CROQUET NEWS:  World Championship Won by Reg Bamford

9-17 May 2009
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
story by Leo Nikora
scores and photos by Johnny Mitchell
commentaries by Ian Burridge, Samir Patel, and David Maugham

	Place Player Flag Rank (5/13/9)
	1st	Reg Bamford #4
	2nd	Ben Rothman #20
	=3rd	Robert Fletcher #13
	=3rd	Chris Farthing #59
	=5th	Rutger Beijderwellen #5
	=5th	Stephen Mulliner #6
	=5th	John Gibbons #12
	=5th	James Death #27
	=9th	Chris Clarke #1
	=9th	Robert Fulford #2
	=9th	Ian Lines #9
	=9th	David Maugham #10
	=9th	Stephen Forster #11
	=9th	Bruce Fleming #41
	=9th	Ed Duckworth #19
	=9th	Leo McBride #36
	=17th	Keith Aiton #3
	=17th	Jamie Burch #14
	=17th	Brian Cumming #16
	=17th	Samir Patel #18
	=17th	Marcus Evans #25
	=17th	Robert Lowe #30
	=17th	Ian Burridge #31
	=17th	Mark Avery #39
	=17th	Kevin Beard #44
	=17th	David Openshaw #47
	=17th	James Le Moignan #48
	=17th	Danny Huneycutt #52
	=17th	Jim Bast #58
	=17th	Paul Billings #86
	=17th	Stuart Lawrence #106
	=17th	Greg Fletcher #126
		Jonathan Kirby #24
		Philip Drew #28
		Tony Le Moignan #29
		Rich Lamm #40
		Tim Murphy #43
		Paul Bennett #46
		Chris Patmore #57
		Doug Grimsley #60
		Simon Watkins #62
		Damon Bidencope #68
		Peter Trimmer #70
		Aiken Hakes #72
		Colin Irwin #76
		Mark Prater #78
		David Bent #81
		Ken Bald #85
		Chris Williams #92
		Debbie Cornelius #93
		Liz Fleming #95
		Duncan Dixon #100
		Martin Murray #107
		David Walters #112
		Anthony Ritchie #116
		Brian Storey #117
		Trevor Herin #120
		Roger Jenkins #122
		Johnny Osborn #124
		Andrew Winn #128
		Dick Knapp #137
		Jerry Guest #144
		James Hopgood #157
		Charlie Gillmarten #160
		Ed Cunningham #168
		Bob Cherry #171
		Peter Just #185
		Ron Lloyd #212
		Paul Emmett #244
		Evan Newell #235
		Carol Jackson #256
		Anton Varnäs #305
		Juan Ojeda #363
		Malcolm Fletcher #365
		Bruno Hess #406
		Kevin Wells #430
		Jose Alvarez-Sala #524
		Andres de Diego #542
		Koji Moriyama #559
		Allan Morris #755

Reg Bamford of South Africa wins Wimbledon Cup and gold medal.

Reg Bamford of South Africa won the World Championship defeating Ben Rothman of the United States of America in the final.

Eighty players competed in the World Croquet Federation's (WCF) World Championship, including eight of the top ten players in the world. The championship was held on seventeen lawns at two venues in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA: National Croquet Center, and PGA National Resort.

Seventeen Americans were in Block Play, five made it to Knockout Play, and one (Ben Rothman) got to the finals. This may have been the first World Championship final without a player from England.

Jeff Soo wrote, "Ben is certainly the first American to reach the final. (Jacques [Fournier] and Jerry [Stark] each reached the semi-final stage once.) He is also (I think) the only American to achieve a World Ranking index above 2800, which he held for a couple of games. Win or lose tomorrow he is assured of the highest World Ranking grade ever achieved by an American (again, I'm pretty sure)."

Ben Rothman of America wins silver medal.

There were eight upsets, highlighted in the Knockout Play below. The top three seeds were knocked out in the first two rounds! Nine of the top ten seeds were knocked out after three rounds.

The World Championship started with Block play, in eight Blocks each of ten players. The top four players in each Block advance to Knockout play.

The winner was presented with the Wimbledon Cup. This was presented to the World Croquet Federation by the All England Lawn Tennis Club in recognition of the part croquet played in the club's long history.

The tournament director was Johnny Mitchell. The tournament manager was Andrew Gregory. The tournament referee was Owen Edwards.

The Championship was played in accordance with the Laws of Association Croquet, 6th Edition, under Law 36 for Advanced play. Sunshiny CQ16 or Dawson 2000 International 2nd Series balls were used.

Bamford is new world champion

19 July 2009
in South African, London, England , UK

Reg Bamford won the World Croquet Championship, held last week in Palm Beach, Florida. He beat Ben Rothman, an American, 3-0 in the final to claim his third World title, adding to his wins in 2001 and 2005.

Bamford, a Cape Town-born South African now based in London, becomes one of the most successful croquet players of all time with his win. Along with Robert Fulford, another multiple winner of the World Championship, he has dominated the world of croquet over the past twenty years and revolutionised the game by mastering the two-turn triple peel and sextuple peel finish.

Palm Beach is home to the US Croquet National Centre, with 12 pristine and immaculate croquet courts. Unlike most club and international tournaments, the requirement for the World Championships is for very flat, fast and dry lawns which challenge even the finest players with their difficulty. This year was no exception, with the exceptional Florida heat and dry wind making for tough conditions.

In the semi-finals, Bamford beat the rising star of Australian croquet, 15 year old Robert Fletcher, in a closely fought match, before winning 3-1. The rest of the knock-out draw had been thrown into disarray with 7 of the top 8 seeds beaten in the quarterfinals.

In the final, Bamford dominated the unseeded American, winning comfortably in three straight games.“I was fortunate that most of the top seeds had been eliminated early on. But Ben had been playing some great croquet – he had beaten Fulford in the second round in three straight – so it was always going to be a fiercely contested final,” said Bamford after the match.

“At this level, and in this type of final, it is the player who handles the pressure and plays his own game that will win. I suppose I had the experience of being a two-time finalist and champion, so I knew what to expect.”

Bamford is also well-known in the Antipodean and South African community in London. He set up and runs 1st Contact, a company offering financial and migration services to clients in the UK.

Bamford will know hold this title until late 2011, when he will travel down to Australia to defend his title Down Under.

Knockout Play

Four players from each Block qualified for the Knockout.

The draw for positions in the Knockout was held at the evening function on the fourth day (12 May), following the WCF’s defined procedures, and used the World Rankings after Block play. Play in the Knockout started on the fifth day (13 May), and generally proceed at one round per day. The final will be held on the eighth day (17 May).

The Knockout was single-life, starting with best-of-3 matches, and progressing to best-of-5 in later rounds. The stage when best-of-5 starts, and whether any time limits are used, was decided depending on the playing conditions. If time limits were used, they were 4-7-9 hours for best of 3, and 4-6-8-9-10 hours for best of 5.

