WBGF World Team Championship, Venice 2022

At about 8.45 pm I took my seat for the start of a long train journey from Liverpool to Luton Airport. It was a long day culminating in losing the final of the UK Clubs Championship with my NEBA colleagues to Bristol. An early morning flight to Venice was in prospect where I was to play in the individual event and report on the UK team’s progress in the social media feed at the request of my successor as Captain, Chris Rogers.

A gin and tonic arrived, I turned on my mobile and noticed 83 WhatsApp messages were unread. These started with friendly banter as to where to meet for drinks in the Heathrow lounge to an unfurling disaster as flights were cancelled and players were unable to secure alternative flights until the next day, well after play was due to start in Venice.

There are only two choices available when faced with this sort of situation. You either give up, which would be understandable, or decide it is a challenge to be overcome. Chris and the team chose the latter option. Later flights were duly booked, Emad Salib and I were drafted in as emergency replacements for the first two rounds after dispensation was sought by Raj, a committee member, from the WBGF for us to field these replacements strictly for the first two rounds only. On arriving at Venice Airport, Raj and I raced over to Lido Island on a private water taxi. The only elements missing were the strains of Robbie Williams (who plays backgammon in down time with his band) singing Millennium with a video of Sean Connery as James Bond.

Just after the official start time of 12 noon, we played our first match against Turkey, one player short as Emad’s flight had only just touched down. I was duly slaughtered 0-9 however our regular UK players, Tim Cross and Raj, both won and Aref ground out a win at double match point. We had somehow won 3-2 and were drawn against our nemesis, Germany in the 2^nd round. Tim, Raj and Aref all won to clinch another 3-2 victory, so I sent a text to Chris advising he and the others need not hurry!

Chris and Lawrence arrived in time for the 3^rd round match which was just as well as we were drawn against a formidable Norway team. Like last year in Trier, we were good enough to win by a slender 3-2 margin.

It was only for the 4^th round match against Japan that we had the full team present with the arrival of Gaz, Reece and Oliver. Alas, with Mochy, Michy et al they were too good for us and ran away as comfortable 4-1 winners.

The next day we beat Czech Republic, Italy and Greece which secured 2^nd place after Japan in the qualifiers for the Last 8 Knockout stage.

The format permitted the most successful teams to choose their quarter final opponents. We chose Austria. They were certainly no pushover as we won another tight match 3-2. For the semi-finals, Japan as the winners of the qualifying stage, chose UK as their opponents. They had clearly not studied our form against other teams! Another very close match ensued with Tim and Raj winning. Unfortunately, they were once again too good for us and scraped a 3-2 victory. We rallied to beat Sweden 3-2 in the 3^rd/4^th place playoff, so a very creditable bronze medal was achieved.

While all this was going on, the home nation, Italy, overcame Japan 4-1. In Trier last year they fell victim to its triple elimination format and were bundled out after losing the first three rounds. Romania, the defending champions, beat Denmark in the 1^st round, so it seemed like business as usual. Not so, they lost their next four including a humiliating loss to Gibraltar. Backgammon is a cruel leveller!

The UK team, on the other hand, has finished 3^rd, 2^nd and 5^th in the last WBGF events and let’s not forget the 1^st place at the Georgian Federation-hosted event in Tbilisi in 2016 when Tim Cross was Captain. The case can be made that we are currently the most consistent nation participating in WBGF World Team Championships.

After such a chaotic opening, great credit is due to our team who delivered once again and its Captain, Chris Rogers who displayed considerable nous in selecting the team for each round after analysing the PR data and keeping everyone focused. This was a tremendous performance in Chris’s first live event. With the backing from the UKBGF and its members, I am convinced he can take us to even higher levels.