(Friday 27th September)
The prelim round got underway today with a match between shock R1 loser Rick Yagodich (GBR) and Peter Strauss (HUN). Rick must have had a big shock when Peter recorded a huge win in game 1. The next 2 games were shared 1 each, Peter's win being bigger and that left him within touching distance of the win. Rick was very frightened, as he only thought there were 4 games in the match! Yet Rick recovered to take the last 2 games and the match 51.5-48.5.
The other match played today involved another Hungarian, Andras Keszei, against Christine Dreesen (GER). Christine took the first 2 games and the last 2 games with Andras taking the third. The final score was 68.5-31.5 to Christine.

(Saturday 28th September)
There was a very early start to play this morning as qualifier Rob Morton (GBR) played the first two games against Dallas White (NZL). Dallas took the first by a tile but then Rob took the next by 3, with Dallas conceding a time penalty. The match stands at 22.0-18.0 to Rob.
The all U16 clash started today with Dale Thompson (GBR) took the first 2 games against World U16 runner-up Brett Laishley (AUS). Brett then came back to take the third to reduce Dale's lead to 31.5-28.5.
Dale's mum Alex then played the first 3 games of her match against April White (NZL). Alex won all 3 games by considerable margins to lead by 49.1-10.9, within a TP of settling the match.
The sole Canadian entrant, James Preen, started his match against Gabriela Krausova (SVK) with a 3-tile win. 10-year-old Gabriela came back strongly to take the second game by 11, to lead the match by 22.1-17.9.
Rob Morton (GBR) and Dallas White (NZL) finished their match from this morning. Dallas took the first of the 3 to lead, but Rob then recorded 21 and 22 tile loops in the other 2 games to win by 64.8-35.2.

(Sunday 29th September)
The match between No. 31 seed Kathy Upton (AUS) and Sarah K (NZL) was played today. Kathy took games 1 and 3, to lead, with Sarah taking the other one. Sarah then took the last 2 games by 2 tiles to win by 53.5-46.5.
The conclusion of the match between Brett Laishley (AUS) and Dale Thompson (GBR) was today. Brett prevailed to win the last 2 games and therefore the match by 57.3-42.7.
Alex Thompson (GBR) then finished her match against April White (NZL). The 2 games were shared, and so Alex won 69.8-30.2, although April was very pleased to have won a game!
As this match was drawing to a close, The match between Jason O (NZL) and Totte Wendt (GER) started. Totte took the first 2, but then lost the third to lead by just 31.8-28.2. Totte then won game 4 by a single tile, but Jason stormed back to take game 5 by 13 tiles and the match by 51.7-48.3. This is the first Plate match this year to have been won by a player only winning 2 out of 5 games.
Gabriela Krausova (SVK) had little luck in defending her lead against James Preen (CAN). James took all 3 games to win by only 61.4-38.6. *Thank you to Katarina for correcting me on this result*

(Monday 30th September)
Neal Bolton (GBR) took the first 3 games against Colin Bridges (GBR) to lead by 47.3-12.7.
Bruno Fillon (FRA) also took his first 3 games against main draw lucky loser Gina White (NZL). The 4th game was a draw, so Bruno leads by an unassailable 56.7-23.3. It is unclear whether the 5th game will be played.

(Tuesday 1st October)
Neal Bolton (GBR) took the last two games against Colin Bridges (GBR) by 1 tile to win the match by 73.9-26.1, the biggest margin in the Prelim Round so far.
Sharon Crook (GBR) won the first 3 games against Walter Haselmann (ARG). She now leads by 46.1-13.9.
Mark Harris (IRL) got off to a great start against Jean-Marc Nelken (FRA) winning the first game. He then lost the next 2, with a time penalty conceded by him in game 3. Jean-Marc now leads by 36.3-26.7.
Gilles Brazzalotto won games 1, 3 and 4 against sole Korean entrant Daniel Robbins. Daniel won games 2 and 5, and ended up only losing by a small margin of 56.2-43.8.