Seed Player Flag Rank (5/13/2009)
1	Chris Clarke #1	Clarke +24 +17tp	Death +8 +13 –26tp –4tp +5	Fletcher +26tp +12tpo –23 +14tp	Bamford –8otp +26tp +26tp +5tp	Bamford +13tp +22 +18tp
28	Jim Bast #58
18	James Death #27	Death +9 +6
13	Brian Cumming #16
11	Robert Fletcher #13	Fletcher +26tp +10	Fletcher +15tp +17 –15 –17tp +9
20	Ian Burridge #31
27	Danny Huneycutt #52	Maugham +26tp +17tp
8	David Maugham #10
5	Rutger Beijderwellen #5	Beijderwellen +12tp +23tp	Beijderwellen +17tp +5 +18	Bamford +26tp +24tp –26tp +26tp
25	David Openshaw #47
22	Mark Avery #39	Forster +14 +21tp
9	Stephen Forster #11
14	Samir Patel #18	Fleming +21 +17	Bamford –12 +17tp +25 +17tp
23	Bruce Fleming #41
31	Stuart Lawrence #106	Bamford +10tpo +26tp
4	Reg Bamford #4
3	Keith Aiton #3	Farthing +14 –26 +26tp	Farthing –16 +5 +13 +5	Farthing –17tp –17 +19tp +17 +26tp	Rothman +13tp –8 +23 –26tp +26tp
29	Chris Farthing #59
19	Robert Lowe #30	Duckworth +5 –24tp +17tp
15	Ed Duckworth #19
12	Jamie Burch #14	McBride +15 –17 +22	Mulliner +16 +26tp –4 +26
21	Leo McBride #36
30	Paul Billings #86	Mulliner +3 +3
6	Stephen Mulliner #6
7	Ian Lines #9	Lines +12 +23tp	Gibbons +16 +26 –26tp –26 +15	Rothman +17 +17 +16
32	Greg Fletcher #126
24	Kevin Beard #44	Gibbons +25tp –12 +14
10	John Gibbons #12
16	Ben Rothman #20	Rothman +25 –21 +20	Rothman +14 +15tp +17
17	Marcus Evans #25
26	James Le Moignan #48	Fulford +10tpo –14 +17
2	Robert Fulford #2

Reg Bamford over Ben Rothman +13tp, +22, +18tp

08:37:55 AM

Good Morning All. The players have just been announced, to a riple of applause from the small crowd, and they are about to start practicing. The final lawn has been rotated 90 degrees and put across lawns 6 and 7, so hopefully there won't be anywhere near the problems with the old hoop holes that we had yesterday. Samir is looking out over corner III and I am near corner IV, so you should get slightly different perspectives on the game (as opposed to Chch where Ian and I were basically in the same spot). Reg is currently 2-balling round with his practice, and Ben is shooting at a small plastic ball attached to the ground on the EB. He's just hit one at the perfect pace to take it 35 yards, and I timed the lawn at 12 seconds. There's a bit of cloud about, and it doesn't feel anywhere near as hot as in previous days. Ok, and they're off...

Rothman UK [Blue and Black] going in. K peg high SS [Super Shot openeing].

[Bamford] Y [Yellow] peg high on the EB [East Boundary] .

[Rothman] U [Blue] shooting from 3 yds out of III. Hits it at a pace that only goes off the lawn by 3 yards, and misses. Goes off level with 4.

Reg shooting from a yard out of the corner. Probably a double, probably misses into IV ... and indeed misses both of them by vey little into IV.

Rothman lining up his 6-7 yarder at R ... and misses. Final nerves? He certainly needed his shooting boots on today
if he's going to make a showing in this match, but he's not shown his ability yet.

Reg puts U to a couple of yards E of 2 and is about to make the first roquest of the match ... It was a big 4 footer, and he deals with it easily ... He has to take off from the EB to the ball by the peg, and goes a little long, can only cut K to the end of a-baulk. Approaches the hoop to about 2 ft at a slight angle. Runs it and gets a forward rush. Doesn't hit it very far, and splits it perfectly to 3 getting a rush to 2. Makes 2 from 6" with a rush pointing back towards Y. Needed to cut it a little, but has hit it straight, so I guess U is going to be the pivot and Y will be rushed to III before being put back to 4. And that is exactly what he does. Makes 3 from 6", although no forward rush this time, Y is 4 ft in front of 4. K goes to 5, but it's a bit long. Actually *quite* a bit long, it's gone nearly 4 yards past. Reg put U as a better hoop 5 pioneer, and then made both 4 and 5 easily. He now making 6 off K with U about 4ft in front of 1, b and Y level with 6 a
couple of yards W of it. K goes to peg high a couple of yards E of the line of 1 & 2, and Y is rushed to the end of b-baulk. Another good croquet stroke puts Y a foot in front of 2-b, with an easy rush to 1-b. 1-b is made, and U is rolled to just E of the peg, K is rushed to 3 yards NW of Y. K goes 6" from 3-b and R has a 6" roquet on Y. Makes 2-b, but catches a little too much wire, and can't rush back to U by the peg. Instead goes to the EB a couple of yards S of 3-b. Y goes very close to the peg, may be in the way of rushing U to the best spot. Makes 3-b, but doesn't get a forward rush, so has to play a good croquet stroke now. K is good, R maybe a yard overhit. Reg rushes U a yard too far, and Y is past the spot he wants to put it in as well. Played it as a little pass roll, but U goes too far. U at K is wide open. K might not even be technically wired on K either. Rushes Y to level with 5 on the EB. Lays up with a rush. It's a perfect B spread.

Ben fingers off his lift U at K. Hits it to raptorous applause. Plays a thin take off leaving K near the boundary, going to RY. Hits Y and gets a rush on R to 1. Makes 1 and has to play a good cut to get it back to near Y. R goes to a yard from 3 and Ben cuts the Y to about three yards from K. It didn't quite go off the lawn, but I doubt that K is still exactly on the yardline, so it shouldn't be any trouble. A touch short and he has to play another cut. Doesn't play this one as well, and he's ow approaching 2 from 3 yards at a slight angle. Gets a 1 yd straight hoop. Smooths iit through, doesn't get past K, so has another big croquet stroke coming up. It's a good one, K goes a yard in front of 4, and U rushes Y back to the end
of b-baulk. Rolls Y to 3 yards behind 3, and goes a little long past R, but plays it at a good weight and has a 1ft approach. Not looking at the TPO at all. Odd. R goes to a yard SSE of 6, Y to 4ft Se of 5, U running 4 from 8". Makes 4 with no rush, rolls K to a yd E of 5. Makes 5, partner goes 4ft in front of 2-b. Y goes a couple of feet E of 1-b. Makes 6, R goes 4 yds NW of the peg, approaches 1b froma couple of feet. Runs it past Y, knocks it back. Y goes to the peg. Rushes R to 7 yds N of 2-b, puts is a couple of yards short of 3-b, and slightly past K. Approaches 2b from a yard to 1ft posn. Makes it by a couple of yards and rushes K back to just W of the peg. K goes east a couple of yards, Y rushed to near the spot and then croqueted to the spot with a take-off. Rushes R to 4ft in front of 3b. Makes it with a forward rush, probably won't neeed to fiddle with Y. Wants the leave to be more diagonal than it is at the moment, so moves y a few inches. Rushes back to the EB about 2 yds N of 4, lays up there.

Reg lifts the hoop 1 ball from by the peg and goes up to b-baulk. Misses, going a few inches out of IV.

Ben rushes U over, puts it about 4 ft in front of 2 and rushes to a couple of feet from 1. Has a look at the ball near IV, but doesn't put R on the right side to rush to it after the hoop. Makes the hoop by 3 yards so would never have had a rush anyway. Rolls R to 2ft SW of 3, going 3 yads past U. Dribbles at it and misses!

Reg shoots R at U, but doesn't like it at all. Misses.

Ben is once again relying on his shooting, taking on the 7 yarder at R. Hits it in the middle. R goes back to a yard W of 3, K hits U this time... Makes 2 and puts U 4 yds W of 4. Makes 3 with a rush to level with 5 on the EB. Puts R to a yd E of 5 going to the ball in the corner. Y goes to 5 ft S of 4-b. Makes 4 with a cut rush back up the lawn. Rolls U to peeleing position, Y now just past level with the hoop about 4 ft W. Short on the take-off, and has to approach 5 from 2 yds. Doesn't get the line right (or gets a bit of hill) and now has an angled hoop. Bounces off it.

