Club Champion 2020-21, John Cawdery has now added the 2021-22 Lightning Championship, wresting the crown from Terry Whitton who was held to a draw in the last round by David Smith; John would have won on tie-break in any event had Terry won.
There were 20 entries and some keen competition. At the start of Round 3 of the six rounds, there were four players on 2/2, but only one of these, Mark Murrell, retained a 100% record, defeating Istvan. The other top pairing saw John share the point with Terry. The same players made the top pairings in Round 4, with a dramatic shift as Terry defeated Mark and John defeated Istvan. Leaders after R4 were John and Terry 3½/4, Mark 3/4. The two leaders both won in R5 moving on to 4½/5, while Mark kept himself in contention on 4/5.
In the last round, John finally disposed of Mark’s challenge, giving John the winning score of 5½/6, while David Smith saved Terry the angst of losing on tie-break by taking him to a drawn R & P ending. Many congratulations to John.
Leading scores: 1 John Cawdery, 5½/6 – Lightning Champion; 2 Terry Whitton, 5; =3 Mark Murrell, Philip Staniland, Istvan Karacsony, 4; 20 entries
Links: Lightning page | Vega Tournament pages