Wollongong Tournament February 2004


Report from Graeme Lock Lee

In summery weather, 85 players assembled at the Collegians Football Club in Wollongong for eight 44 minute games. Platters of sliced melons greeted the travellers along with the obligatory tea, coffee and biscuits. As usual, most of the venue setup had been completed the previous night by eager Club members. Due to Wilma Vialle's absence overseas and Rene Chelton's illness, the WORDS Club presented some new faces up front. WORDS president Natalie Tadday welcomed everyone with natural grace, and her mellifluous microphone voice kept the action flowing throughout. Behind the scenes, hard-working Secretary Janine Whittaker and Treasurer Jean Balmer had done a sterling job organizing all facets of the event and collating names into the computer. It was a pleasant surprise to see Rene arrive to help out at the front desk all day.

Prizes were to be awarded down to 5th placing; there were ‘Scratchies’ for the highest non-bingo scores starting with the letters of the word FEBRUARY; and nine separate raffle prizes, including five $20 vouchers donated by Collegians Club, bottles of wine, and potted plants. Before the last game, Janine’s daughter Kristy, who acted as a word challenge checker, doubled up as a clear-voiced announcer of the raffle winners. A funny incident occurred when green ticket 27 was announced as first prize winner. The winning ticket could not immediately be produced so mischievous Rod Talbot used a green pen to add the digit 7 to Joan Rosenthal’s green ticket number 2 and urged her to claim a prize with it. Before the second ticket was drawn she yearned that “green 2” would not be called out but amazingly that was exactly what happened, so a sheepish Joan was obliged to explain away her doctored ticket amidst catcalls from her helpful “friends”.

When play got underway, the first upset in A division occurred when Australia’s current number 1 and former Aussie Champ Ed Okulicz was toppled by Moana Nepia, also a former Aussie Champ. Worse was to come for Ed when I collected dream pickups (all power tiles except the X) to inflict what Ed revealed was the biggest defeat he has ever suffered in a tournament - 577 to 254. (This should have won High Game but in the excitement, I wrote 567 down as the winning score.) To Ed’s credit, he let me enjoy the euphoria and even suggested I take a photo of the completed board for posterity. My charmed run started on move 3 with SIGNORE for 99 immediately followed by TSARINAS through the floating S for 66 then on move 7, QUIMS for 42, JIN 44, OS under the QI for 45, DRUG for 10 to block Ed’s only possible bingo NETTABLE, TEAZED for 48 where Ed had just gambled with *TABLETTE, and finally NONeMPtY for 101 in the place where NETTABLE had been blocked (sorry to make you relive that Ed!). Ed’s losing streak was extended to 3 when beaten also by underrated Cristine Small. Incredibly, he was now dead last after 3 games with a margin of -427! At least he recovered to win his remaining games and finish a creditable 5th. Meanwhile, the other tournament favourites were progressing as expected, culminating in the denouement of jubilant Joan Rosenthal (High Word 140 for SEGREANT) and super-consistent Chris May (High Game 569) taking out the top 2 places with 7/8 wins each. Three of Chris’s victories were tight – by 2 against me, 4 against Joan and 14 against Sue McGillivray. Joanne Craig and Peter Shaw sneaked into 3rd and 4th places on margin. Some notable words played were FLOKATI and UNDULOSE (for Bob Jackman to pinch the game against me) and ARANEOUS (for Joan Rosenthal to pinch the game against me and knock me from 3rd to 9th place).

B division was blitzed by evergreen Richard Birch with a perfect 8/8 and 672 margin. His closest win was by 2 points against unlucky Gary Pollard who lost 3rd place by dropping his last game against Kerry Constable by 15 points. Richard was rewarded with a huge 100 point rating gain, surpassing a huge 74 point rating gain by 2nd-placed evergreen Rex Shakespeare that now propels him into the top division of the upcoming Australian Championships. It’s enough to make both their heads spin (if the revolving boards don’t). Richard and Rex between them also managed High Game 523 and High Word 140 for DEBITING (which tipped out Kerry Constable’s 128 for NARQUOIS – a word she has played previously) to put their chasers in the shade, namely Judy Hay, Kerry Constable and Alison Pollardr.

