For the several years now, the Club has conducted a tournament for Club members only, to see who is the best player – one on one – in the Club. This year the tournament was held on Saturday, October 28th – a cold, rainy day where fortunately players at least could play under the covered courts. Still, the brisk temperatures forced players to play very quickly. Roughly 25 players signed up to compete. Club Member Chuck Britton Sr. organized the event both last year and this year and also established a nice plaque that would go to the winner. Players paid a $!0 entry fee, and the top 3 finalists would split the pot.
The semi-final game to determine the winner of the Loser’s bracket, pitted last year’s champion – Frank Dicillo, versus rising star, Marco Orlando Jr. The veteran Dicillo won convincingly over the younger Orlando, setting up a finals match between Dicillo, and tournament veteran Mike Kontura, who was undefeated in the Winner’s Bracket. Kontura raced out to a 10-3 lead, but Dicillo fought back steadily to tie the game at 10. The two players then traded points for the next several frames, and with the score tied 12-12, Kontura executed a pressure shot to seal the victory and became the 2017 Club Champion! Congratulations to Mike Kontura and the players who competed in this fun tournament, and a special thanks to Chuck Britton for volunteering to run the tournament for the Club.
