What I will most remember about the San Rafael June 11th tournament was the frigid wind that swept the field for most of the day. We are in June for crying out loud and everybody should be in shorts and T-shirts. Some people (probably to their ever-lasting sorrow) were dressed that way and had to endure this ungodly weather all day.
The only exception to this predicament was Kevin Evoy who spent most of the day wearing shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt. Kevin is a great player, but in my book, he is nuttier than a five-pound fruitcake. Despite my 5 layers of clothing, I was still cold and shivering.
The second thing I will also remember is that, due to some unrelenting back pain, I had to forgo playing in this tournament. I really wanted to, but was truly incapable of doing so.
The third thing that bugged me that day was the light. For a photographer, light is everything and yesterday’s light was atrocious. Specs of sunshine filtering through the trees, projecting uneven dark spots all over the field… A photographer’s nightmare. You will undoubtedly notice this in the quality of the photographs. But don’t blame me, blame the weatherman.
Otherwise, everything was great. Twenty-two (22) double teams registered to play and the whole thing had the feeling of a family affair.
A very pleasant surprise was the appearance of Jean-Claude Etallaz, who after many months of a deeply distressing experience, jumped back on the saddle and registered to play. We are extremely pleased by this development and hope to see him regularly on our field again. Welcome back Jean-Claude (and Minette) and thank you for your delicious apricot tart.
With Christine Cragg still luxuriating in France, Mike O’Leary, Sara Danielson and Shama Kota-Gutheti took over and ran the tournament… and they did an excellent job. Thank you, guys, for your great support.
As usual, 3 games were played before lunch, and in the afternoon elimination games took place to separate the journeymen from the Stars.
I was busy most of the day taking photographs and the only game that I watched in its entirety was the Concours Finals.
Peter Mathis and Patrick Vaslet faced Mone Lee and Phominik Lee and since all these finalists were excellent players, we were treated to a great game. At the beginning of the match, Mone and Phominick took the lead, but shortly after, Peter and Patrick caught up with them and steadily increased their lead.
Everybody played extremely well. The pointers did a great job and so did the shooters, but after a while, the incredible pointing of Patrick Vaslet must have had some effect on the other team, and they started to lose control of the situation.
The final score was 13/6 in favor of Peter and Patrick, but every player deserved a medal. It was a great game and a great finish to a miserably cold day.
CONCOURS
First place: Peter Mathis/Patrick Vaslet
Second place: Mone Lee/Phominik Lee
Third place: Dave Lanter/Dan Lanter
CONSOLANTE
First place: Hans Kurz/Wolf Kurz
Second place: Joe Danielson/Abby Danielson
Third place: Louis Toulon/Nina Semenenko (assisted by Tamara Efron)
Alain
PS: be sure to watch the pictures in full screen for best results