The 2nd International Wrong Pong Tournament
27th May 2011, 6pm - 10pm.
The Refectory Gallery, Hooton St, Nottm, NG32NJ.
After a night of fun & fury the two highest ranking Wrong-Pongers - Mr Loz "The Chiseler" Chisel and Mr Ben "No Nickname" Davis - fought it out in three games that ended up being decided on one ball that could have spelled victory either way.
The first game of the match was played on the Simple table. After winning the toss, Mr Chisel chose to serve, and the game went to a match point that Mr Chisel managed to take.
For the second game, played on the Tricky table, Mr Chisel again won the toss and again chose to serve. In a frankly shambolic game that owed more to luck than skill and could have gone either way, Mr Davis played the slightly steadier bat and took the game, so with the score at 1-1 the match carried on to a deciding game.
The third and final game, played on the Expert table, was a slightly more focused and intense affair. The players even removed their jumpers. Mr Chisel, continuing his run of good luck, again won the toss and chose to serve. He quickly took the first point, but in a decision unpopular with the crowd the referee called Let and the point had to be replayed. Mr Chisel's playing to the crowd at this juncture did not go down well with the referee and he was shown the yellow card, causing an eruption of ballyhooing. He again took the first point and seemed to have taken the second but again the referee said the point had to be replayed. This time the crowd erupted in shouts and whistles, but the game went on in good humour, albeit in some confusion.
Mr Chisel took two more points, and then, with the score at 3-0, he played a poor return which hit the net, giving Mr Davis his first point of the game. After some confusion, when the score seemed to be in doubt for several shots, Mr Chisel performed a very unsportsmanlike act when rather than returning the ball directly to Mr Davis, he cheekily threw it to his side. This manoeuvre was missed by the referee who was busy looking for the score, and it almost went unpenalised before the deputy referee stepped in with a second yellow card for Mr Chisel. In any case Mr Davis dismissed the action by producing another ball from his pocket and, after the two referees had made their opinions known to each other, the game resumed in good spirits.
It was quickly 6-4 and match point to Mr Chisel, and in what seemed like the end of the match Mr Davis missed a return. For uncertain reasons, though, the point was replayed and Mr Davis clawed back two points to set the score at a precarious 6 all. Then, with a long return from Mr Davis, the game, the match, and the tournament were over, and Mr Loz "The Chiseler" Chisel was presented with the "solid gold" trophy by IWPA chairman Mr Kelly, to be crowned King of Wrong Pong.
The trophy was designed and made for us by Mr Karl Wilby. Constructed of welded metal sprayed gold, it depicts a hand holding a ping pong bat mounted on a cog base.
Also on show during the tournament was a Wrong-Pong microcomputer game made by Mr John Perry. This used a single joystick with up and down controlling the paddles of a Pong game on the right of the screen, while left and right controlled the paddle of a Breakout game on the left of the screen. Most players managed a score of 1000 before becoming completely confused, while the highest score of the night - an impressive 4696 on the fiendishly hard Hard setting - was attained by the lightning fast Mr John Wright.
Mr Perry is working on an HTML5 version of the game for the wrongpong.com website.
Further Info
The 2nd IWPA Tournament Facebook group
27th May 2011, 6pm - 10pm.
The Refectory Gallery, Hooton St, Nottm, NG32NJ.
The 2nd IWPA Tournament winner Mr Loz "The Chiseler" Chisel.
After a night of fun & fury the two highest ranking Wrong-Pongers - Mr Loz "The Chiseler" Chisel and Mr Ben "No Nickname" Davis - fought it out in three games that ended up being decided on one ball that could have spelled victory either way.
The first game of the match was played on the Simple table. After winning the toss, Mr Chisel chose to serve, and the game went to a match point that Mr Chisel managed to take.
For the second game, played on the Tricky table, Mr Chisel again won the toss and again chose to serve. In a frankly shambolic game that owed more to luck than skill and could have gone either way, Mr Davis played the slightly steadier bat and took the game, so with the score at 1-1 the match carried on to a deciding game.
The third and final game, played on the Expert table, was a slightly more focused and intense affair. The players even removed their jumpers. Mr Chisel, continuing his run of good luck, again won the toss and chose to serve. He quickly took the first point, but in a decision unpopular with the crowd the referee called Let and the point had to be replayed. Mr Chisel's playing to the crowd at this juncture did not go down well with the referee and he was shown the yellow card, causing an eruption of ballyhooing. He again took the first point and seemed to have taken the second but again the referee said the point had to be replayed. This time the crowd erupted in shouts and whistles, but the game went on in good humour, albeit in some confusion.
Mr Chisel took two more points, and then, with the score at 3-0, he played a poor return which hit the net, giving Mr Davis his first point of the game. After some confusion, when the score seemed to be in doubt for several shots, Mr Chisel performed a very unsportsmanlike act when rather than returning the ball directly to Mr Davis, he cheekily threw it to his side. This manoeuvre was missed by the referee who was busy looking for the score, and it almost went unpenalised before the deputy referee stepped in with a second yellow card for Mr Chisel. In any case Mr Davis dismissed the action by producing another ball from his pocket and, after the two referees had made their opinions known to each other, the game resumed in good spirits.
It was quickly 6-4 and match point to Mr Chisel, and in what seemed like the end of the match Mr Davis missed a return. For uncertain reasons, though, the point was replayed and Mr Davis clawed back two points to set the score at a precarious 6 all. Then, with a long return from Mr Davis, the game, the match, and the tournament were over, and Mr Loz "The Chiseler" Chisel was presented with the "solid gold" trophy by IWPA chairman Mr Kelly, to be crowned King of Wrong Pong.
Mr Chisel is congratulated by IWPA chairman Mr Kelly.
The trophy was designed and made for us by Mr Karl Wilby. Constructed of welded metal sprayed gold, it depicts a hand holding a ping pong bat mounted on a cog base.
Also on show during the tournament was a Wrong-Pong microcomputer game made by Mr John Perry. This used a single joystick with up and down controlling the paddles of a Pong game on the right of the screen, while left and right controlled the paddle of a Breakout game on the left of the screen. Most players managed a score of 1000 before becoming completely confused, while the highest score of the night - an impressive 4696 on the fiendishly hard Hard setting - was attained by the lightning fast Mr John Wright.
Mr Perry is working on an HTML5 version of the game for the wrongpong.com website.
Further Info
The 2nd IWPA Tournament Facebook group
We made the papers!
Nick and Joe made the front cover the of the Nottingham Evening Post, with a full article inside.
Nick and Joe made the front cover the of the Nottingham Evening Post, with a full article inside.