Spoilers for Wednesday 23rd June 2021 (SF1, Series 83)

[Tom S]

Thought that was the best finals game of this series so far- Louis shouldn't feel ashamed of losing that- I'd say it was his best performance. Thought Luke was still on good form and will be tough to beat on Friday.

[Ryan Lam]

Three more episodes to go before Nick Hewer retires, and I was waiting to see if someone was going to post this topic before I post this. Time really flies and it'll all be over in less than 48 hours from now...

Letters: Both get off to an excellent start with MOPANIS in R1 and while Luke takes CAUDATES, Louis takes ADULATES in R2. After the first break, the gap widens with Luke spotting SUBEDARI in R4 but Louis holds on with UMPTEENS in R5 and ECOTAGE in R7. He shows his strength even more after getting SYNAPSE in R10 and then, APHORISM in R11 after Luke risks ramphoids which isn't in! Just when you thought a Crucial Conundrum might come, Luke pulls away with ROSEOLAR in R13 at a crucial moment to gain more ground.

Numbers: Luke sticks with his usual selection and Louis fumbles in R3 after realising he used the "100" twice (even Rachel didn't catch that initially) but at least he recovers in R9 by being on par in terms of the declaration. For the latter, choosing not to risk in R6 was wise but later on, seeing how close the margin is at the end, he chooses to gamble which is not a surprise. Unfortunately, it didn't pay off as Luke got as close as it could get.

Conundrum: When it first appeared, some people in the Daily Chat were laughing away because they instantly knew what was the answer. It took me a while to figure out what was so funny and then when someone gave a more explicit clue in a sentence, I went "OH..." Even Nick and Rachel were left in stitches afterwards (wonder if there's a blooper reel for this segment). (I'd not like to count this as one of the Conundrums I solved because of the clues) Hopefully, HOGSUCKERs don't have much trouble getting around HUGE ROCKS in reality!

Louis shouldn't feel ashamed of losing that- I'd say it was his best performance.

I predicted Luke would win by around 30 points and I was some way off again with the margin being closer at 22 points. Louis, you gave your best and this was nothing short of a superb match. You held on as tightly as you could for the most part and you never gave up. You exhibited a fighting spirit that most of us strive to have. Most importantly, you are the final Octochamp of the Nick Hewer era and after dodging that bullet in your final game to make it here, to face off with the #1 Seed, there's absolutely no shame in losing to such a player. Hopefully, you left the studio with great memories and I'm sure Nick will remember you for ages to come.

Up tomorrow, the second Semi-Finals. Will it be James or Adam that will face off Luke on Friday and get to have the privilege to appear on the day Nick bows out? Let's see how things get on then!

Progress:
QF1 (17 June): Luke Boynton (#1) vs Dave Lomax (#8) (99 - 47)
QF2 (18 June): James Burley (#2) vs Tom Vincent (#7) (100 - 66)
QF3 (21 June): Adam Latchford (#3)* vs Declan McGurk (#6) (99 - 40)
QF4 (22 June): Louis Ross (#4)* vs Coral Heath (#5) (88 - 83)
SF1 (23 June): Luke Boynton (QF1 Winner) vs Louis Ross (QF4 Winner)* (98 - 76)
SF2 (24 June): James Burley (QF2 Winner) vs Adam Latchford (QF3 Winner)*
GF (25 June): Luke Boynton (SF1 Winner) vs (SF2 Winner)

[Fiona T]

R9 alt (50*5-3)*75/25-100 = 641

[Rhys Benjamin]

Stats before today:

LUKE BOYNTON
Highest score: 147 vs John Lorimer-George, game 5
Lowest score: 99 vs Dave Lomax, Quarter Finalist
Score: 1,131
Average: 125.67
Max faced: 1,284
% score: 88.1%
Raw score: 1,150
Raw average: 127.78
Raw % score: 89.6%
Conundrums: 7/9

LOUIS ROSS
Highest score: 112 vs Linda Piper, game 4
Lowest score: 76 vs Kirsty Watt, game 3
Score: 826
Average: 91.78
Max faced: 1,175
% score: 70.3%
Raw score: 887
Raw average: 98.56
Raw % score: 75.5%
Conundrums: 6/9

[Toby McDonald]

Great game, brilliant performance by Luke. Some particularly good spots with SUBEDARI, ECOTAGE and ROSEOLAR (I missed all of these). Louis played very well too - he shouldn't be disappointed as I felt he put in his best performance today.

R14 Alt.: (5*4*3+1)*7 = 427