XLeague: big night for Sissy; lifeline for Harry

Monday, 31 March 2025

Sissy (6-2) scored two big wins at Monday Night MÄDNess and Harry (2-6) caught a lifeline with a dramatic comeback win against Nici (4-4) to close out the second of four DRR of the XLeague Masters.

Harry 3-8 Sissy

Sissy dominated the board at will in the opening game of the evening against her husband and built towering leads of 4-0, 6-2 and 7-3.

Sissy started her only PWL after 41 minutes of play with RED4 already almost a quarter around the track. Four minutes later, she converted her sixth match point on a “1”.

Sissy 8-5 Nici

Sissy started the second at-board of the night in similarly dominant fashion as she stormed ahead 3-0, 5-1 and 7-2 against her in-form froggy daughter. Still, Nici hung in there and provided a dramatic endgame.

Sissy had her YLW4 under severe pressure in match-point position and missed out on 15 opportunities to finish the game. Then, after 48 minutes of play, Sissy completed her third PWL on a “1”.

Nici had her RED4 and GRN3 ready to enter their houses and her GRN4 in striking distance when YLW4 converted match point number 16 for Sissy. Had Nici been able to cut short Sissy’s third PWL in that situation, she would have been very likely to pull out an unprecedented comeback.

Nici 7-8 Harry

After an evenly balanced opening phase, Harry was able to take the lead at 5-2 and 7-4. However, Nici used her pawn majority on the board to cut short two of Harry’s PWL and then equalise the score and go on a PWL herself.

Having had his RED4 eliminated close to home, Harry saw Nici’s YLW4 move into match-point position. After RED4 had to pass by YLW4, victory seemed to be a mere formality for Nici. But she missed seven match points before Harry got his RED4 around the track into match-point position himself.

After Nici had missed another six match points, it was Harry to roll the “1” to prevent yet another frustrating experience.

Sissy leads at halftime

With a perfect DRR, Sissy (6-2) claimed sole possession of first place at halftime of the Round-Robin Series. Harry (2-6) certainly caught a lifeline with his dramatic win in the last at-board of the night and can still hold out hopes to climb the seeding list for the Playoff Series.

Nici (4-4) had two of her three losses of the weekend after missing match points, her first against Sissy on Saturday. She is now two wins behind her Mom but with their head-to-head record tied at 2-2, Nici will probably have the edge if you manages to draw level.

The third of four DRR is scheduled for the coming weekend.