Winter League

Winter League is underway and will run through for 9 weeks to finish in early September. This week was the second-last round of this year’s competition. There is no further play for promotions or relegations, but the standings at the end of round 3 determine the group winners from each grade, and final standings in promotion or relegation spots will also have an effect on the final standings in the Index competition.

In A-Grade, we have returned to a state of normality, with Matthew Ball taking the lead with 32 points followed by Akshay Aneesh, Tim Seaholme and Jim Brusola with 22 points, each. It seems a foregone conclusion that Matthew will take out the A-Grade title again.

In B-Grade, Chrys Podjursky has now taken the lead on 30 points, followed by Kai Tea on 26 points, Samuel Seaholme on 24 points, Changhee Cho on 22 points and Angus Bilsland on 20 points. That certainly makes Chrys favourite for this year’s B-Grade title and in with a chance for a win in the Index competition, but with this year’s unpredictable results in B-Grade and few points between the leading contenders, it would be too early for making any final predictions.

In C-Grade, Oscar Lau has now taken the lead on 26 points ahead of Emily Kan on 20 points. Even though they both won 5 of their 6 doubles, Oscar did much better in his doubles matches. Emma Chen is currently in third place, also on 20 points, and Novi Patterson and Koen Teoh-Hook are on 18 points and also still with a chance of snatching the Grade-title win. Koen Teoh-Hook has also amassed enough points to be safe from relegation, which is important for the final standings in the Index competition. Cohen Pinny, on the other hand is still on just 3 points and in a precarious position with respect to relegation, which could scuttle his chances in the Index competition.

Terry Southern has continued his standings at the top of the D-Grade and has further widened his lead with a near-perfect 32 out of a possible 32 points and just a minor blemish of having lost one single game. If he can continue his good form for one more week, he should top the final D-Grade standings and have a good shot at the final standings in the Index competition.

Matthew Ball has maintained his lead the overall standings with 120 points, followed by Chrys Podjursky on 100 points, Akshay Aneesh on 98 points, and Kai Tea on 84 points. The standings in the Most-Improved category have remained tight, and we will have to wait to the final week to see who will win in the end. Currently, Henry Giles leads the standings with a gain of 197 points, followed by Kien Le with a gain of 183 points, Emma Chen with a gain of 175 points and Koen Teoh-Hook with a gain of 174 points.

Koen Teoh-Hook continues to lead the Index standings with 50.80 points, and, as he seems assured to avoid relegation, he should retain that score. Matthew Ball is now in second place with 49.89 points, but will be unable to catch Koen. Cohen Pinny could retain the lead, but would have to avoid relegation with the associated 3 penalty points, which seems unlikely at this stage. While these players are the current front runners, others could still surge into contention, such as Chrys Podjursky and Terry Southern, if thy can continue their respective positions at the top of their leagues and remain unbeaten through the final competition round.

Results and standings are available here.

Block 3, round 3 will be played next week (9 Sept). That will be the final round of Winter League.

Upon the completion of Winter League, we will launch into a few weeks of All-Stars / Drop-In League.