Rik Kennedy wins Winter Matchplay

Rik Kennedy won his first major title at the 30th Winter Matchplay held in Milton Keynes over the weekend of 19th and 20th of November.

Rik won an impressive 14 of his first 16 games in a strong field that featured 6 Grand Masters and 8 Experts, including Rik himself, scoring over 455 points per game on average with a final record of 14-3, +892.

Going into the second day, Rik had been part of a leading group of 5 players all on 7 wins, but managed to pull away from the group by winning his first 7 games of the day to be Gibsonized by the last round.

Vince Boyle finished 12-5, +473, clinching second place just ahead of Bob Violett (12-5, +209)

Victoria Kingham won division B, also with a round to spare and also winning 14 games to finish with a record of 14-3, +1101. Diane Bromilow (11-6, +513) finished second, just ahead on spread from Peter Thorpe (11-6, +58) who started as the lowest-rated player in the division and ended up raising his rating by 5 points.

Rosemary Wood won division C, finishing with a 13-4, +863 record, wrapping up the victory with two rounds to spare. Four players finished with 10 wins with 2nd-5th places decided on spread going to Ted Anscomb, Rose Kingdom, Paul Habershon and Fazile Zahir.

Final standings: Division A | Division B | Division C