(Wednesday 2nd October)
N Alexeji Kummer (GER) was in control throughout his match against main draw late replacement Luke S (AUS). Alexeji took all 5 games to win by 74.3-25.7. Well done to Luke though for playing all 5 games, and not quitting after 4.
Sharon Crook (GBR) completed her match today against Walter Haselmann (ARG) by winning all the last 2 games to win the match by a whopping 78.1-21.9.

(Thursday 3rd October)
Very little action today, only the conclusion of the match between Mark Harris (IRL) and Jean-Marc Nelken (FRA). Mark took the last 2 game by 1 tile to win by just 50.3-49.7. Mark is now through and Jean-Marc is looking very likely to get a lucky loser place in R1.

(Friday 4th October)
Seb M (NZL) won the first and the third game against Aras Kutlusan (TUR) to take an early lead. Aras then took the last 2 games to win the match by 53.0-47.0.
Karen King (GBR) and Sylvie Banuls (FRA) took alternate games, Karen King took 1, 3 and 5 and Sylvie took 2 and 4. Sylvie had bigger margins but still lost the match by 52.9-47.1
Thom Clutterbuck (GBR) took the first game against David Dunn (GBR) to lead by 16.2-3.8.

(Saturday 5th October)
Chris Dellaway (NZL) had a resounding victory over Gary Sebalja (NZL). Chris took all 5 games, and therefore the match 76.9-23.1.
Today seems to be the day for 5-game whitewashes, as Paul Hirst (AUS) took all 5 games against Katarina Krausova (SVK) to win that match by 74.1-25.9.
Sole Swedish Plate entrant Oskar Green took the first game against Daniel Martin (NZL). Daniel came back to take 3 of the last 4 games and win the match by 54.3-45.7.
Lewis Palmer (GBR) took the first two games off Paul Davidoff (GBR). He also took 2 time penalties off Paul in game 1, so he leads by 34.6-5.4.
Ela Sikudova (SVK) got very close to pulling off the biggest shock of the plate so far today, by narrowly losing to Irene Dyer (USA) by 56.7-43.3. Both players took 2 of the first 4 games, but Irene's margins of victory were greater, meaning she only needed a draw to win. She then took the last game by 5 tiles to win the match. *Apologies for the mix up with this result*

(Sunday 6th October)
In the only match played today, 2000 World Champion Julia Schwarz (GBR) beat Michael Drewett (AUS) by 65.6-34.4, taking for of the 5 games.
Paul Davidoff (GBR) resigned his last 3 game to Lewis Palmer (GBR).
Petra Wark (NED) got a default win against Michael Hall (AUS), due to an e-mail silence. This happened to Peter Henderson (AUS), who lost by default to Carl Crook (GBR)
The 5 lucky losers for round 1 are:
Totte Wendt (GER)
Kathy Upton (AUS)
Seb M (NZL)
Ela Sikudova (SVK)
Dale Thompson (GBR)
The draw for R1 of the plate took place tonight. The pairings are:

(Monday 7th October)
In the prelim round, Zoltan Nedeczky (HUN) rattled off 3 win against Josh Pharaoh (NZL) to lead by 49.0-11.0. Josh came back well to take the last 2 game, but lost the match by 57.7-42.3
There were a lot of defaults today. Phillipe Durand (FRA), Manuel Correa (POR) and Zoran Tomovski (MKD) have all won their match by default. I have now edited the draw to match the outcomes of these 4 matches.

(Tuesday 8th October)
In the prelim, David Dunn (GBR) conceded the last 4 games to Thom Clutterbuck (GBR) by not turning up.
In R1, 3 games were played between Matthias Neumeister (GER) and Karen King (GBR). The first game was a draw, Karen took the second and Matthias took the third by a bigger margin. Matthias conceded a time penalty in games 3, and trails by 29.6-30.4.
Josh Button (AUS) took the first three games against Neal Bolton (GBR), but then faultered to lose the last two. Josh still won the match by 51.7-48.3

(Wednesday 9th October)
Rick Yagodich (GBR) narrowly lost to Zoltan Nedeczky (HUN). After 4 games, Rick needed a draw in the last game, like his WTC R1 match. But Zoltan took the final game to win the match a the smallest margin of the round so far, 51.1-48.9.