Reg has a 1 yarder with the hoop 1 ball near 4-b. Reg has an utterly standard TP to play. Making 3 off partner with K a yard away and U 3 ft from 4. Yawn. Plays the peeel as a little stop shot and it predictably sticks in the jaws. Makes 4 and rushes back up, rush peels by 3 yards, and spanks the take-off. Lucky waster hits the hoop though, that was going a good 3-4 yards past. Approaches 5 to a foot and makes it with a forward rush. Ha justice. Rushes it into hoop 3! Prefers to put it to 1-b and not have a rush. Not a great 1-b pioneer, truth be told. Rolls R to 3 yds behind the hoop. Puts U slightly past R, and runs the hoop so that it is in the way of roqueting R. I think I've got a bit of an optical illusion, because U just looks like it's a yard W of the line of 6, and R is on it, but it must be the other way around... Cuts U a bit N, and puts is 3 yds NE of 2-b. Finds a spot where he can have a big splitty effort at the peel, going to the 1-b ball. Just leaves it 6" in front, probably for the death roll. Makes 1-b with some vigour, and has a 3 yarder back. K goes a couple of yards SSE of 3-b, and Y hits r to a couple fo feet in front of penult. Peels it to the peg, and gets a good rush on U. Once again doesn't get much wire and has a slightly longer rush than he would have preferred. Hits it a little far, gone about 2yds WSW of the peg. No, had a good angle to put it to 4b getting a rush to peeling posn, but hits is to level with the hoop. Takes off past K. Makes it with a rush pointing at the end of a-baulk. hits it a yard. K to penult, rushes R to 1ft peeling position. Makes 4-b, U to 4ft S of the peg. Makes penult, no forward rush. K goes 5ft past rover. Y rushes U to a yard short of Rs. Peeling from 6" straight. Peels by 4 yards, Y into the jaws. Makes it, hits U, rushes K to R. Rushes R to a yard E of the peg. Reg Bamford +13tp.

10:46:18 AM

Reg UK going in. U 2yd short of the peg.

[Ben] Y dribbles and misses going 3yds SE of 6.

[Reg] K dribbles and phantoms the roquet. Y to 3yds W of 6, rushes U to 2yd in front of 1. Approaches to 6". Makes it with a 3yd forward rush. U to 2ft from 3, rushes Y to 4ft in front of 2. Runs it to the boundary. Puts to a couple of yds Nw of 4. Makes 3 but just creeps past, so no forward rush. Good roll, U 1 ft SE of 5, rushes to a ft from 4. All pretty easy now. Running 5 from a foot, pioneer a foot from 6. Makes 6 with a rush NE. Puts Y to 4ft in front of 2-b rushes a little too close to 1-b. Makes it but with no forward rush. Rolls U to a couple of ft from 3b getting a 1ft rush on Y to 2-b. Makes 3-b and rushes to level with 5 on the EB, Y already there. I'm a little surprised that Reg feels that he has to go to 4-b on these
lawns, I doubt that a quad is beyond his talents, and he's usually too scared of the TPO to go to 4-b in normal events. Leaves the balls level with 5, and goes a foot off the WB.

Ben's making a mistake in my view, taking the EB shot, which is at least 6 yards longer than the shot from a-baulk. Hits it centre ball. Takes off to Y, rushes it to K, puts it a ft from 2. Rushes a couple of yds NE of 1, takes off, and scrapes through, getting a forward-ish rush. Doesn't rush it very far, and almost puts K into the yardline in front of 3. Makes 2 with a longish rush back to the SB. Rushes it to the end of a-baulk. Needs to play a good shot, since U is only a yard off the yard-line. Does it. Has a 1ft rush up to K. Puts U out near 3 and rushes K to a yard to the side of the hoop. He still really doesn't want this TPO, just plays a take-off. K to a yard in front of 6, U rushed to level with hoop 4 on the EB. U a couple of yards short, makes 4 with a rush. Rushes U to a couple of ft in front of 5. Sticks in an easy hoop 5. Off the hoop 1 ball again...

Reg hits the ball in the hoop, stops it up the lawn, and rushes Y to K. R is aout 6 yards in front of 1, but Reg has put Y towards 3. then rushes K well past 1, by about 4 yards. Approaches to a foot in front though. Makes it with a forward rush, K goes to 3, Y is rushed past R. Easy rush to 2, and all the balls are there for him... Makes 3, peeling from a yard. My guess is another straight stop shot. Manages to not jaws it this time... But is slightly hampered, doesn't call a referee and knocks Y down the lawn 3 yards. Makes 4, but not very far and has a big cut to get R level with the peg on the EB. Overhits the roll, and has a 3yd rush pointing more or les directly S. Rushes it into the back of the hoop, looks like he's still got a take-off down to 5 though. Clubs it a bit, and not down the best line. Has a 3 yarder that he dosn't want to move more than a yard. Hits it about half ball, and approaches from a yard straight. Has approached to 6", and is going and having a look at all the other balls. Might be a bit angled, I'm not sure what he's thinking about though. K has
bounced well off hoop 3. He must have mis-approached. It doesn't look like it from here, but I am perpendicular to the line... Goes off on the end of b-baulk.

Ben windmills the mallet with both arms and does some twisting... Lining up R at U. Misses. Gives it all back to Reg.

Reg splits R to 3yds in front of 6 getting a southward rush on K. Knocks it down peg high, and puts it back miles (about 3 yards) past 6 getting a rush on Y. Approaches 5 again, but can't believe that he's had some hill again. Doesn't
look difficult though (didn't try to approach to 6" this time). Y to a yd E of 1-b, R rushed past K. Puts R a yard behind 6, I'd guess to the east, but I can't tell. Nope. Well he's put K east of R and christed it off running the hoop. Got a straight 5 ft peel. Not a good stroke. Hits the left hand wire and bounces off a foot to the W. R rushed N and croqueted to 3yds N of 2-b. Makes 1-b with an eastward pointing rush. Puts Y about 4 ft past 3-b, and rushes K a couple of feet in front of penult. Fails the peel again, bounces back a foot in front. It'll be interesting to see if he wants to peel to Y. Spanks through 2-b and rushes back up to K. R goes about 3 yds E of penult, and U rushes K a little way E. Theres a bit of an angle on this peel for it to be nice. Peel goes through ... but I think Reg is dead cross wired from Y. Not sure what he's looking at now, maybe has a sliver. No, was trying to hit it by running the hoop. Missed it though.

Ben taking his 4 yarder with Y ... and misses it. Looks like a bit of twigletting going on.

[Reg] Chops Y up a bit and then rolls it to about 3yds short of 4-b. Rushes R to K and rushes K to 4ft SSW of 3-b. Makes it and has a rush over to rover, not quite far enough for an easy peel. Puts it about 6" to the E of the hoop, a couple of inches N. Overhits U slightly and dosn't have a rush to 4-b. Approaches from a couple of yards to 18". Runs it to the boundary. Reg has managed to find an old hoop hole. Just goes to R, Y by the peg. Makes the hoop, but then rushes Y into the front of rover... He's looking at playing it from inside the hoop, now looking at peeling Y. (Ron Lloyd came up with a good solution, take off leaving Y where it is, then rush K into it.) He's played it by peeling Y and going to the wrong side of the hoop. Hits his short mostly wired ball, cutting it back into angled peeling position. He's got no deep ball, both R & Y are about 2 yards S of the hoop. Just takes off to the hoop. Makes it by a foot... Hits Y, moving it a couple of yards. Plays some sort of odd cannon on R. Don't know what that was supposed to achieve. Y is now 4ft in front of 4. Hits K a couple of yds behind rover, stops it to inside the yard line, 2 yds N of IV. Rushes R to near 2, stops it to the WB 3 yds N of the peg. U goes into II

[Ben] Y fingers the lift, and hits K. Taking off to U - misses the peg... 6 yards short... Missed it.

[Reg] U takes off to R, gets a rush pointing at I. Rushes it there and takes off to K. no rush. Rolls K up the boundary, and gets it more or less wired. Reg has a good look. (Farthing reckons R can see full ball at K, and the same on U the other side of the hoop.)

Ben taking it on. Nowhere near.

Reg rushes U to a yard on front of rover, ignoring R. Made it with a long rush back. Hits his 3 yarder knocking it to a couple of yards from the peg. Bamford wins +22

Looks like lunch.