Affable winner Margaret Berliner was prevented from whitewashing C division when 3rd placegetter Jan Tomlin forced a draw with her in game 5. Fast-improving and fast-quipping local Bill Condon kept improving (and quipping) by grabbing 2nd place. Two of his beaten rivals were clubmates Val Ryan and Janine Whittaker who will have something to say about his “improvement” when they catch up with him at the next Club meeting. Margaret Andrews and David More finished 4th and 5th. Lovely Jacqui Hochmuth achieved a stunning 511 High Game, while lovely Sandra Elliot got 111 for LIQUIDS.

Another home-grown product, vivacious Vi Phillips battled well all day to emerge with 7/8 wins and 1st place in D division ahead of Beryl Pearson, Owen Randall, local Merle Young and Pearl Gillott. (Home-town advantage no doubt!) Vi won her last game against Ann Schick by only 2 points to clinch the title. Ulladulla dweller, Yvonne Pollard achieved both High Game 445 and High Word 95 for EXERTING. Two novices made a welcome debut in this tournament. Elisabeth Andrews made her journey from Ulladulla worthwhile with 4 wins and a starting rating of 717. Paul Heffernan from the ACT also did well on debut. His losses were all narrow – 51, 19, 17, 3 and 43. Welcome to the world of tournament Scrabble. As President Natalie declared during her opening address - “May you become addicted like the rest of us”.

Results after game  8
WORDSFEB2OO4 -- A

Rank  Player            Wins Mar
---------------------------------
  1   Joan Rosenthal       7      462
  2   Chris May            7      358
  3   Joanne Craig         5      211
  4   Peter Shaw           5      173
  5   Edward Okulicz       5      161
  6   Rod Talbot           5      155
  7   John Spaan           5       89
  8   Bob Jackman          5       47
  9   Graeme Lock Lee      4      345
 10   Pat Schuberg         4      -13
 11   Christine Small      4     -166
 12   John Barker          4     -187
 13   Moana Nepia          4     -194
 14   Sue Gergelifi        3      163
 15   Jeff Chelton         3       15
 16   Betty Foreman        3     -129
 17   Susan MacGillivray   3     -190
 18   Keith Bioletti       3     -405
 19   Hanne Marks          3     -408
 20   Jan Serisier         2      -22
 21   Jean McGiffen        2     -182
 22   Norma Tracey         2     -283
HIGH GAME: Chris May         569
HIGH WORD: Joan Rosenthal    140
            "SEGREANT"

 Results after game  8
WORDSFEB2OO4 -- B

Rank  Player            Wins Mar
---------------------------------
  1   Richard Birch        8      672
  2   Rex Shakespeare      7      193
  3   Judy Hay             5      230
  4   Kerry Constable      5      188
  5   Alison Pollard       5      169
  6   Jean Noonan          5      154
  7   Ram Mohe             5     -126
  8   Gary Pollard         4      290
  9   Liz Jackman          4      200
 10   Tim Reddan           4       82
 11   Sharon Sorenson      4       58
 12   Audrey Newman        4      -43
 13   Gordon Meggs         4      -93
 14   Bev Purkis           4     -284
 15   Therese Newman       4     -330
 16   Nonie English        3      -19
 17   Judy McGuiness       3      -88
 18   Raya Wilkinson       3      -96
 19   Natalie Tadday       3     -105
 20   Daphne Bezhuidenhout 2     -159
 21   Jan Pincott          1     -429
 22   Michael Adler        1     -464
HIGH GAME: Richard Birch     523
HIGH WORD: Rex Shakespeare       140
            "DEBITING"

