Round 5 was held in the South Parklands at Club d’Adelaide. It was a sunny day, but not too hot. Thankfully, after a long dry summer, some welcome rain a few days prior helped to dampen down the dust a little bit.
It was no surprise to see ESP’s Dave Ward, Ha Nguyen & Van Nguyen on the top step of the podium at the end of the day. Ha & Van continued their dominance of the competition by winning their fourth round out of five. In Round 6, they will have the chance to be the first players ever to win five rounds in a season. In the meantime, Van has already now become the first player to win four rounds more than once and he has done so in consecutive seasons. Prior to last season, only two other players had achieved that feat even once in their careers.
That’s a pretty impressive record, but the third member of the team on this occasion should not be overlooked either. Dave Ward is no stranger to success on the piste and also has an impressive CV. It may have been six years since the last one, but this is Dave’s ninth Interclub gold medal – just one less than Van.
Taking out the silver medals were Ray Drummond, Craig Stewart & Haejung Jang, also from ESP, while Adelaide’s Louis Oltarczy, Jean-Paul Bouyer & Lionel Pujol picked up the bronze.
The maximum haul of 54pts that comes from securing 1st and 2nd place has put Eastern Suburbs in an unassailable position at the top of the ladder and the championship is already theirs. Second-placed Adelaide also have a sizeable lead over the chasing pack, while a similar pattern has emerged at the other end of the table. This has taken some of the sting out of the competition coming in to the final round, but it is still alive for the three teams in the middle. Prospect have moved up to sit equal third with Adelaide Hills at present, while Novar Gardens remain well within striking distance, so the fight for third place will go down to the wire.
Thanks to Club d’Adelaide for hosting the event and to all those who contributed to making it another splendid day.
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