(Thursday 10th October)
Brigitte Empt (GER) took the first game against Melinda Barry (GBR). Melinda then took games 2 and 3 to lead by 33.1-26.9.
Kathy Upton (AUS) and Thom Clutterbuck (GBR) shared the first 2 games. Kathy won by 1 tile more to lead by 20.2-19.8.
Julia Schwarz (GBR) took the first game against Totte Wendt (GER) by 4 tiles to lead 14.7-5.3.
Stacy Henwood (NZL) took the first 3 games against James Milhalisin (USA) to lead by 41.9-18.1. In game 3, he claims he had 'a miraculous escape' in the endgame. And looking at the game, I would have to agree.

(Friday 11th October)
Matthias Neumiester (GER) came from behind to win teh last 2 games against Karen King (GBR). He conceded 2 time penalties in game 5 to add to his 1 in game 3. He won the match by 58.4-41.6.
Manuel Correa (POR) took the first 2 games against Sarah K (NZL) by 2 and 4 tiles to lead by 28.6-11.4.
Alex Thompson (GBR) lost a narrow match against Phillipe Durand (FRA). After Phillipe winning the first game, the second was a draw and Alex won the third. Phillipe won the fourth, leaving Alex to have to take the final game by 11 to win. Alex did well to take it by 8, by it was a bit too late. Phillipe wins by 50.5-49.5.

(Saturday 12th October)
In the final match in the prelim round, Tracey Fletcher (GBR) was handed a default win over Matt Ruby (USA).
Bruno Fillon (FRA) followed up compatriot Phillipe Durand's win last night by beating Dale Thompson (GBR) bye a resounding 78.7.21.3.
In the biggest shock of the plate so far, Garry Laishley (AUS), seeded 13 for the main draw, could only win 1 of 5 games against N Alexeji Kummer (GER). Alexeji won the other 4 games, and the match by 61.6-38.4.
Over a session which lasted 3 hours, the highest seed from the main draw, Steven Trezise (GBR) beat Mark Harris (IRL) by 65.0-35.0. Steven took games 1,2,4 and 5, while Mark took 3 by a single tile to keep Steven honest.
Whilst this match was going on, a very tight struggle emerged between Irene Dyer (USA) and Tracey Fletcher (GBR). Tracey took the first game and games 4 and 5 to win the match 3-2 on games, but Irene won her games by bigger margins, and therefore she took the match by 51.1-48.9.

(Sunday 13th October)
Aras Kutlusan (TUR) got off to a good start against Lewis Palmer (GBR). But after this, Lewis never looked back, taking the next 4 games and the match by 65.8-34.2.
Lewis' next opponent could well be James Preen (CAN), who won the first 3 games against Petra Wark (NED), to lead by 41.6-18.4.
Sarah K (NZL) looked like she was staging a come back against Manuel Correa (POR), by winning the first 2 games of the second session. Manuel kept his nerve though, winning the game by a single tile to come away with a slight 53.1-46.9 win.
Seb M (NZL) took the first 3 games against giantkiller Malcolm Wotton (GBR). The fourth was a draw, and Malcolm won the fifth, but it wasn't enough to stop Seb winning by 61.9-38.1.
Stacy Henwood (NZL) nearly saw his huge first session lead overturned last night by James Milhalisin (USA). James took the last 2 games to reduce the deficit from 41.9-18.1 to 52.6-47.4.
Simon Wright (GBR) got off to a good start last night, winning both games in his first session against Peter Hinton (GBR) by 5 tiles to lead by 30.0-10.0. He was very lucky in the second game "pdh-shunter-2002-10-14-2021" which could easily have gone either way.