 Results after game  8
WORDSFEB2OO4 -- C

Rank  Player            Wins Mar
---------------------------------
  1   Margaret Berliner    7.5    410
  2   Bill Condon          6      181
  3   Jan Tomlin           5.5     95
  4   Margaret Andrews     5      477
  5   David More           5      251
  6   Fay Van Oyen         5       86
  7   Edith Lowbeer        5       -2
  8   Janine Whittaker     4      137
  9   Jean Balmer          4      124
 10   Veena Mohe           4      -80
 11   George Khamis        4     -128
 12   Sandra Elliot        4     -133
 13   Jacqui Hochmuth      3      -14
 14   Val Ryan             3      -58
 15   Ann Fiddler          3      -62
 16   Pam Bennett          3     -237
 17   Heather Sorensen     3     -369
 18   Esther Rolfe         2     -131
 19   Betty Irwin          2     -238
 20   Mary Craven          2     -309
HIGH GAME: Jacqui Hochmuth   511
HIGH WORD: Sandra Elliot         111
            "LIQUIDS"

 Results after game  8
WORDSFEB2OO4 -- D

Rank  Player            Wins Mar
---------------------------------
  1   Vi Phillips          7      266
  2   Beryl Pearson        6      502
  3   Owen Randall         6      322
  4   Merle Young          6      151
  5   Pearl Gillott        5      120
  6   Joy Bresser          5       66
  7   Maree Heynen         5       63
  8   Yvonne Pollard       4      437
  9   Elisabeth Andrews    4      105
 10   Anne Schick          4       89
 11   Chris Phillips       4       34
 12   Esther Clarke        4      -26
 13   Mavis Farrar         4     -218
 14   Arie Holla           4     -221
 15   Judith Emery         3     -134
 16   Irene Brownlow       3     -198
 17   Joy Morris           3     -208
 18   Lila Tucker          3     -221
 19   Jocelyn Ryan         3     -237
 20   Diana Field          3     -431
 21   Paul Hefferan        2     -101
 22   A bye                0     -160
HIGH GAME: Yvonne Pollard    445
HIGH WORD: Yvonne Pollard         95
            "EXERTING"

