2021 news

Decathon 21

One of the most popular events of the year with a return after 2 years of not being held. Today marked the final Committee-run tournament using CSW19, with CSW21 being used for Victorian Committee-run events from January 1, 2022 onwards.
Three divisions played round robins which ensured that the day went smoothly and quickly. Both Divs B & C played one round, whilst A Div played 2 rounds.

Div A:David Eldar 3rd; Norma Fisher - High Word; Edward Okulicz 1st

Oscar Ivanovski 1st, HW & HG; Siva Sivapalasundram 2nd; Oliver Podesser 3rd

Bayside 2

Oh, to be beside the sea. Becoming one of our favourite venues, the Mordialloc Sports Club by the sea. Make sure you don't miss the next one on February 13 in 2022 here. Mythili Rudra (2nd) and Peter Kougi (3rd) were fresh from their sucess at the recent Virtual WESPA Championship (Peter placed 4th and Mythili 47th.)

Peter Kougi and Mythili Rudra (Mr and Mrs)

December Summer

This event starts December off to be a very busy Scrabble month with 4 tournaments. Low numbers (20) did not detract rom the tough competition with Geoff Wright and Siva Sivapalasundram taking out top spots in Divs A & B.

Results and ratings: 05.12.2021 Vic December
following ss0412re.tou on 20211204
PratCooker 12.05, pending NRO processing.

A

     7 games
     W     M                       Old   Chg  New
1    6  +559 Geoff Wright         1633   +19 1652
2    5  +812 Nick Ivanovski       1621    -2 1619
3    5  +329 Chris Scholten       1409   +19 1428
4    5  +231 Norma Fisher         1520   +13 1533
5    4  -217 Mal Eden             1221   +30 1251
6    3   -22 John Rider           1331    +2 1333
7    0  -872 Paula Messer         1124   -32 1092

     6 games
1    3  -118 Lainie Chojna        1330    +7 1337
2    1  -467 Barry Harridge       1407   -47 1360

     5 games
1    1  -235 Noel Coulter         1252    -9 1243
High game Nick Ivanovski 560
High word Geoff Wright WIRIEST 104


B

     7 games
     W     M                       Old   Chg  New
1    6  +608 Siva Sivapalasundram 1065   +31 1096
2    5  +248&Luke Breen          ( 798)     ( 925)
3    4  +209 Dominica Krstic      1024    -3 1021
4    4  +186 Oscar Ivanovski      1029    -4 1025
5    4   +23 Ann Goodwin           919    +6  925
6    3  -132 Elizabeth McKean      769   +11  780
7    3  -385&Carol Rollmann      ( 844)     ( 847)
8    2  -114 Annette Casey         896   -24  872
9    2  -229 Mohammed Hegazi       842   -24  818
10    2  -414 Lay-Hoon Ng           848   -22  826
High game Siva Sivapalasundram 534
High word Annette Casey NASTIER 106


Luke Breen is still provisional (20 games)
Carol Rollmann is still provisional (46 games)

Scrabble Festival

Following the Scrabble Festival Open Day on 20 November, 20 players participated in 3 divisions in round robin style. Whilst confusion reigned at the commencement, it soon settled down and thank you for the patience of all present. We welcomed Novice Catherine Jackson-Grose who admitted to thoroughly enjoying the day and she was very keen to continue to participate. Division placings were:
A:
1st - Norma Fisher - 5 wins
2nd - Geoff Wright - 4 wins
3rd - Barry Harridge - 3 wins
HW: BENDERS - 90 - Shaun Donnelly
HG: Norma Fisher - 500
B:
1st - Noel Coulter - 4 wins (won on aggregate)
2nd - John Rider - 4 wins
3rd - Mal Eden - 3 wins
HW: CLIMAXES - 101 - Noel Coulter
HG: Mal Eden - 494
C:
1st - Siva Sivapalasundram - 4 wins (won on aggregate)
2nd - Ann Goodwin - 4 wins
3rd - Dominica Krstic - 3 wins
HW: MENDERS 91 & COUPLET 91 - Dominica Krstic
HG: Carol Rollmann - 502

1st Norma Fisher 1st & HG; and Shaun Donnelly HW

Victorian Championship

Thank you to all the players who attended and supported our first event back after lockdown restrictions had eased! It was a really enjoyable event to run as a result and I hope you enjoyed it as well, no matter how you fared.
Congratulations to David Eldar, winning the title comprehensively - by three wins and margin. It was a decade since David had played in this event (having been overseas in that time) and he was pleased to be back. Thank you to David for his generosity when it came to donating his prize money back to Scrabble. - Nick Ivanovski, TD.
Prizes:
1st - David Eldar - $1,000
2nd - Andrew Fisher - $500
3rd - Trevor Halsall - $300
HG: Andrew Fisher - $100
HW: Lainie Chojna - $100
Rating Band Prize: Shaun Donnelly - $100
Rating Band Prize: Michael Smitheram - $100

David Eldar with the Victorian Champion perpetual trophy

Andrew Fisher, 2nd place & High Game 627

Lainie Chojna - High Word - ABRASION 149

May Tourney

We had another great turn out of 38 players for our May event at Balwyn, including Jack who was making his debut at our competitions. All three divisions are hotly contested with Annette Casey being the only player to go through undefeated. She joined Glen and Nat in winning their respective divisions. The next time we are at Balwyn will be for our Victorian Championship with a warm up event being set for Moonee Ponds on May 30. We look forward to seeing you then!