12:46:56 PM

I really can't see Rothman pulling any kind of upset here, his good shooting form has clearly left him today, and without that, his break play is just not good enough to threaten Reg at all.

01:14:26 PM

Players are back.

Rothman UK playing first. K peg high EB.

[Bamford] R hits the corner peg in II.

[Rothman] U shooting at R. Misses into the corner.

[Bamford] Y shoot down the boundary at K. Misses.

Ben rolls R to 3yds in front of 1, going to K. Hits his 3 yarder. Takes off from K knocking it in a couple of yards, hits Y. Putting Y well short, only about 4 yards past the peg, going back to partner.

Reg shoots at K with Y. Misses.

[Ben] Stops Y to 2 yds E of 2. Rushes K into the right hand wire of 4, bouncing off to the end of a-baulk. Plays a rubbish croquet stroke and didn't get a rush on R, put K behind the hoop, and approaching with a take-off now. Gets a 1 foot hoop and runs it. Knocks K down a few yards, taking off behind R. R to a yard W of 3, rush Y too a yard n front of 2. Makes 2 and rushes Y back past K. Y to 2ft from 4, 4bb ahead. Lets see if he can keep this one together. Makes 3, and puts K to 6 from 3 yds E of 3. Short by a couple of yards. Puts R to 4ft in front of 5, makes 4 from a foot. Rushes Y back up, and puts it 18" in front of 6. Leaves K a yard E of 5. Takes off from Y leaving it behind 5. Runs the hoop and rushes K a yard or so SE. K goes a couple of yards NE of 2-b. R to a foot from 1-b. Makes 6 and knock Y back a couple of yards. Puts R to 3yds SE of the peg after 1-b, Y goes to a yard W of 3-b. Makes 2-b by 4 yards or so and misses the return roquet, ending up by 6.

Reg lifts Y and hits his 6 yarder at K. Rolls it to 2, but is short of U. Rushes U to 3 yds S of 3 and takes off to get his rush on R to 1. Runs 1 from a foot, getting a forward rush. Puts R to a yd E of 3. Makes 2 and puts K to a ft E of 3-b rushing U behind R. U goes peg high. Makes 3 but no forward rush, R goes a yd E of 5. U back to the middle, approaching 4 from a foot. Makes 4, and puts K 5ft S and slightly W of 6. U goes to the peg (literally, it stops touching the peg). Gone down the same hill again approaching 5, you'd think he'd learn after the first couple of times... Makes it firmly by 4-5 yards or so. R to 4ft ESE of 1-b. Makes 6, hits K, and stands around for a few seconds... K to 4 ft N of 2-b, U 8 yds S of 1-b. Makes 1-b christing off R, rolls it to 2yds SE of the peg. U to 4ft SW of 3-b, approaching from a foot. Rushes K back to about 1ft from R, stops it towards the peg, and rushes R a bit closer, and takes off to U. Makes 3-b and manages to make his spread this time... It's not very imaginitive, though, is it?

[Ben] Missed badly on the left. He's 3 yards out of corner IV.

[Reg] Y goes a yd in front of 2, R rushes U 2 yds N of K. Uses the corner peg to keep the string out of his way whilst playing the rush, approaching from 5 ft. Runs the hoop, but has left K very straight, doesn't hit it hard enough anyway to get a rush back to IV, so rushes up towards 2. Makes 2 and rushes Y down to IV. I don't think he's got the stop shot to get it near peeling position. We'll see. He's putting it to 4 and settling for a delayed TP (unless he rushes back
after 4). Makes 3 and leaves K a yard SW of the hoop. U to a foot in front of 5, makes 4 with a 4ft rush back. Just overhits the rush, it's level with the hoop. Y to 2ft in front, and Reg chooses to tap K and play the take-off again. Lets see if he can do better than the last two games. Well its the best one so far. didn't get a forward rush though. U's gona couple of yards too far but R was close enough to tickle Y and should get it in the jaws here. Managed to peel it. Makes 6 and has a rush to III. K to 4yds NNE of 2-b, rush on Y to NB behind U. Puts Y to peeling posn, and makes 1-b with a sideways rush. U to 2ft SW of 3-b, R goes 4-5 feet past Y. He rushes it back, and is waltering off the peel from 2 yards. Takes off to 2-b, tries too run it to the boundary and gets the extra 2'6"... Rushes K to level with 6 just off the WB. Puts K in the corner of the "box", 3yds N of 4-b. Has a slightly angled peel, but manages it OK, a litlle long with R. Hits U and has a little approach, go a slightly angled hoop. Squeezes through, and roquets U up the lawn a few yards. Doesn't play a good shot, and U goes 3 yds NNW of penult. Rushes Y down, but not in great position, will be about 3yds NE of the hoop after the take-off. Makes 4-b with a rush back. Puts K 4 ft S of the peg, rushes Y to 1ft in front of rover. Takes-off well, rushes U to 18" NE of penult. Approaches to a foot straight. Runs it with no wire, and has a 4 yarder back at U, or a 2 yarder forward at K. Rushes K to level with rover. Take-off misses peg, and misses U ... but is hampered by penult at his shot at U. Deals with it, but only moves it a couple of feet. Has to roll down reasonably accurately now. On the mat a little, and has a 4 footer that he wants to hit dead weight. Hits it a little hard, and is peeling from 4" at a slight angle. Irish peels it, R into the jaws. Runs the hoop, and it looks like we have our oldest ever world champion... Hits K and takes off into U, doesn't make getting the rush much more difficult though. Rushes to a yard from the peg. Reg wins the third +18tp

Ben Rothman over Chris Farthing +13tp -5 +23 -26tp +26tp

08:37 16/05/2009

Chris and Ben are still warming up, I think Ben may be preparing a thesis on the East boundary.

Game 1

Chris and Ben are off. A 13 yard supershot with blue from Chris, so I assume he also won the toss.

Ben is shooting to corner II.

Chris misses in corner II.

Ben misses the double.

Chris has a good rush to hoop 1, about 2 yards SW, his break looks under control.

08:54 16/05/2009

Chris is at hoop 5

09:01 16/05/2009

Chris has made 1-back. His 2-back pioneer is south of the hoop 1, but it shouldn't be a problem.

09:12 16/05/2009

Chris has had an NSL [New Standard Leave].

Ben hits from corner III.

09:18 16/05/2009

Ben has got going, now for hoop 5.

09:25 16/05/2009

Ben is for 3-back, making a spread,.

Ben has joined up just north of level with 5.

09:30 16/05/2009

Chris is taking the long lift from corner III. Nicks red, and has a TP on offer for game 1.

09:52 16/05/2009

Chris broke down at hoop 5, giving gen an easy start. He now has a TP for the first game.

Ben is now at hoop 2. Ben is at hoop 5 with one peel complete.

10:02:24 AM

Ben is at 6 with his standad TP but has rushed partner right in front, and has to back-peel it to get it into position. Worked OK, but now has a longish peel ~4 ft. Peel went through by 5 yards, the 2-b pioneer is ~3yds NE off the hoop. Made 1-b, and whilst rushing partner down to rover, flicked off the peg to put it on the perfect line, but too long for an attempt. Ben has done the third peel, but has a short backward takeoff to 3-b. Made it easily, and is now approaching 4-b with K at rover and Y at penult. Ben just tickles his 3 yard return, rolls it to the middle getting a rush on partner to penult. About to make rover, with partner by the peg. 1-0 Rothman, +13tp

Game 2

Rothman RY, going first. Y supershot.

[Farthing] U joins up with it, no double.

Ben trickles at U, missing.

