Scrabble Australia
The Trans Tasman 2021

The Trans Tasman is an event which has been held every two years since 1996. It has a team from Australia playing a team from New Zealand. The host country alternates. In 2020, the event was supposed to be happening in Australia, but the dreaded coronavirus stopped that. So in 2021, the replacement event is being held in Canberra over three days starting Fri 19 Nov.

The format this time is like it was in 2016. Ten New Zealand playersw ill play sixteen Aussies as a round robin event of 25 rounds where each player plays every other player from their own country or the opposing country. The winning team will be decided on the games between Australia and New Zealand only.

This event will be rated within Australia. Many New Zealand players have a rating in the Australian rating data base. The lexicon is Collins Scrabble Words 2019.

Selecting Australia's team for 2021

Here is how the sixteen Australians will be selected by CASPA. The qualifying period is the eight month span from 1 Feb 2021 to 30 Sep 2021.
Eligibility: You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident on 30 Sep 2021, and be a financial member of ASPA on 30 Sep 2021.

1. The method of ranking candidates is by a two peak statistic (the Q statistic) described below..
2. Players may appeal to CASPA for a special dispensation in exceptional circumstances.
3. In the event of any unforeseen issue the decision of CASPA is final.

The twin peaks Q statistic

The primary criterion for ranking candidates is the Q statistic calculated like this:

1. Subperiods are Feb to May and Jun to Sep in 2021.
2. The Qstat: The qualifying statistic is Q = (P1 + 2*P2)/3 , which is a weighted average of peak ratings in the two subperiods.
3. Missed peak: There is no penalty for missing a peak.
4. Number of games: You must play 30 games in the qualification period.
5. Multiday tournament which spans two subperiods will be treated for peak and game count as occurring on the first day.
6. Missed games: If you miss a game in a tournament for any reason other than an assigned bye, you cannot count a peak attained in that tournament for any qualification purposes. Games played will count towards games quotas. Ratings will be calculated as usual, with byes and forfeits not rated.

If two players have the same Q statistic, the one with the greater number of games in the qualification period is ranked higher.

	Play?	CONTENDERS 16 quota	Games	Q Stat 09.08.2021	Peak (games) Feb-May	Peak (games) Jun-Sep
1.		David Eldar (VIC)	37	2146.00	2146 (37)
2.		Chris May (NSW)	24	2078.00	2078 (24)
3.		Jakob Teitelbaum (ACT)	36	2040.00	2040 (36)
4.		Andrew Fisher (VIC)	31	2027.00	2027 (31)
5.		Naween Fernando (VIC)	7	1938.00	1938 (7)
6.		Anand Bharadwaj (VIC)	13	1935.00	1933 (7)	1936 (6)
7.		Esther Perrins (NSW)	24	1925.00	1925 (24)
8.		Peter Kougi (VIC)	30	1924.00	1924 (30)
9.		Cameron Farlow (QLD)	56	1891.33	1890 (48)	1892 (8)
10.		Daniel Piechnick (SA)	58	1846.33	1865 (36)	1837 (22)
11.		Edward Okulicz (VIC)	25	1839.00	1855 (13)	1831 (12)
12.		Joanne Craig (NZ)	59	1823.00	1823 (59)
13.		Trevor Halsall (VIC)	42	1809.67	1901 (36)	1764 (6)
14.		Michael Cameron (SA)	0	1797.00	1797 (0)
15.		Michael McKenna (NSW)	10	1788.00	1788 (10)
16.		David Vanzyl (WA)	7	1775.00	1775 (7)
		ALMOST IN
17.		Adam Kretschmer (SA)	45	1755.67	1757 (34)	1755 (11)
18.		Mythili Rudra (VIC)	30	1740.00	1740 (30)
19.		Victor Tung (NSW)	40	1737.00	1737 (40)
20.		John Holgate (NSW)	61	1732.67	1706 (40)	1746 (21)
21.		Wayne Jones (NSW)	0	1732.00	1732 (0)
22.		Ron Baginski (QLD)	0	1724.00	1724 (0)
23.		Bob Jackman (NSW)	80	1721.67	1731 (59)	1717 (21)
24.		Stephen Mooney Purse (TAS)	13	1721.00	1721 (0)	1721 (13)
25.		Graham Bell (WA)	52	1710.00	1742 (14)	1694 (38)
26.		Rael Hayman (QLD)	34	1708.00	1708 (34)
27.		Rod Talbot (NSW)	92	1705.67	1735 (71)	1691 (21)
28.		Karen Richards (QLD)	74	1698.33	1727 (66)	1684 (8)
29.		Russell Honeybun (WA)	18	1695.33	1684 (0)	1701 (18)
30.		Carmel Dodd (SA)	90	1693.67	1703 (66)	1689 (24)
31.		Tim Mason (WA)	7	1688.00	1688 (7)
32.		Andrew Hamblin (QLD)	0	1685.00	1685 (0)
33.		John Hamilton (ACT)	30	1661.33	1666 (22)	1659 (8)
34.		Joan Rosenthal (NSW)	0	1639.00	1639 (0)
35.		Helen Hynes (QLD)	14	1629.67	1635 (0)	1627 (14)
36.		Geoff Wright (VIC)	44	1628.33	1639 (32)	1623 (12)
37.		Trevor Tao (SA)	27	1624.33	1627 (16)	1623 (11)
38.		Nick Ivanovski (VIC)	0	1621.00	1621 (0)
39.		Simon Walton (SA)	0	1605.00	1605 (0)
40.		Chris Hall (WA)	46	1602.67	1598 (21)	1605 (25)

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