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02/07/2022
English County Championship Finals, 2022
English County
Championship day was held on Saturday 02/07/2022, with Yorkshire playing the Open
and U-1850 finals. In a change from the usual format, instead of
all teams converging on a single venue, teams met at venues roughly midway
between the counties involved, with three matches involving Surrey being at
one venue, and the other three matches being on their own, as follows:
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Open:
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Northumberland
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v
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Yorkshire
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at Darlington, Co.
Durham
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U-2050:
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Essex
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v
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Surrey
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at Wanstead House,
London
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U-1850:
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Yorkshire
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v
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Middlesex
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at Ullesthorpe, Leicestershire
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U-1650:
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Surrey
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v
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Warwickshire
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at Wanstead House,
London
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U-1450:
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Essex
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v
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Surrey
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at Wanstead House,
London
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Minor:
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Devon
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v
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Norfolk
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at
Knaphill, Woking, Surrey
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This arrangement as
regards venues obviously reduced the scope for would-be spectators, but, as an
innovation this year, there was live coverage on the internet advertised for
the “top boards” in the Open, U-2050 and Minor Counties matches (on Lichess
and LiveChessCloud). In the event, all 16 boards of the Open match were
covered, and the top 6 of the other two matches covered lived.
The first move on
board 1 of the Open match was made
by the Mayor of Darlington, Anne-Marie Curry, who had opened the
event. At the end, a trophy was presented by Matthew Carr, on behalf of
the ECF, to Northumberland captain Tim Wall. The was not in fact the Lowenthal Cup, which
is the County Championship Trophy, but presumably a trophy to keep.
The first game to
finish was the U-1850 one where Jael de Souse Muachikape won, this being soon
followed by the Open game where Daniel Sullivan won his game after his
opponent sacked B for 2P but had no real attack. Thereafter match
scores were at first running neck and neck, but in the U-1850 Middlesex
slowly pulled ahead. In the Open, however, the match score ended as an
8-8 draw, and board count broke the tie in Northumberland’s favour. (Enigmatically,
the win on tie-break was not at first posted on LMS, causing one to wonder
whether there was some last-minute query regarding board order or some such
technicality, but the board-count win has now been confirmed there.)
Photos from the final, taken by David Mills, can be seen here.
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Open
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Northumberland
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8-8
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Yorkshire
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Board
count:
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51-64
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1
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B
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2494
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Gormally, Daniel W
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1-0
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Palliser,
Richard J D
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2420
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play
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photo
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2
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W
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2368
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David
J Eggleston
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1-0
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Andrew
J Ledger
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2344
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play
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3
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B
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2355
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Tim P Wall
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˝-˝
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Christopher N Dunworth
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2077
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play
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4
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W
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2291
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David J Walker
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˝-˝
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Jonathan
P Nelson
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2247
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play
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photo
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5
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B
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2241
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David P Mooney
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˝-˝
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M
Paul Townsend
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2235
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play
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6
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W
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2343
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Charles
H Storey
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0-1
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John
G Cooper
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2262
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play
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7
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B
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2177
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Graeme Oswald
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0-1
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Peter
M Gayson
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2140
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play
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photo
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8
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W
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2088
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Zheming Zhang
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1-0
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Xiaofeng Zheng
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2113
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play
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9
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B
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2168
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Gustavo Leon
Cazares
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˝-˝
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Alan
J Walton
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2166
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play
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photo
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10
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W
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2107
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Matthew Forster
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0-1
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Phil
R Watson
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2156
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play
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11
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B
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2116
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Paul AG Dargan
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1-0
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Peter Shaw
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2212
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play
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12
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W
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2043
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Nathan Ekanem
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0-1
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Jim Burnett
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2127
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play
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photo
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13
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B
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2011
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William Robinson
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0-1
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Christopher Bak
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2074
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play
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photo
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14
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W
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1988
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Michael
J McBeth
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1-0
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Leo
A Keely
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2117
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play
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photo
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15
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B
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2045
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Edward P Dodds
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1-0
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Douglas Vleeshhouwer
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2062
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play
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16
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W
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1952
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Marcos Casos
Huerta
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0-1
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Daniel
J S Sullivan
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2012
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play
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photo
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2174
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ave.
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ave.
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2173
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U-1850
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Yorkshire
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7-9
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Middlesex
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1
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B
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1924
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Daniel W Hill
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0-1
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Andrew McGuinness
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1848
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play
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2
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W
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1862
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Luke Gostelow
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1-0
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Rajinder Jhooti
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1812
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play
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3
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B
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1867
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Simon Watson
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˝-˝
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Greg
J Breed
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1832
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play
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4
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W
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1865
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Steve Westmoreland
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0-1
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V
Ray Harper
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1777
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play
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5
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B
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1869
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Sammy Benzaira
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˝-˝
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Keith
S Jones
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1780
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play
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6
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W
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1842
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Jael de Sousa Muachikape
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1‑0
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Laith Hayali
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1774
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play
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7
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B
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1824
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Robin F Browne
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˝-˝
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J
J Padam
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1740
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play
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8
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W
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1801
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Randolph
E Donahue
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0-1
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R Jerram
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1731
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play
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9
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B
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1825
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Paul May
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1-0
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Austin Ivan
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1775
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play
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10
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W
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1781
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Maksym Kryshtafor
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0-1
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Frank Zurstiege
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1708
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play
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11
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B
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1766
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Dave Colledge
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0-1
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Ian
K Cross
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1713
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play
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12
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W
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1778
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David Booth
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1-0
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Peter Grant-Ross
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1694
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play
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13
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B
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1708
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Nathaniel Holroyd-Doveton
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˝-˝
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Roger
S Scowen
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1701
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play
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14
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W
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1647
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John Grasham
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˝-˝
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Richard
A Balatoni
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1685
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play
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15
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B
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1614
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Vivien Webster
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˝-˝
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Laurie Mackellar
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1703
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play
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16
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W
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1625
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Rob Lockwood
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0-1
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Bodhana Sivanandan
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1588
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play
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1787
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ave.
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ave.
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1741
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Ratings
given are the 1st July ECF ones.
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