Chris has a double at Y & R from in front of 1. Chris hits in. He's put Y about 2yds WSW of 2, and rushed partner to 2ft straight in front of 1. Made 1, 4bb ahead of him. Got a rush on Y to 2, K about 2-3 yards in front of 3. Y is abouut a yard in front of 4, rushed red to III. Makes 3, and partner goes to 2ft in front of 5, getting a rush on the pivot. Made 4 with a rush back, Y goes to a couple of ft in front of 6. Made 5, but R is east, so he's had to rush partner nearly to 3-b befoore
putting it back to 2-b. It's about 18" NW of 2-b. Made 6, and approaches 1-b with Y near the peg. Is putting R to 3-b. It's a bit long, so he's put Y down there too. Made 2-b. Rushes both Y & R to 3-b. puts R to NSL position and rush Y back to partner near the peg. Y to near 2, lays up on the maximum distance spot.

Ben taking the short shot with Y. Hits the in-lawn ball. (Crowd not paying any attention to the local boy? No applause?) Rushes U to IV, gets it to 3 yds W of 6, gettin his rush. Ben approaches 1 to a couple of feet at a slight angle, and squeezes through. Plays his sweep well, and hit the hampered shot. I guess Ben hit the peg with R since it is now in the middle of the lawn, and not at 3, he's made 2 with a rush back though. Tries to get a rush to the ball on the boundary, but R falls over a bit, and he will need to cut it. Gets to 4 yrds behind it on the EB, takes off to get his rush. Plays a poor rush, but a good take-off, and runs the hoop from ~18". Knocks K up the lawn a bit, and rolls it to 5 going to the ball at 4
ignoring partner on the boundary. Makes 4, with a rush back into the lawn. Now taking off to partner on the boundary, with K only a ft from 5. R is 3 yards behind 6, and approaching 5 from a foot. (Got the games the wrong way round there for a bit, sorry, corrected now.) Going to K which is 3 yardss in fron of 1-b, r is 5 yards in front of 2-b. Makes 1-b, U 3yds WNW of 3-b K 2 ft from the peg. (you can see how this is confusing me...) Makes 2-b and rushes back about 6 yards N. Ben, just plays the take-off from the peg ball to the 3-b ball. Makes 3-b, but puts U a bit diagonal for my liking. The crowd starts applauding despite the fact that neither player has finished their break...

Chris has lifted U (the peg ball, for hoop 1) and shoots down the boundary. Misses.

Both of them rush a bit short and have to play backward take-offs. Makes 1 and rolls K to 3 going to Y at 2. Making 3 with K to the side of the hoop. Hmm.. must have know he was only going to run the hoop by 2 inches... "Most difficult shots in croquet" result in an innings turnover. (i.e. the take-off from 3 to the ball in IV, and hitting it...)

Chris puts R to 2, and gets a rush on Y to 1, he will have a standard TP if he plays these first couple of big shots well. Rushes it to a yard or so behind, and takes off a little short. Makes it though, and gets a rush up the lawn, takes off to get his rush to 2. Makes 2, and rushes sideways to put a ball to 4 and get his rush to 3. Approaches 3 badly off partner, not getting it into peeling position. Leaves partner there after the hoop, getting a rush down the lawn on Y. Makes 4 and gets R up to just past level with 4-b. Makes 5 with a forward rush. Peeling from about 18" straight, R a couple of yards to the side. Got it in the jaws, and has approached 6. Underhit the shot from near III, and hasn't got much of a 3-b pioneer and needs a ref to watch him hit the ball in the jaws (it's not long, though). Hit it, and rolled it over to behind 1-b. Makes 1-b and has a rush on partner to peeling position. Y too short to peel to getting a rush though, and R not good enough to roll to. He's going for it though. Doesn't get the peel (or even the jaws) and doesn't get a rush. Makes 2-b but with no backward rush. Doesn't play a great croquet stroke. R is a good "box" ball, but K doesn't have a rush on Y to 3-b. He's approaching the hoop from 3 yards to the side. Got a bit of an angled hoop. ...and fails it. Bounces off 3 yards w.

[Ben] The hoop 4 ball has a 2 yarder at the peelee, with both other balls in the vicinity of 4. Got all the balls perfectly for his delayed TP. Not much of a rush back, didn't get past the peg. Rolled down, Y has gone past the hoop by a foot. Has got a straigh backward take-off to 5. Makes 5 no forward rush. Short on his roll, can't rush to peeling position. Hits Y and stops it W of 6! Actually, K is a rubbish 1-b pioneer, so I guess Y was supposed to be better (it is but not by much). U is a couple of yards NNE of 2-b, and making 1-b off Y. Makes 1-b and McCulloughs Y to 3-b. Makes 2-b and 3-b giving him a 3 yard return - centre ball, K 2 yards in front of 4-b. Poor croquet stroke Y 4 yards past pen, no rush on U. Rolls it down OK
though. Makes 4-b and uses Y to get a rush on U to pen. K 3yds wsw of rover. Gets his rush to rover, Y & U near the peg. Makes it with some depth annd has a 4 yard return, tickles it. Ben setting up his spread, needs to croquet U a yard or so, though (it's on the line of the peg though.) Decided it was too far, and is having an OSL [Old Standard Leave] instead. OSL, Y 2 yards out of IV, R 3 yds N of it.

Chris making a treble out of U with R & Y in the background. Misses U, hits R. Rushes Y back to U but doesn't get a good rush to penult. Makes it though. Still needs to get a rush to rover off something. Oops. He just rushed R into hoop 4. He now has a 7 yard approach, I'm surprised he didn't just punt R across the lawn there, but he played it as a roll. Has a 4-5 ft straight hoop. Stuck in it. R is the peg ball though.

[Ben] Rushed K back through rover and put it to 5 yards behind 4-b. Left U a couple of yards SE of 3-b and laying up about peg high on the WB. There's a lot of space between R & Y. I guess to get one of them wired.

Chris is shooting K at U. Centre ball. Took off a little short and is going to rush R to Y. Didn't rush very well, and has to take off behind Y from in the lawn. Fortunately (for him) Y is a yard off the yard line. Gets a good rush to rover. Rushes to about 2 ft to the side and played a take off. It looked a lot like it hilled an extra foot or so away from the hoop. Made sure of this one though. Rushes Y back to the vicinity of 6. Thickens it about 5 yards closer to the NB, getting a rush on R that he chops towards the middle. He's got about a 4 yard peg out attempt. Misses it, and goes back to partner.

Ben limbers up for his 12 yarder with the 4-b ball ... and misses.

Chris has a 3 or so yarder which he doesn't want to hit to hard. R & Y are joined up a couple of yards out of III. Plays it well, has about a 1 yard straight approach to 3-b. Makes 3-b but no forward rush. Is rolling partner to penult going to the two balls behind 4-b. K goes about 4 yds in fron of penult, U has a 2 yarder at Y. Clips it. Y goes out to about 2 yards in front of 2-b, and rushes R to a foot from it. Makes 4-b with a rush E, stopping it to rover. Goes about 2 yards in front of the hoop, and rushes Y behind K. Rushes K to Penult. Should finish from here. Makes it, K goes to the peg, but U goes a little far for a good rush on Y. Cuts it down Ok though. Y goes behind rover, and U rushes R to a foot in front. Makes it. Game over. Farthing +5.

12:59:25 PM

Looks like lunch

01:31:22 PM

Back from lunch.

Game 3

Farthing RY going first. R to IV.

[Rothman] U duffer tice.

[Farthing] Y gentle at the duffer misses, and pioneers 1 (about 4 ft behind).

[Rothman] K hits U. Takes off to the ball in IV. R is good at 2, K has a 4 yarder at Y pointing at I. Rushes it to about 3 yds directly W of the hoop. Takes off to position. There's a bit more cloud now, and the sun is occasionally going in. Ran the hoop by 5 yards, and hit U. Taking off to behind Y. Rushed Y to WB, put it to a couple of yards W of 3. Made 2. Put R to 4 (about a foot past). Rushed to 3. U is hovering about behind 5. Made 3 with a forward rush. Easy 4bb ahead. Y is now the pivot, making 4 off R. Made it, R is now 5ft in front of 6. Y 5ft to the W of 5, making 5 off partner. Hits U after making the hoop, putting it to 2-b. 4ft NNE of 2-b, rushed Y to level with the peg. Y to 4ft ENE of 1-b, just made 6, rush pointng N. Rolled R to 3 yds WNW of the peg, going to Y. 1-b made, chops Y up the lawn a couple of yards. Y goes to the peg, K rushes R near to U. Approaching 2-b from a yard straight. Makes it without a rush back to Y. Rolling up, rushes Y quite hard (needed to move it a yard, moved it nearly 3), but U is out of the way of the take-off. Rushes R to 4 ft in front of 3-b. Only just squeezes through 3-b, needs a referee for the hampered shot. Looks pretty easy. And he hits it with no trouble. Puts R about 4 yds SW of 2 and rushes Y pretty close to the spot. Pretty good spread.