(Monday 14th October)
At the very top of the draw, Chris Dellaway (NZL) won a tight match against Laszlo Harsanyi by 3 games to 2 and 54.3-45.7.
Kathy Upton (AUS) and Thom Clutterbuck (GBR) had won one game each in the first session, but Kathy took all 3 today to win by a margin of 67.3-32.7.
Marc Abramson (FRA) took the first sesson against prelim round lucky loser Ela Sikudova (SVK) to lead by 47.1-12.9.
Frank Heyer (FRA) took the first two games against Martin Harlow (GBR), but Martin won the third to cut Frank's to 34.8-25.2.

(Tueday 15th October)
Ragnar Wikman (FIN) took the first two games against Gilles Brazzalotto (FRA). The third game was a draw, so Ragnar leads by 38.2-21.8.
Tamas Kopeczi Bocz (HUN) was out for revenge for his total tiles loss to Marion Scott (GBR) in the last 16 of the European Championship. Marion was having none of it, and won the first 3 games, to all but win the match. Tamas won the last 2 games, but Marion won by 55.1-44.9.
Julia Schwarz (GBR) and Totte Wendt (GER) took two games each out of tonight's final session. Julia had taken the only game in the first session, so she won by 58.1-41.9.
Peter Hinton (GBR) took 2 of the final 3 games against Simon Wright (GBR), but it wasn't enough to overcome the first session deficit, and Simon won by 56.5-43.5.
In R2, Simon will meet Fany Buisan (FRA), who beat Sharon Crook (GBR) by 57.3-42.7. This is the only match I can remember with 2 draws in it!!
Petra Wark (NED) took a draw and a win from her final session against James Preen (CAN), but James still won by 56.6-43.4.
Ela Sikudova (SVK) won the second session against Marc Abramson (FRA) by 20.6-19.4, but Marc's huge first session lead made him win by 66.5-33.5.
Anthony Sanders (AUS) won the first game in his two game session with Brad Swanlund (USA) by 8 tiles....

(Wednesday 16th October)
... only for Brad to win the second by the same margin. The score is 20.0-20.0.
Glynn Ridley (GBR) took 3 games and a draw against Alex Heyer (FRA) to win the match by 58.5-41.5.
Carl Crook (GBR) won the first 3 games and the last game against Zoran Tomovski (MKD). Zoran took the 4th game by 9 tiles to reduce the margin of defeat to 63.3-36.7.
Christine Dreesen (GER) won the first two and the last two games against John Waggott (GBR). John did take the middle game by 25 tiles, so the score was 58.8-41.2.
Martin Harlow (GBR) came from two games behind in his first session to win the match against Frank Heyer (FRA) by 58.0-42.0.

(Thursday 17th October)
Laurent Berguin (FRA) won the first game against Zoltan Nemeth (HUN). The second game was a draw, and Zoltan won the third to lead the match by 30.8-29.2.
Daniel Martin (NZL) shared the first 2 games with Ilona Halbach (GER). Daniel's first game win had the bigger margin, so he leads the match by 21.7-18.3.
Siraj K (GBR) was defaulted. His opponent, Paul Hirst (AUS) kindly accepted to play a lucky loser, who just happened to be Katarina Krausova (SVK). In the prelim round, Paul beat Katarina by 5 games to 0. Katarina, wasn't having that against, as she beat him in the first game. Paul came back to win the last 4 and the match by 66.1-33.9.

(Friday 18th October)
Anthony Sanders (AUS) was defaulted for 2 no-shows. His opponent Brad Swanlund goes on to R2.
Ragnar Wikman (FIN) and Gilles Brazzalotto (FRA) took one game each in the second session of their match. Gilles had the bigger margin, but Ragnar's first session win was enough to take him through by 57.6-42.4.
Ilona Halbach was awarded default wins in her remaining 3 games in her match against Daniel Martin (NZL).
 

