The Final Major Final of the 2017 Winter competitions offered the intriguing prospect of a new name on the Honours Board. If Chris Shepherd-Barron could defeat Chris Ivey in the Veterans (Over 45) Open, would the board be wide enough to accommodate all of the new winner's letters?
The omens were not good after the toss though:
The shorter-named Chris Ivey is pleased to win the toss
These two had never played before in their many years at the club. However, this did not stop either of them from playing their natural games - smash it and run was the order of the day for the first couple of games, which Chris Ivey won comfortably 9/4 9/5. Chris S-B (as he is known to editors and typesetters all over the world) seemed content to trade blows until some variety was required - before a tinned shot ended the rally.
Surprisingly in the third and fourth games, CS-B rallied his pride enough to reverse the trend with a few solid winners of his own and even the occasional sky-high drop shot. All a stunned Chris Ivey could do was query a couple of marking decisions (while at the same time admitting that he had no knowledge of the rules - not a wise tactic).
The effort of squaring the match at 2-2 was too much for CS-B though. In spite of taking a swift 3-0 lead, he meekly conceded the fifth 9/5 and had to settle for the Runner Up goblet. Sign writers all over Sevenoaks breathed a sigh of relief.
Chris Ivey proudly holds his Veteran car trophy, while CS-B looks enviously on.