Chris lifts Y and is shooting down the boundary. Looking at it, leaning a bit ... missed.

Ben rushes K to R pretty well, but gets a slightly longish rush, putting K to 18" to the E of 2. Rushes R 3 yds W of 1 and takes off well. Runs it pretty cleanly and has about a 4-5 yarder back. Hits it but is now only a couple of yards from I. Rolling it to 3 going to the ball at 2. A pretty good shot. R 3 yds W of 3 and a 1 yd roquet on K in the right direction. Makes 2, but has a rush pointing S. Hits it a couple of yards, and is putting it to 4 going to R. K goes 5 ft in front of 4, U with a rush. Approaches from a foot or so, makes the hoop, but no forward rush. Lets see if he can play "the most difficult shots in the game" a bit better this time. He's about 4 yards short on the take-off, but hits it this game... Y goes about 2ft NW of 5, approaching 4 from a ft. Got his rush back, but not into peeling position. Rolls it over a couple of yards, doesn't get a rush S so tickles R and takes off. The take-off is good, and approaching 5 from 4 feet or so. Runs the hoop very cleanly and has a couple of yarder back at the pioneer. Has the peg slightly in the way of puttin out his 1-b pioneer. Not a great roll - Y is about 5 yards in front of 1-b and U has a 3 yarder at K. Hits it too hard, so can't peel it now. I think he's trying to put it in the jaws though. Didn't manage to jaws it, rushed a little behind 6. Has made the hoop, and rushed back a couple of yards. Now taking off to the peelee from the middle of the lawn. Rushed it to the NB behind 4-b, but has a difficult split to play now to get his rush to 1-b. K is OK at 2-b, but there's no rush to 1-b, he's now got to approach from
the boundary in front. Does well, though. Almost George Collins's it into the jaws. D'oh. Only runs it by 6" and has to try and hit the pivot. Yep got it. Takes off and rushes to the boundary level with 2-b. Underhits (and over rolls) it, Y is 4 yds short of 3-b, but rushes back to 2-b OK. Makes it with a rush back. No McCulloughing this time, let's see if he's going to try any straight peels. I think he's having a go at a peel now, from about 5 yards, he's certainly lining it up carefully. Missed the hoop completely. He's not rushed R past Y either. Just taking off to get the rush to his hoop. Approaching 3-b from a couple of feet. Makes it, rushes Y a yard or so E, then puts it to rover. No peels now, I suspect. R is a good penult ball, and Ben has made 4-b with no trouble. Puts K to the peg going to the penult ball. Makes it and gets R & K near the peg for his spread. Makes rover with a rush back. Puts Y about 6 yds S of 2. Gets R on the wired spot about 3" from the peg, and rushes back to the EB.

Chris lifts R from by the peg to the end of b-baulk. Shooting at Y ... only just misses (Ruter says it hilled off).

Ben rushes K to the boundary behind Y. Puts out a pretty good penult ball, and rushes to a couple of yards at a
slight angle frrom 4-b. Approaches to about a yard straight ... and fails it.

Chris has an umpire on to watch his 4 yarder at the ball in the hoop. Hits it. Puts K to 2, getting a rush on U to R which went off the WB level with 1. Rushes to about 4 ft from it. Gets the rush and makes 1 from about a foot at a slight angle. Gets R into the lawn a bit and rushes U behind 2. U goes a yard W of 3, Y has an easy rush on K. Makes 2, but ignores R, just splitting K to 4 and going to 3 from where he is. K 2yds in front of 4, approaching 3 from a couple of feet. Hmm.. only just ran 3, maybe distracted by the applause for Reg hitting his lift. And misses the hampered shot. U is the peg ball.

[Ben] U rushes Y to 3 yards out of I on the WB. Y goes to about 5 yds SSW of 2, U rushes R to the end of a-baulk. He stops R almost into III (probably only a yard or so out), and Christs off the black. Rolls K & U down towards IV, laying up with a rush pointing at 4-b.

[Chris] It looks like this must be a target for R. Actually, it's not even a bad target for Y, either. And this is what Chris is taking. But he's missed it, actually probably not a target at all from the line he took.

Ben has roqueted Y. Stops it out a couple of yards past 4 and rushes into III. Stops t out a couple of yards and rushes R to 18" in front annd slightly E of 4-b. approaching with a take-off. runs the hoop gently! But still taking on his 6 yarder at U. Hits it in the middle. Stops U to a couple of yards in front of rover. Rushes R to 2 yds WNW of penult. Approaches to 2ft straight. Runs it by 6 yards, and has a 2 yarder back at R. Taking off to Y. Doesn't get past it, so now playing a roll putting Y behind rover going to K. Y goes a couple of yards past the line, but U gets a good rush. Approaches the hoop, but puts U on the opposite side to Y. And it might punish him, he's now a little hampered by U from shooting at Y. No, needs a ref, but still hits Y in the middle. Takes off back, and rushes U to 2 yards from the peg. Rothman wins the 3rd +23.

Game 4

Rothman RY going in. R to midlle of EB.

[Farthing] U longish duffer.

[Rothman] R shooting at Y from 4yds outside III. Hits it, cutting it straight off the boundary. Rolls Y into the lawn, and has a 2yd cut rush on U to 1. Rushes it off the boundary level with the hoop. Approaches with a roll and goes screaming past. R runs away to peg high on the EB.

[Farthing] K takes on his double of U with Y in the background. Misses U but hits Y. Approaching 1 from 2-3 yards SE. Plays it well, and makes the hoop with a forward rush. U goes about 5 yards deep towards III, but K has a good rush on Y. Makes 2, but doesn't try to cut his eastward pointing rush to R, choosing to play a split instead. Plays it pretty well, and gets Y only a couple of feet from 4 and gets a rush to 3. Makes 3 with a rush, and gets partner near the peg, taking off to R. Puts R to 5, and makes an easy 4. Y is a poor pioneer, and goes 3 yards past 6. Rushes U south, and stops it back, about 3 yards short of 6. Makes 5 with a sideways rush, then rolls R to 1ft in front of 1-b going behind Y. Rushes Y to U, and gets a rush to 6. Makes 6, and puts U to 2 ft E of 2-b. rushes Y to NB. Approaches 1-b from only a few inches away, makes it and rushes R back a couple of yards. R goes a yard or so past 3-b and K doesn't have a rush southwards on Y. Chooses to roll it to 3-b going to U (possibly having another NSL). Rushes U past the back of the hoop to a foot to the side. Makes the hoop and rushes U to 6 yards behind 3-b. Takes off and is making 3-b wih both oppo balls there. Makes it, rushes Y away, and puts it over to near 2 getting a rush on U to the EB. R is already in NSL psition.

Ben lifts Y from near 2 and marches down to a-baulk. Ben misses.

