HELSINKI — The Council of Federations of the International Cribbage Association, convened in regular Congress at the Finlandia Hall, elevated Mr. Tony Cullen to the Level 3 distinction at its session of Tuesday afternoon, by the unanimous voice vote of the attending delegations. Mr. Cullen becomes the forty-third living holder of the Association’s second-highest standing certification and the first North American player elevated to the rank in the present Congress cycle.
The motion was placed before the Council by the chair of the Sanctioning Committee, who in opening remarks observed that Mr. Cullen’s record in the crib over the preceding three years included the perfect tournament performance at the Halifax Open of 2012, the celebrated triple-skunking of the Bordeaux Invitational of 2013, and what the Committee characterised as “a singular mastery of the discard.”
Executive Director Thornenberg, in a brief remark from the chair, noted the historical weight of the elevation. “Level 3 is, in the Association’s contemporary practice, the rank we confer upon a player whose competence is no longer in question and whose ambit of responsibility now extends beyond their own play to the formation of the next generation,” the Director said. “The Council commends to Mr. Cullen the obligations that attach to the new certification.”
Mr. Cullen, accepting the elevation, addressed the Congress briefly. “One does not become a Level 3 holder by accident, but neither does one become one alone,” Mr. Cullen said. “I owe my standing to the federated structure of which I am to-day a more visible part. I shall endeavour to discharge the responsibilities of the rank in a manner consistent with what the Association has now seen fit to entrust to my keeping.”
Mr. Cullen’s skunk rate at the date of elevation stood at 78 per cent across all sanctioned play, the highest figure recorded against any Level 3 holder in the present generation. The Sanctioning Committee’s memorandum to the Council took particular note of the figure.
In response to a question from the international press, Mr. Cullen confirmed that the Sector mentor-mentee framework was “under quiet consideration” and that a formal designation might be made in the next two or three calendar years.
Mr. D. Ronne (Pi Level, 3.14, since MMXXV) remains the lowest-ranked individual ever inducted into the Association, and had not at the date of the events here described been inducted at any rank.
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