(Saturday 19th October)
Rob Morton (GBR) won the first 4 games against WJTC runner-up Brett Laishley (AUS) to tie up the match. Brett then won the dead game 5 to keep the score down to 68.8-31.2.
In Round 2 Manuel Correa (POR) took the first game against Kathy Upton (AUS). Kathy then took the final 4, to win the match comfortably by 68.2-31.8.
James Preen (CAN) took the first 2 games against Lewis Palmer (GBR) to lead by 27.6-12.4.
Fany Buisan (FRA) won the 2 games in her first session against Simon Wright (GBR) to lead by 29.9-10.1.

(Sunday 20th October)
Steven Trezise (GBR) and Marc Abramson (FRA) took 1 game each in the opening session of their match. Marc's margin of victory was bigger, so he leads by 21.6-18.4.
N Alexeji Kummer (GER) took 3 out of the 5 games against Irene Dyer (USA). Irene's victories were by bigger margins, but Alexeji won by 51.4-48.6.

(Monday 21st October)
Chris Dellaway (NZL) took the first and last games against Glynn Ridley (GBR), but Glynn won the middle 3 to win the match by 54.1-45.9.
Carl Crook (GBR) took 2 out of the first 3 games against Josh Button (AUS) to take a lead. Josh then made a huge 28-tile loop in game 4 to win that game by 19.7-0.3 TP!! Carl needed to win the last games by 2 tiles, but could only take it by 1. It's the closest match in WTC competition this year. Final score 50.1-49.9 to Josh!
Rob Morton (GBR) won the first 3 games against Melinda Barry (GBR) to lead by 42.8-17.2.
Simon Wright (GBR) took a tight third game against Fany Buisan (FRA) by a tile. Luck then deserted him, and he lost the last 2 games and the match by 67.9-32.1.
Brad Swanlund (USA) won the first 2 games against Julia Schwarz (GBR) to lead by a big 31.3-8.7.

(Tuesday 22nd October)
Phillipe Durand (FRA) won the first game against Stacy Henwood (NZL). Stacy then staged a comeback to win the next 4 and took the match by 66.7-33.3.
Julia Schwarz (GBR) came into tonight's session with Brad Swanlund (USA) 31.3-8.7. She won all 3 games in the second session, conceding a time penalty in the crucial fifth to win the match by a small 50.4-49.6.
Zoltan Nemeth (HUN) won the first and third games against Matthias Neumiester (GER). Matthias conceded a time penalty in the game he won, and trails by 35.7-24.3.

(Wednesday 23rd October)
Paul Hirst (AUS) got off to a great start against Zoltan Nedeczky (HUN), winning the first 3 games. Zoltan staged a huge comeback, winning the last 2, but it wasn't enough. Paul goes through by a margin of 53.3-46.7.
Seb M (NZL) continued his good run of form by winning 4 out of 5 games against Pierre Sanchez (FRA), including one game by 28 tiles. Seb won the match by 68.6-31.4.
Lewis Palmer (GBR) looked like staging a comeback against James Preen (CAN) by winning game 3. James then won game 4, to lead by 47.8-32.2. At this stage, Lewis conceded the fifth game.
Martin Harlow (GBR) took the first 4 games against Bruno Fillon (FRA). Bruno took the fifth, dead, game, but Martin won 67.2-32.7.

(Thursday 24th October)
In a 'chatty' match, Christeen Dreesen (GER) took 3 of the first 4 games against Ilona Halbach (GER) to have an unassailable lead. Ilona then changed colour and won the final game, to make the score 57.6-42.4.
In Round 3, Fany Buisan (FRA) won both games against James Preen (CAN) to lead by 28.6-11.4.

(Friday 25th October)
Marc Abramson (FRA) won the third game against Steven Trezise (GBR) to extend his lead to 35.9-24.1.
Melinda Barry (GBR) won the last game against Rob Morton (GBR), but the game was dead after Rob won the 4th game. Rob won the match by 62.2-37.8.
Zoltan Nemeth (HUN) won the only games in the final session against Matthias Neumiester (GER) to wrap up the game by 51.0-29.0.

Please feel free to contact me to add to these reports.