Chris has chosen the crap option, of hitting partner first and then rushing Y down to IV, as if oppo had shot down the boundary. Doesn't look great. Y is 2 yards behind the hoop, and R has a 4 ft cut rush to 1. Rushes well though, maybe too well - R only looks to be a foot from the hoop at most. Makes the hoop gently, and can probably cut R to IV. Gets it to the SB behind 4. Puts it a foot from 3 getting behind K, rushes K to 3 yards behind 3. Leaves it there and plays a thin take off to get a rush on Y behind 2. A little long but cuts it the right way. Makes 2 with a northward pointing rush. Moves it a couple of yards, and plays a split going to partner. Y goes about a foot past 4, but U is down the wrong line and doesn't get a rush on partner. He's rolling it to peeling position from 3-4 yards away. It looks pretty good, but my angle isn't ideal. I don't think he tried to fiddle peelee with R so I guess it's OK. Ran the hoop and missed ball but kept it in peeling position after hitting it. Peeled it with a split and rushed R to the boundary level with Y. R goes about 4ft E of 5. Makes 4, and waits for the applause as Reg wins. Rushes Y to near III. Stops Y to 5ft WSW of 6, rushes K to 4 yds E of 6 and takes off to R at 5. Rushes R to a foot in front of 5. Makes 5 with a forward rush, but rushes R to a bit of a bleh position between 6 & 1-b. He's swapping the balls over. Rolled R as an escape ball, and rushed Y S of K. Y goes to 1ft in front of 1-b. approaches the hoop from a foot. Peeling from about 2ft. Peels by about a foot getting a rush N on R. R about 3 yds N of 2-b, approaching 1-b from a foot. Makes it with an eastward pointing rush. Cuts it N a bit, cannoning into K - cunning. Y goes 4ft W of 3-b, U rushes K near R. Makes 2-b with a rush back. Puts R about 4ft behind 4-b, getting close to the peelee. Peeling from about a foot. Done it. Rushing to 3-b now. Approaching from 18" or so from the SE. Makes it with a slight cut rush towards rover. Rolls Y over to rover, but is slightly short getting his rush back up the lawn on K. Rushed past the W of rover (don't know if that was deliberate) and now taking off from between 1-b and penult. Makes 4-b with a rush back to K. R goes past the peg getting a rush on K to penult. Makes it but no forward rush. A little roll to put it by the peg getting a rush on R. Put R past the hoop, rushes Y a foot or so, approaches the hoop. Runs it easily, hits Y, and takes off to K to level the match.

Game 5

Farthing RY going in. Y long SS.

[Rothman] U joins up with it, maybe cross pegged.

[Farthing] R shooting from I at something. It's a dribble at Y.

[Rothman] K has a double at R & Y from b-baulk, I think. Hits Y. Y goes to 2, K rushes R behind U. Rushes to 4 yds in front of 1. Approaches pretty well, to about a foot. Makes sure of it, running by 6 yards. U goes to 3, and Ben has his 4bb in front of him. Makes 2 and puts Y to a yard in front of 4. Makes 3 and puts U to 4ft in front of 5. Making 4 from a foot in front. Christs off Y making the hoop, and rolls it at least 2 yards past 6. Rushes R only just past U so it's not going to 6. Leaves it there as a "pivot". Makes 5 without a backwards rush, so has to put out his 2-b pioneer from a couple of yards further away. Rushes R to the NB. Puts it a couple of yards ENE of 1-b. Rushes Y to a yard in front of 6. Makes 6 and Christs off Y again. Rolls it over behind 1-b, makes the hoop, then rushes Y to near the peg and takes off back to R. Has to cut R to get it S. R goes a couple of yards W of 3-b. Makes 2-b with a cut rush back towards the peg. Moves Y a bit now its a yard S of the peg, doesn't get a good rush on R. Approaches 3-b from a couple of yards, and can rush R close to Y. Stops R to 4-5yds SW of 2, and rushes Y to the spot near the peg. A little take off and an easy rush to the EB. A smattering of applause as Ben finishes his turn.

[Farthing] Interestingly Chris is taking the short lift, despite the fact that Ben has not come near either of his two delayed Tp efforts. He lifted Y from near the peg, and missed. To be fair, he didn't hit either of his long lifts either, so maybe that
boundary isn't very flat.

[Rothman] Y is a couple of yards in the lawn near 4, K is 2 ft in front of 2, and Ben has rushed R to 5 yds NNw of 1. The backward take-off is Ok though, and he runs the hoop by 8 yards. Hits his 4 yarder at R in the middle. Puts R about 2yds SW of 3 going to K. Approaches the hoop from a yard, but doesn't quite run it far enough. Cuts it a bit, and has to put into peeling posn from about 5 yards. Both balls are a bit long, but K is definitiely peelable. R is rushed to 18" in front of the hoop. Ben is attemptin the peel from about 2 yds SSE of 4-b. Looks like he's trying it with split too. A round of applause as he does the first peel. Hasn't managed to cut the escape ball to the side boundary, so is putting it behind 4 going to Y. Approaching 4 from the side putting Y to 5. Gets a straight hoop, but Y is 2-3 yds E of 5. Has a rush back on R and hits it to level with 4-b on the EB. R goes to 2yds E of 6, and U rushes K to 3yds W of 6. the peg is right in the way of the take-off. Leaves U a bit on the mat with the take-off, but cuts Y in front of 5 anyway. K is a yard from 6 WNW. Makes 5 with a forward rush, takes it to between 3 & 4. Puts it across the face of 6 to get it 1ft in front of 1-b. He's one of "those" players, i.e. has his escape ball for the penult peel on the East side of the lawn... It may be an American thing, as they don't learn to rush balls off the lawn in a 3bb playing US rules. Peels K by a foot and has a rush pointing at III. Rushes to 3 yds W of hoop 3. R is a good 2-b pioneer, approaching 1-b from 2 feet. Got a rush pointing ESE, took it to between 3 & 6, 2 yards off the boundary. Christs off K putting Y to 3 yards WSW of 3-b. Rolls K to the 3 yards SE of the peg going to 2-b. Makes it with a rush back East. Puts R to 4ft in front of 4b. (I must say, his control has improved as this game has progressed.) Rushes K well and gets it into longish angled peeling position. Peels it, but goes a little long with U, so no rush to 3-b. Approaching with a take-off from ~2yds WNW of the hoop. Needs the referee to do a bit of hole repair. Takes off to a foot in front. Makes sure of it, and has a 6 yard return. Centre ball. Looks like he's lining up to put Y to penult. Yep, does it well too, 1 ft behind the hoop. Rushes K to near R and has poked this back into the middle. Makes 4-b and tickles R in order to put it to rover. About a yard from the hoop, should really be all over now. K goes to the peg, rather than leaving it behind penult. Makes the hoop, and hits Y. Takes off to K. Leaves it by the peg and takes off to R. Approaching rover from 18" - expect rapturous applause when the local boy becomes the first American in the final. Makes it, hits the red and takes off to K. Goes way past and gave himself a good chance of getting a grievous. Missed it though, and is now pegging out from a yard. Rothman +26tp.

To be honest Ben looked significantly more ragged than Chris, but did hit in a bit. I don't think he'll trouble Reg much tomorrow, especially with the hoops in virgin ground. Reg looked significantly more controlled today, and is clearly peaking at the right time.

Reg Bamford over Rob Fletcher -8otp +26tp +26tp +5tp

All players are practicing at the moment. We have Reg Bamford and Rob Fletcher on lawn 6, and Chris Farthing and Ben Rothman on lawn 7. Both are right in front of the club house. Based on some of Rob's practice shots, the lawns are playing at 12 seconds in both directions; but the wind hasn't really got up yet. Both lawns were cut last night and rolled this morning.

08:34 16/05/2009

Reg and Rob have started. Reg is starting with blue, so I assume he won the toss. Reg supershot, quite long, perhaps 15 yards.

Rob to middle of east boundary with yellow.

Reg hits from corner III. Reg has rushed to 2 yards from hoop 1, and has made the hoop. Reg has stuck in 2 and wants a referee. I think he's claiming a wedge. Rejected by Chris Irwin who is refereeing this match.

Rob has hit Reg's hoop 3 pioneer with Red (turn 4), he rushed the ball from 2 to hoop 1, little backward take off and he's away.

08:54 16/05/2009

Rob is at 1-back.

