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Back to the future of table football
In the mid 90s, Leicester was an integral part of the English table football scene, competitions were staged routinely with groups of four accompanied by a loose seeding format and Sports figures had quickly become the favoured bases of many players.
Since then a lot has changed. Leicester soon disappeared from the calendar, groups of three - all strictly seeded - have become the standard tournament format and most players have converted to either Astrobases or Profibases.
However as Leicester hosted its first FISTF rules event in some 10 years, it was fitting that, after groups of four, played to a near enough open draw, with only a liberal separating of the top entrants, the final was between two players who have stuck with Sports figures, which gave the match a retro feel about it.
Chris Thomas and Chris Short were amongst the emerging players in the youth section in the mid 90s - Thomas in fact won the youth title at the last Leicester Open in 1996 - but both are now fully established amongst England's best.
And having lost to Short in the final of the English National Championships in February, Thomas regained the upper hand that he used to hold over his rival, by inflicting a 2-1 defeat on the West Midlander.
Thomas had the better of the final and eventually established a two goal lead. And whilst Short pulled a goal back with 2 minutes to play, the outcome was never really in doubt as Thomas recorded his second English circuit title of the season, adding to his Worthing success in September.
Rather disappointingly, for such a centrally based competition organised by two players who are now regulars on the national circuit, the quantity was not there at Leicester - which necessitated a move of venue for the 24 players who did enter - but the quality was certainly in evidence, particularly from the strong English Premier League representation.
Whilst the EPL players dominated the latter stages - David Russell joining the two Chris’s in the semis - the tournament was not without its surprises.
Les Commons held Jeff Jordan goalless in the group stage, as did Kenny Scott for 30 minutes of their last 16 clash, before the Scotsman succumbed to an overtime strike by the London TFC champion.
Scott's Putney clubmate Paolo Barone recorded his first competitive win against Victor Jones, and then put up a good fight against the eventual winner Thomas in the last 16, ultimately losing 3-1.
The improving Nicky Chappell drew with Steve Hawkins, and was unlucky not to win, in his opening game, but failed to progress even as a best third placed player after failing to beat fellow non-seed Richard Badger.
But Tom Whitehead looked set for the biggest shock of the tournament, and perhaps of the season, when he scored a well-taken goal early in his group match with Phil Dacey then almost doubled the advantage with a shot which hit the crossbar.
Dacey dominated much of the half, but couldn't find an opening, as the youngster held onto the lead until the interval.
However the Welshman's experience told in the second period as he racked in four unanswered goals to secure a comfortable win.
A failure to score was to cost Dacey in the last 16 though when he exited on shots after a scoreless 40 minutes against Martin Hodds, who had finished third in his group following defeats to both Peter Thomas and Kenny Scott.
Welsh pride was restored by David Lauder in the quarter-finals, as he edged Yorkshireman Hodds 1-0, to put himself into his second successive English open semi-finals. But, just as in Putney, Lauder’s challenge collapsed in his last four game, this time losing 4-0 to Thomas.
In the other semi, Short met Russell in a repeat of their group encounter - one of the few big name clashes in the preliminary stage - and the Wolverhampton player improved on his earlier 1-0 success, with a 2-0 win, though it was a hard fought victory.
Short - who had required overtime to see off Jordan in the quarter-finals - went ahead inside the first 30 seconds, when he caught Russell's unawares and rolled the ball softly under his opponent's out-of-position goalkeeper, from a difficult angle.
Russell had chances for the equaliser, but couldn't take them, and he was punished when Short sealed a place in the final with a second goal 30 seconds from the end.
The earlier defeat to Short had left Russell open to potentially tricky games against Peter Thomas and Jeremy Bradley in the earlier knock-out rounds.
Thomas was beaten 2-1. Bradley was defeated by a single goal in a typically dour encounter in the quarter-finals.
Some things, it seems, never change.