Div A: Geoff Wright, Trevor Halsall, Dianne Davis, Nat Podesser

Div B: Frank Csarics, Glen Chandler, Christianne McCann, Noel Coulter, Christie Godby

Div C: Angie Winkler, Faye Leeder, Ann Goodwin, Annette Casey

Nats After Party

The Nationals have been run and won and on April 18, we held the After Party! 38 players played 7 rounds in 3 divisions on what was a really enjoyable day in Balwyn. The top seed in Division A, Edward Okulicz was victorious in A Division, dropping just the 1 game by the slimmest of margins (to John Rider by a point).
Dianne Davis was runner-up with Geoff Wright in 3rd and John Rider 4th. B Division was another competitive division as Lorraine Thomas won by a game and spread from Oscar Ivanovski and Noel Coulter in 3rd. Elaine Capewell (making her tournament return) finished in 4th.
Balada Catanchin was the only player to go undefeated for the day, obtaining a healthy 60 ratings points in doing so. Lay-Hoon Ng, Angie Winkler and Ann Goodwin were the other place winners. Today was a day we trialled providing prizes down to fourth; it was an interesting experiment and one we may revisit through the year. The next event at Balwyn is on May 16; our next online event is on May 1.

Div A: John Rider, Geoff Wright, Dianne Davis & Edward Okulicz

Div B: Noel Coulter, Lorraine Thomas & Oscar Ivanovski

Div C: Balada Catanchin, Angie Winkler & Lay-Hoon Ng

Teams Tournament

This year's Teams Challenge has been run and won. With the final outcome not being decided until the final round, it was a tense conclusion to what was an enjoyable and fascinating day of Scrabble. 32 players were divided into 3 teams, with Team Captains making their selections the day before to fit in a ratings cap to ensure a fair distribution of players. The added bonus with the day was that, with the assistance of the TSH event software, every game was a live rubber as no one played a member of their own team on the day. Rob York, Christie Godby and Oscar Ivanovski were team captains.

Team placings were determined by percentage of wins. Team Rob took an early lead after securing 8 out of 11 wins in a round prior to lunch but by the final round, the three teams were separated by a win percentage of just over 1% so it was anyone's to win. Team Oscar had a superb final round, making his team victorious on the day.
Team Oscar : 50.71% , Team Christie : 50% , Team Rob : 49.35%
Shaun Donnelly came first from an individual perspective, with Jenny Brysha runner up and Oscar Ivanovski in 3rd. Darren Chaitman's 4th place ensured his climb up the rankings since starting play in December 2020.

The different format was a welcome one, allowing players the chance to play people they had not played in a long time or ever and the camaraderie shone through in each team through the day. Teams events are very likely to return as a result in 2022.
Our Facebook page has a short video and you can check the full results HERE

Bil Rose Aestival

Usually held in January, this event was eventually held on February 28 due to COVID-19 restrictions being imposed at last minute for original date. Played in groups of 8 as round robin, instead of our usual tennis players table names, birds took centre stage (the Australian Tennis Open having just finished a week before - also due to COVID-19) - AVOCETS, BUSTARDS, CURLEWS, DRONGOS and EMUS. High word of the day went to Lainie Chojna for LATHERERS for 176 and she tells me that it was a "well, what have I got to lose" move, as she was trailing in the game. It was lovely to see Fintan Conway "hit his straps again" winning the EMUS section. David Eldar took out AVOCETS WITH 6/7 wins and scored the high game of 561, with Andrew Fisher playing EXOCRINE for 114 high word. John Rider won BUSTARDS with 6/7 win, Shirley de Silva scored high game of 539. Kannan Sethuran won CURLEWS with 5/7 and Khwanjai Thammaping won High Game with 479. Relative newcomer (his 3rd tournament) Darren Chaitmann won 7/7 in the DRONGOS section, also scoring High game with 482; and Oscar Ivanovski passed the 1000 mark with a second place with 5 wins and High word of RETAXES for 96. .
Dianne Davis provided a highlight for the day with a group photo including Bil Rose taken at her Mt Martha Tournament back in the 90's. Can you recognise some of them?

Mt Martha 95 — Scrabblers at Mount Martha

To check the full results click HERE

Bayside Scrabble

What a delightful change of scenery for this challenge at the Mordy HQ Sports Club on the Nepean Highway, Mordialloc. Six games were hotly contested within the 2 divisions and congratulations to David Eldar sweeping the pool in A Division and June Valentine in the B Division. David also scored a 600 game along with the highest word VALIDATE for 149. You could have joined in the next bar with a rather loud rock band playing from 4pm onwards, but most players chose not to. .

Div A - David Eldar, Mythili Rudra and Trevor Halsall

Div B - June Valentine, Carol Mascitti, Christie Godby

To check the full results click HERE

Victorian Open and Side Event

The first event of the year held at the popular Balwyn Community Centre was an opportunity for those rated 1300 to win one of the beautiful Victorian plaques (courtesy of Trevor Barraclough). COVID-19 restrictions had tightened during the previous week and masks had to be worn on the day whilst inside, however everyone cooperated. Twenty-two players contested the plate in 2 divisions, with Christiane McCann winning A div. and Betty Egan B div. Christiane (502) and Mohammed Hegazi (519) won high games in their respective divisions, with Rob York (OUTFISH - 98) and Paula Messer (SEQUINS)sharing High Game in A and Annette Casey played DIETERS for 84.
Anand Bharadwaj was well in his stride, winning all 7 games with a huge margin of 1335. He also played the highest game of 623 and John Rider took out high word with LOQUATS for 124.

Nick Ivanvoski TD outlining the COVID-19 protocols

Side event - Highest rating gain - Angie Pearse

B Div - Oscar Ivanovski, Dianne Gibson & Betty Egan

To check the full results click HERE