Injury: play suspended indefinitely
Thursday, 10 April 2025
As announced by the Board today, all XMädn-sanctioned play has been suspended indefinitely due to injury.
Harry suffered a back injury last Sunday when lifting Sissy back into bed. As the injury prevents him from getting his doll wife out of bed and into her wheelchair, Sissy is unable to get to the board and resume play.
The suspension comes into effect in the middle of the third of four double round-robins of the 2025 XLeague Masters with Sissy (7-3) leading the table ahead of Nici (5-5) and Harry (3-7).
Postponement and eventual suspension turned out inevitable in order to not endanger the family’s holiday trip as Sissy, Harry and Nici plan to leave for a 12-day trip to East Frisia the day after Easter.
There is a chance that the XLeague Masters will resume during the family’s holiday trip. However, it is also possible that the tournament will remain on hold until after the Grand-Prix sub-season.
The Board made it clear that ranking tournaments have clear priority and shall not be postponed due to current developments. According to the Board, abandoning the XLeague Masters is not considered at this stage but cancellation of DRR4 and cutting distances of playoff rounds might be.
XLeague Masters: mixed emotions on Saturday
Saturday, 5 April 2025
Sissy (7-3) kept her two-win lead intact on a Saturday of dramatic XLeague Masters action. Still, she may not be completely happy with the top of DRR3.
Nici (5-5) and Harry (3-7) also had mixed results which goes especially for the froggy junior player who was involved in two games resulting in remarkable comeback wins.
Nici 8-7 Sissy
In a game of ups and downs, Nici took a 4-1 lead, then fell behind 5-4, before another two lead changes kick-started a dramatic endgame.
With the score tied at 7-7, Sissy was the first to start a PWL after 49 minutes of play with her GRN4 already three quarters around the track. Nici started her own PWL only one minute later with her BLK4.
Sissy quickly got in position to finish the game but missed out on ten opportunities before Nici’s BLK4 reached match-point position as well. Subsequently, both players traded four missed match points before Nici finally rolled the “1” to win the game after 52 minutes of play.
Harry 8-7 Nici
Naturally, Nici sensed an opportunity to catch up with her Mum on the table and got off to a spectacular start. With the help of a very biased die, which brought her Dad close to despair, Nici took commanding 4-0 and 6-2 leads.
But then Harry started to take advantage of his majority of pawns on the board and got to cut his deficit to 6-5. Nici then went up 7-5 but her Dad managed to tie the score and even was the first to go on a PWL after 46 minutes of play with his BLK4 almost three quarters around the track.
Just like in the first at-board, Nici started her own PWL a minute later but Harry’s BLK4, whose team had needed no fewer than 43 rolls of the die (14 rounds) to finally roll a “6” and get into the game, converted its sixth match point on a “1” after 47 minutes of play.
Sissy 8-4 Harry
In a comparably unspectacular game, Sissy dominated the board and went ahead 2-1, 4-2, 7-3 leads. Unlike her froggy daughter in the previous at-board, Sissy held on to her lead and started her only PWL after 39 minutes of play.
Three minutes later, Sissy’s BLK4 rolled a “2” to convert her third match point to make up for her earlier disappointment.
Harry’s wait for a win against her doll wife in this XLeague Masters season continues as Sissy has won all five at-boards head-to-head so far.
Sissy still two wins ahead of second place
With six at-boards left to play for each players, Sissy kept her two-win lead ahead of Nici intact but missed out on a chance to double her lead and close in on yet another Round-Robin Series win.
Harry’s hopes to climb on the table remain intact but in order to hold out reasonable hopes to win the Round-Robin Series, he will need to win both of his next at-boards.
The bottom half the third of four DRR is scheduled for Monday Night MÄDNess.