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Martin Hodds 0 2 Peter Thomas
Kenny Scott 0 0 Martin Lavender
Martin Hodds 6 0 Martin Lavender
Peter Thomas 2 0 Kenny Scott
Martin Hodds 0 1 Kenny Scott
Peter Thomas 7 0 Martin Lavender
1. Peter Thomas 9 pts
2. Kenny Scott 4 pts
3. Martin Hodds 3 pts
4. Martin Lavender 0 pts
Chris Thomas 1 0 Jeff Jordan
Brandon Lavender 2 1 Les Commons
Chris Thomas 4 0 Les Commons
Jeff Jordan 6 0 Brandon Lavender
Chris Thomas 6 1 Brandon Lavender
Jeff Jordan 0 0 Les Commons
1. Chris Thomas 9 pts
2. Jeff Jordan 4 pts
3. Brandon Lavender 3 pts
4. Les Commons 1 pt
Paolo Barone 1 0 Victor Jones
Jeremy Bradley 6 0 Paul Wilkinson
Victor Jones 3 0 Paul Wilkinson
Jeremy Bradley 2 0 Paolo Barone
Paolo Barone 3 0 Paul Wilkinson
Jeremy Bradley 1 0 Victor Jones
1. Jeremy Bradley 9 pts
2. Paolo Barone 6 pts
3. Victor Jones 3 pts
4. Paul Wilkinson 0 pts
Phil Holmes 4 0 Tom Whitehead
Phil Dacey 5 1 Chris Checkley
Phil Holmes 2 0 Chris Checkley
Phil Dacey 4 1 Tom Whitehead
Phil Holmes 1 0 Phil Dacey
Tom Whitehead 3 2 Chris Checkley
1. Phil Holmes 9 pts
2. Phil Dacey 6 pts
3. Tom Whitehead 3 pts
4. Chris Checkley 0 pts
Chris Short 5 1 Ed Whitehead
David Russell 6 1 Alf Jones
Alf Jones 0 2 Ed Whitehead
David Russell 0 1 Chris Short
Chris Short 5 1 Alf Jones
David Russell 7 0 Ed Whitehead
1. Chris Short 9 pts
2. David Russell 6 pts
3. Ed Whitehead 3 pts
4. Alf Jones 0 pts
David Lauder 2 1 Richard Badger
Steve Hawkins 1 1 Nicky Chappell
Richard Badger 2 2 Nicky Chappell
Steve Hawkins 1 1 David Lauder
Nicky Chappell 0 4 David Lauder
Steve Hawkins 3 1 Richard Badger
1. David Lauder 7 pts
2. Steve Hawkins 5 pts
3. Nicky Chappell 2 pts
4. Richard Badger 1 pt
Seeded players (two per group, drawn at random) shown in bold. Knock-out rounds were drawn at random, with the only proviso that group winners and players from the same group were separated in the last 16 stage.
Phil Holmes 1 Steve Hawkins 2 (ot)
Peter Thomas 1 David Russell 2
Chris Short 4 Victor Jones 0
Jeremy Bradley 6 Ed Whitehead 0
David Lauder 4 Tom Whitehead 1
Chris Thomas 3 Paolo Barone 1
Jeff Jordan 1 Kenny Scott 0 (ot)
Martin Hodds 0 Phil Dacey 0 (ot, shots: 2-1)
Jeff Jordan 0 Chris Short 1 (ot)
Jeremy Bradley 0 David Russell 1
Steve Hawkins 0 Chris Thomas 2
David Lauder 1 Martin Hodds 0
Chris Short 2 David Russell 0
Chris Thomas 4 David Lauder 0
Chris Thomas 2 Chris Short 1
PLATE
Quarter-finals
Alf Jones 0 Chris Checkley 1
Martin Lavender 2 Brandon Lavender 4
Nicky Chappell 3 Paul Wilkinson 1
Les Commons 0 Richard Badger 2
Nicky Chappell 1 Richard Badger 2
Brandon Lavender 2 Chris Checkley 3
Chris Checkley 2 Richard Badger 0
YOUTH
Semi-finals
Ed Whitehead 2 Brandon Lavender 0
Tom Whitehead - bye
Tom Whitehead 3 Ed Whitehead 2
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