Hammel Cup 2009

This was only the second time the tournament had not been hosted by Civil Service. Initially players were slow to attend the new venue, but thanks to the hard work of Mark Newman, the Tournament Controller, there was in the end a very satisfactory turnout. Although overall numbers were down, the number of players completing 10 games (and therefore eligible for a prize) was the same as last year.

Going into the final round on Wednesday 30th September, three players - Stephen Scannell, Eamonn Walls and Raymond Smith - were still in contention for the overall first prize. Smith's chance went when he lost to Alex Beckett, but his overall total was still sufficient to win the Junior section prize. The other two were paired against each other, with Walls needing a win to overtake Scannell. In their decisive final round game in the recently finished Ulster Championship Scannell had won with the white pieces. This time Walls had the advantage of the first move and he gained his revenge - defeat for Scannell ended his successive wins of the Hammel Cup at 4. Although Eamonn now plays for QUB, he had started his career at North Belfast, so he was a very appropriate winner.

Scannell's total score was still good enough for second place overall, and the other prizewinner was Martin Kelly (Intermediate section).

Final standings