The ESTFA Masters

Chris shows mastery again !

Report by Martin Hodds

Teesside’s Chris Thomas successfully retained his English Masters title at the David Lloyd Leisure club, Leicester on Sunday 30^th August 2009. The event was held the day after the Leicester International Open, where Chris had disappointingly lost in the quarter-finals. However today he was not to be denied.

Due to a couple of very late withdrawals, the event comprised 9 players but all at a very experienced level. Group 1 comprised Kasper Bennett, Matt Lampitt, Adrian Ritoridis, Paul Lawrenson and Ally Stephen. Group 2 was Chris Thomas, Martin Hodds, Jeremy Bradley and Steve Hawkins. No easy groups there !

Group 1 was won by Kasper with a 100% record, and became a straight fight between Matt and Adrian for the runner up spot and a place in the semi finals. Matt pipped Adrian by the odd goal to edge their game and take the coveted 2^nd spot.

Group 2 was won by Chris, again with a 100% record, however the race for 2^nd place was really tight between Martin, Jeremy and Steve. After Steve nicked a late 1-0 win against Jeremy, and Martin & Jeremy drew 2-2, Martin needed to beat Steve in the final game to come 2^nd, while Steve needed a draw. In a surprisingly open contest, chances were missed at both ends but Martin bagged the only goal of the game to secure his first ever semi final place.

Both semi finals were low scoring, with Kasper beating Martin 2-0 and Chris beating Matt 1-0 with a goal right on the half time whistle. Matt tried valiantly 2^nd half but just couldn’t claw back the deficit.

The final was a really good game, befitting a Masters final. Chris took a first half lead and had to defend valiantly, which he did successfully until about 4 minutes from time, when Kasper equalised following a sustained period of pressure. However not to be outdone, Chris went straight up the other end and took a 2-1 lead which he successfully retained until full time.

Well done to all who took part, and importantly it was great practice for the Rotterdam World Cup. Thanks to Jeremy Bradley for hosting a thoroughly enjoyable event in an excellent venue.