Stats for Tournament : WORDSFEB2OO4

+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------
-----+
| state     Name           | National  | State   |   Wins    | Rating
Points |
|                          | Old  New  | Old New | Exp  Act  | Old
Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------
-----+
+Section: *A                           +         +           +
+
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------
-----+
| NSW Chris May            |    4    4 |   1   1 |  6.1  7.0 | 1845 +16
1861 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal       |   13    8 |   7   5 |  4.8  7.0 | 1738 +46
1784 |
| NSW Joanne Craig         |   33   33 |  10  10 |  4.7  5.0 | 1637  +7
1644 |
| QLD Edward Okulicz       |    1    2 |   1   1 |  7.0  5.0 | 1923 -33
1890 |
| NSW Rod Talbot           |    7    7 |   4   4 |  5.7  5.0 | 1798 -13
1785 |
| NSW Bob Jackman          |    6    6 |   3   3 |  5.3  5.0 | 1809  -3
1806 |
| NSW Peter Shaw           |   73   58 |  20  18 |  3.4  5.0 | 1518 +31
1549 |
| NSW John Spaan :act      |   37   38 |  11  12 |  4.9  5.0 | 1620  +2
1622 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee      |   39   37 |  13  11 |  3.5  4.0 | 1616  +9
1625 |
| NSW Moana Nepia          |   72   73 |  19  20 |  4.0  4.0 | 1524
1524 |
| NSW John Barker          |   69   70 |  18  19 |  3.9  4.0 | 1527  +1
1528 |
| NSW Pat Schuberg         |  138  123 |  37  32 |  2.4  4.0 | 1423 +32
1455 |
| NSW Cristine Small       |   57   56 |  17  16 |  4.1  4.0 | 1558  -2
1556 |
| NSW Sue Gergelifi        |  133  133 |  36  36 |  2.7  3.0 | 1427  +5
1432 |
| NSW Betty Foreman        |   94   96 |  25  24 |  3.2  3.0 | 1489  -4
1485 |
| NSW Jeff Chelton         |   89   87 |  23  23 |  2.8  3.0 | 1494  +3
1497 |
| NSW Keith Bioletti       |   98  104 |  26  26 |  3.4  3.0 | 1482  -8
1474 |
| NSW Susan MacGillivr:act |   93   83 |  24  21 |  2.4  3.0 | 1491 +11
1502 |
| NSW Hanne Marks          |  126  117 |  33  30 |  2.3  3.0 | 1446 +13
1459 |
| NSW Norma Tracey         |  100  113 |  27  27 |  2.9  2.0 | 1479 -18
1461 |
| NSW Jan Serisier         |   81   97 |  21  25 |  2.9  2.0 | 1504 -19
1485 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen        |   38   57 |  12  17 |  5.3  2.0 | 1618 -66
1552 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+-----------
-----+
+Section: *B                           +         +           +
+
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------
-----+
| NSW Richard Birch        |  215  134 |  54  37 |  4.2  8.0 | 1328 +100
1428 |
| NSW Rex Shakespeare      |  243  191 |  60  52 |  4.0  7.0 | 1293 +74
1367 |
| NSW Alison Pollard       |  161  165 |  45  45 |  5.1  5.0 | 1397  -3
1394 |
| NSW Jean Noonan          |  151  159 |  40  44 |  5.3  5.0 | 1404  -5
1399 |
| NSW Kerry Constable :act |  140  140 |  38  39 |  5.0  5.0 | 1420  +2
1422 |
| NSW Judy Hay             |  249  227 |  61  58 |  3.1  5.0 | 1280 +38
1318 |
| NSW Ram Mohe             |  196  193 |  52  53 |  4.7  5.0 | 1357  +9
1366 |
| NSW Gary Pollard         |  153  172 |  42  49 |  5.0  4.0 | 1403 -16
1387 |
| NSW Audrey Newman        |  182  198 |  51  54 |  5.0  4.0 | 1378 -21
1357 |
| NSW Tim Reddan :act      |  216  229 |  55  59 |  4.6  4.0 | 1327 -12
1315 |
| NSW Therese Newman       |  272  269 |  67  65 |  3.8  4.0 | 1245  +4
1249 |
| NSW Bev Purkis           |  312  294 |  77  73 |  2.9  4.0 | 1189 +22
1211 |
| NSW Gordon Meggs         |  293  285 |  72  70 |  3.4  4.0 | 1212 +12
1224 |
| NSW Liz Jackman          |  324  314 |  83  78 |  3.0  4.0 | 1162 +20
1182 |
| NSW Sharon Sorensen      |  290  291 |  71  72 |  3.9  4.0 | 1215  +2
1217 |
| NSW Nonie English        |  298  303 |  74  75 |  3.1  3.0 | 1200  -2
1198 |
| NSW Natalie Tadday       |  294  295 |  73  74 |  2.9  3.0 | 1209  +2
1211 |
| NSW Raya Wilkinson       |  234  252 |  58  61 |  4.5  3.0 | 1303 -30
1273 |
