This year's Schneider Tournament turned out to be one of the closest challenges in history.
In Group A, there were only 36 points separating the 1st and 8th positioned pair. No one pair dominated the group with every pair losing at least two games. In the end, Andy F and Pam just pipped Rebecca & Tom to the winners spot by 4 points. Star of this group was the youngster Steven Edwards who partnered Guy. Guy let Steven play his own game, and he grabbed this opportunity to show exactly what he can do. His new-found confidence on court caused no end of trouble for all the other pairs, and his power smashes proved deadly on more than one occasion.
In the other group, Andy Nicholson and Gareth Clarke maintained a 100% record to go through as winners. There were three pairs in close contention for the runners-up spot. Alan Morris and Andy Davis narrowly squeaked this place. Graham Lockyear and Debbie Cook played some tremendous Badminton but were just pipped by 6 points. Blaine Sutton and John Gotelfe finished 4th, 1 point behind Graham & Debbie.
In the first semi-final, Andy F and Pam faced Alan and Andy D. Alan and Andy fought valiantly but in the end the superior play from Andy and Pam saw them clinch their place in the final.
The other semi saw Andy Nicholson drawn against his Mens B partner, Tom Dingwall. This battle proved to be the match of the night and Andy and Gareth were in real danger of losing their 100% record. Tom and Andy know each others game so well, so both were determined to outplay each other. Rebecca played some brilliant badminton at the net and punished all weak replies from the two men. Tom's superb play from the back of the court look set to take them through to the next stage. Even though they served for the match at 20-19, in the end it was not to be. Andy and Gareth didn't need a second chance and soaked up the pressure to squeeze victory by the narrowest of margins.
In the final, Andy N now faced his regular Mixed partner, Pam, who have had a extremely sucessful season together. This time they squared up against each other and the resulting battle was one to be remembered for a long time. Andy N showed no mercy towards his regular partner and Pam played well to cope with the barage of shots going her way with some deft net play and attacking shots. Andy and Gareth raced off to secure a healthly lead, but as in their group games, Andy F and Pam came fought their way back into the match through sheer determination and consistant play. Andy N and Gareth managed to kick-start their game to get to 20 points, but this time, needed several chances to get that vital championship-winning point.
In so doing, Andy Nicholson made club history becoming the first player to win this trophy more than once. The Schneider Tournament rounds off Andy most successful season ever - he was part of the teams responsible for lifting this year's Division Two Mens and Division Three Mixed Trophies.
The fight for the final trophy - The Bottoms Award - was also a closely fought contest. In the end, Trevor Poore and Katie Marlow held off Tony Walker and Carleton Horne to list the loo seat!
Starlet of the tournament was without doubt Rebecca Chivers. After Sam Page's partner dropped out through illness, Rebecca came to the rescue. She played 5 matches with Sam on the Thursday, then on the Friday she partnered Tom and played a further seven tough games plus a semi-final. It would have been an interesting headache for the Referee's if Rebecca qualified for the semi-final stages with both Sam and Tom ...
| Semi Final | Final | Winners | |
 |
Andy F & Pam (-3) | ||
Andy & Pam (-3) |
|||
 |
Alan & Andy D (+4) | ||
Andrew Nich & Gareth
(+4) |
|||
 |
Tom & Rebecca (0) | ||
Andrew Nich & Gareth
(+4) |
|||
 |
Andrew Nich & Gareth (+4) |
Group
A |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | POINTS | ||
| 1 | Dave Spring & Ali Macklin |
-3 | 10 | 21 | 18 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 114 | |
| 2 | Andy Fortmuller & Pam Norris | -3 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 142 | |
| 3 | Matthew Chivers & CatePoore | +2 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 9 | 130 | |
| 4 | Guy McBride & Steven Edwards | +4 | 21 | 19 | 9 | 15 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 124 | |
| 5 | Tony Forkin & Gill Pocock | +6 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 5 | 21 | 14 | 122 | |
| 6 | Rick Stone & Karen Jackson | +8 | 21 | 20 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 16 | 131 | |
| 7 | Hugh Hemingway & Alison Humphrey | +10 | 14 | 12 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 106 | |
| 8 | Tom Dingwall & Rebecca Chivers | 0 | 18 | 15 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 138 | |
| POINTS AGAINST | 132 | 118 | 123 | 134 | 120 | 116 | 147 | 117 |
Group
B |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | POINTS | ||
| 1 | Tony Walker & Carleton Horne | -3 | 15 | 20 | 21 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 92 | |
| 2 | Alan Morris & Andy Davis | +4 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 122 | |
| 3 | Graham Lockyear & Debbie Cook | +1 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 13 | 21 | 21 | 116 | |
| 4 | Trevor Poore & Katie Marlow | +3 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 87 | |
| 5 | Andrew Nicholson & Gareth Clarke | +4 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 126 | |
| 6 | Blaine Sutton & John Gotelee | +8 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 21 | 115 | |
| 7 | Sam Page & Rebecca Chivers | +14 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 19 | 100 | |
| POINTS AGAINST | 115 | 100 | 113 | 124 | 76 | 103 | 126 |
Trevor Poore & Katie Marlow
This page was last updated: 8th September 1999
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