11
Paul Brubacher
215.5
12
Howard Martin
204
13
Greg Matthison
168.5
14
Brian Miltenburg
167
15
Dave Brown
154.5
16
Justin Slater
154
17
Nathan Jongsma
147.5
18
Jason Carter
143.5
19
Matt Brown
137
20
Kent Robinson
135
21
Ron Haymes
127
22
Rob Mader
126.5
23
Chris Gorsline
117.5
24
John Harvey
104
25
Marlin Lichti
98
26
Rex Johnston
95
27
Dennis Ernest
94.5
28
Wayne Gingerich
87.5
29
Bob Mader
85.5
30
Ray Haymes
75.5

As we can see the top 3 changes as it's Cook, Conrad and Jason Beierling. It's an interesting shuffle as Fred Slater falls 3 spots, Jason Beierling pops ahead of Ray Beierling and Eric Miltenburg rounds out the top 5. Joe Arnup slides back ahead of Nathan Walsh, but the rest stay pretty much the same. Overtime the singles rankings should be much more open to change as less tournaments give way for a greater chance of players shifting positions.

A fault in the this system though is that including the top 4 singles results is almost gives way for too much variance. Take Ray Beierling for example. The 2011 World Champ, 2011 London Champ, and 2012 runner up in Belleville and London, as well as 4th in 2012 World Championships should put him in at least the top 3. But here he is 4th. But if the results were restricted to the top 3 singles he would be placed higher. However, I like the idea of 4 singles results to add to consistency, even if it does lower the score of some players at the moment. It especially hurts those who don't make 4 singles events in a year but still make 4 NCA events. But that's why there is one ranking to combine doubles and singles, and this one for only singles.

Meanwhile on the NCA Tour, the rankings are beginning to take shape. Jon Conrad holds a commanding lead but the outcome of these early fall tournaments will show how much competition he will face for the overall title this season. 

The next big tournament is the Ontario Doubles Crokinole Championship held by CrokinoleDepot. One of the best tour stops in the year will once again hold the best doubles talent around for a date set on October 27th in Brucefield. Look to signup on the NCA site: nationalcrokinoleassociation.com.