| NSW Judy McGuinness      |  319  319 |  80  81 |  2.9  3.0 | 1170  +3
1173 |
| NSW Daphne Bezuidenhout  |  263  280 |  64  68 |  3.6  2.0 | 1265 -32
1233 |
| NSW Jan Pincott          |  236  282 |  59  69 |  4.7  1.0 | 1303 -73
1230 |
| NSW Michael Adler :act   |  306  330 |  75  84 |  3.3  1.0 | 1196 -46
1150 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+-----------
-----+
+Section: *C                           +         +           +
+
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------
-----+
| NSW Margaret Berliner    |  330  308 |  84  77 |  5.4  7.5 | 1151 +43
1194 |
| NSW Bill Condon          |  515  452 | 122 108 |  3.2  6.0 |  950 +68
1018 |
| NSW Jan Tomlin           |  462  422 | 111  98 |  4.0  5.5 | 1011 +31
1042 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews     |  352  355 |  86  87 |  5.4  5.0 | 1125  -6
1119 |
| NSW David More           |  458  445 | 108 104 |  4.4  5.0 | 1014 +13
1027 |
| NSW Edith Lowbeer        |  489  463 | 116 112 |  3.5  5.0 |  982 +30
1012 |
| NSW Fay Van Oyen         |  419  415 |  98  96 |  4.7  5.0 | 1045  +7
1052 |
| NSW Jean Balmer          |  378  402 |  89  95 |  5.0  4.0 | 1091 -21
1070 |
| NSW Janine Whittaker     |  546  522 | 132 125 |  2.8  4.0 |  917 +25
942 |
| NSW Sandra Elliott       |  493  487 | 119 117 |  3.8  4.0 |  980  +6
986 |
| NSW Veena Mohe           |  491  480 | 117 115 |  3.4  4.0 |  981 +13
994 |
| NSW George Khamis        |  536  520 | 128 123 |  3.0  4.0 |  926 +20
946 |
| NSW Jacquelin Hochmuth   |  502  507 | 121 121 |  3.3  3.0 |  965  -5
960 |
| NSW Ann Fiddler          |  407  441 |  97 103 |  5.0  3.0 | 1069 -40
1029 |
| NSW Pam Bennett          |  522  535 | 124 128 |  3.4  3.0 |  940  -9
931 |
| NSW Val Ryan             |  403  446 |  96 105 |  5.3  3.0 | 1071 -45
1026 |
| NSW Heather Sorensen :ac |  566  564 | 139 138 |  2.8  3.0 |  904  +3
907 |
| NSW Mary Craven :act     |  553  574 | 133 143 |  2.9  2.0 |  914 -17
897 |
| NSW Betty Irwin          |  433  483 | 103 116 |  4.4  2.0 | 1038 -48
990 |
| NSW Esther Rolfe         |  468  515 | 112 122 |  4.5  2.0 | 1001 -50
951 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+-----------
-----+
+Section: *D                           +         +           +
+
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------
-----+
| NSW Vi Phillips          |  581  540 | 146 130 |  5.2  7.0 |  888 +36
924 |
| NSW Beryl Pearson :act   |  712  669 | 184 168 |  4.6  6.0 |  799 +29
828 |
| NSW Owen Randall :act    |  696  656 | 176 162 |  4.6  6.0 |  807 +29
836 |
| NSW Merle Young          |  804  752 | 204 192 |  3.9  6.0 |  721 +41
762 |
| NSW Pearl Gillott        |  678  668 | 170 167 |  4.7  5.0 |  823  +5
828 |
| NSW Joy Bresser :act     |  789  757 | 203 195 |  3.9  5.0 |  734 +22
756 |
| NSW Maree Heynen         |  708  693 | 181 175 |  4.5  5.0 |  799 +10
809 |
| NSW Yvonne Pollard       |  692  727 | 174 188 |  5.1  4.0 |  809 -23
786 |
|*NSW Elisabeth Andrews    |    0  816 |   0 209 |  4.0  4.0 |  717
717 |
| NSW Anne Schick :act     |  660  707 | 163 181 |  5.6  4.0 |  833 -32
801 |
| NSW Esther Clarke        |  890  881 | 231 230 |  3.5  4.0 |  664 +10
674 |
| NSW Arie Holla           |  813  847 | 207 217 |  5.1  4.0 |  718 -22
696 |
| NSW Chris Phillips       |  821  825 | 211 211 |  4.3  4.0 |  714  -5
709 |
| NSW Mavis Farrar         |  908  915 | 235 238 |  4.3  4.0 |  651  -5
646 |
| NSW Joy Morris           |  914  922 | 237 241 |  3.2  3.0 |  647  -4
643 |
| NSW Lila Tucker          | 1044 1047 | 281 281 |  3.2  3.0 |  550  -5
545 |
| NSW Jocelyn Ryan         |  761  860 | 195 222 |  5.2  3.0 |  753 -67
686 |
| NSW Irene Brownlow       |  955  952 | 249 250 |  2.8  3.0 |  618  +4
622 |
| NSW Judith Emery         | 1039 1053 | 280 284 |  3.6  3.0 |  554 -13
541 |
| NSW Diana Field          | 1058 1073 | 287 296 |  3.4  3.0 |  535  -9
526 |
|*NSW Paul Hefferan        |    0 1155 |   0 325 |  3.0  2.0 |  500
500 |