08:58 16/05/2009

Rob is making an NSL [New Standard Leave]; Reg's hoop 1 ball at hoop 4. There's some of blue open from A baulk, and Rob has had to join almost level with hoop 4, certainly south of hoop 5.

Reg is taking the short lift with his hoop 1 ball. Misses.

Rob has another backward take off for hoop 1. 18 inches straight. Rob has sent his hoop 3 pioneer out very hard. Hits hoop 3, and that may be the only reason it stayed on.

09:12 16/05/2009

Rob has started his TP, but parked red on the wire of 4back.

09:18 16/05/2009

Rob has not got the peel going to 6, having another go to 1-back. Peel rejected. Might just be a ball to the peg now. No! He's setting up to be planning to peel 4-back before 3-back. Black has gone into position for peeling penult before 4-back. More importantly is rush to 4-back on peelee seems to have gone due south of blue, his escape ball. He may not be able to get a good rush down to 3- back. Jawses the peel, has a rush pointing at hoop 1. Cuts it to 3 yards N of 3-back. Slightly east which may save him... 1 yard straight position. Sticks in 3-back hoop. Rob now 3-back and 4-back.

09:25 16/05/2009

Reg has a 3 yarder with his hoop 1 ball, or a 5 yarder with his hoop 2 ball. Or a lift. Hits yellow, taking it out of 3-back; takes off to red in front of 4-back and is careful to get to the side to avoid peeling it. Seems to hit it quite hard, now has an awkward 7 yard take-off across the rush line to hoop 1. Good shot, and good rush. Reg has a 6 inch hoop 1 from which he gets his rush to yellow, south of 3-back. Reg has had a good long think, and then rushes black south of yellow.

09:52 16/05/2009

Reg has stopped at 1-back, cross wiring Rob at hoop 2, and joining in corner IV.

Rob has shot and missed.

Reg has just played his rush. As expected (because of the non-standard leave), Reg isn't showing any interest in the SXP. Looks like it may be a TPO though. Interesting choice with Rob on 3-back and 4-back.

10:02:24 AM

Reg has done one peel of the TPO, and is about to rush the peel ball to 6. He's in a bit of a mess, having all the balls near 6, and will need to peel getting a rush to 1-b, the other ball isn't deep either. He's hit the peel ball in running the hoop., jawsed it, and is now rushing U away in order to put it to 2-b whilst getting a rush on Y to 1-b from near 6. Reg made 1-b OK, but has just put the 3-b ball about 3-4 yds too deep. A good rush on the peel ball though. The peelee is a couple of feet to the W of rover, and Reg is approaching 2-b from a yard straight in front. Made it with a rush back, and is about to put partner to 4-b going to the peelee. Reg has waltered off the final peel, choosing instead to rush it behind the
deep 3-b pioneer. The 4-b pioneer is perfect. The peelee is ready to be rushed across after the hoop. Reg is having a bit of trouble placing the balls for the croquet stroke approaching the hoop. Referee on to fill in a hole. Reg made 3-b but didn't rush into peeling position, so he's put R a yard straight in fornt of rover aand rushed Y up the lawn. Reg has made 4-b, perfect ball at penult. Rushes partner down to near rover, puts it back to the peg, and rushes the peelee to a foot from the hoop. Reg has found another hole, near penult. Reg has made pen and is putting a ball down to behind rover going to the ball by the peg. Y is deep and E, U is shallow and W. Irish peeled into the jaws, R is only a yard off the boundary. Rushed partner off level with 1. Took off back and got his rush on the peelee back to the peg. Pegging out from about 2 yards E of the peg. Pegs out R and goes off in II.

Rob wanders about looking at his options. Plays the thick take off from K, putting in nearly 6 yards past 4-b (about 2
yards N). Rolls U across, but is short with Y, U goes peg high about 2 yards from the boundary.

[Bamford] Has the squeeze, so Reg goes to II.

Rob runs the hoop to the boundary, getting some lucky wire, to shortnen his next shot by 3 yards. Crowd loving this. Approaches from five 5ds and spanks through. More applause. Gets a rush to penult. Makes pen with foward rush. Slightly angled rover, makes it no trouble. 1-0 Fletcher +8otp.

Game 2

Fletcher UK, playing first. U supershot.

[Bamford] R peg high on the EB.

[Fletcher] K shoots down, missing to the SB 1ft out of the corner.

Reg shoots a partner from a baulk. Can't believe he's missed... For some reason, it needs two referees to make sure tha both Reg's balls are on the yard line.

Rob shoots back up the line with K, missing into the corner.

Reg rushes to just out of III, and gets a rush on K back to U in the middle. Reg has got K about 3 yds in front of 2, and has made 1 with no forward rush. Puts U 2 yards past 3, and rushes to just beyond hoop 2, needs a ref again for the hole. Makes 2 and takes off to the ball near III. Makes 3 and ignores K which is hanging around about 3 yards W of 6. Makes 4 and rushes back to past K, partner going to 6. About to make 5 with a perfect 4bb. Making 6 off partner , K a yd in front of 1-b, U peg high between 1 & 2. Reg has made 1-b and has K a ft from the peg, put U to 3yds WNW of 3-b, and
rushed to 2ft in front of 2-b. Reg rushes close to the peg, but doesn't like the 3-b ball, so rushes K away before stopping it back. Makes 3-b with K 4 ft from the peg, but gets a good rush on it. Reg's U is also a bit diagonal, but deeper, K is about 18" from the peg.

Rob also lifts U (the hoop 2 ball in this case),and takes the short shot. Also misses.

Reg hits partner, and takes off behind the ball on the boundary.

(Both of them rush a bit short and have to play backward take-offs. Hopefully they'll differentiate a bit now, since Reg has a standard TP.)

[Bamford] He's made 1 and got both R & K at 3, approaching 2 from 4ft straight in front. All looking very boring from Reg now. He's made 3, and hit partner. Needs a hole filling again. Reg has done the first peel. About to make 4. Made 4 with a rush back, R not peeled enough to rush back up the lawn, and in fact the rush across hits the hoop. Takes off and makes 5. Approaching 6 from 6" partner 2ft behind the hoop. Plays a straight peel from about a yard putting partner into the jaws. Rushes K into the back of the hoop, but looks like he can place the strikers ball so that it can run the hoop. Sorry, no, he can't, he's got to play a backward take-off from WTD position. This looks really ugly for Reg. It's probably so close he could play a "bouncer", but i dunno how these hoops will react to one of those. He's played the take-off well, and only has a slightly angled hoop. Bullies it through, with hoop & roquet. Has ignored R in the jaws, and gone to make 2-b directly. Makes it with a rush back. Rush peels pen before 3-b, but can't get the rover peel. R is very close to rover, possibly touchng a wire. He's left it alone after 3-b. Rushes down after 4-b and is going to fiddle with the peelee. More hole filling. R is now 18" straight in fron of rover. Made pen, K on the line between 1 and 4, U level with the hoop. peeling from a foot straight. Another very deep peel, but still managed to keep it on the lawn. Rushing back to the peg. 2-2.5 yard pegout. Deals with it - Reg +26tp.

Game 3

Reg RY going first. Y SS.

[Fletcher] U just out of II.

[Bamford] R misses.

[Fletcher] K misses the two balls in contact.

Reg puts K a ft W of 2, getting a slight cut rush to 1. Makes 1, no forward rush. Takes off to II, puts U 2ft behind 3, and makes 2 from 6". Rushes into the back of 3, takes off a bit long and runs it cleanly. hits a 4 yd return. Rolls it down and hits the ball near 5. Makes 4 and puts partner to 6. Makes 5 looking at putting K to 2-b. Makes 6, not swapping partner with the ball at 3-b. Makes 1-b puts U a bit deep at 3-b though. Made 2-b without a controlled rush, K now 3 yards E of the peg. rushed Y to IV and putting it back to the peg getting a rush to 3-b. Makes 4-b and overhits the croquet stroke, so no rush to the wired spot. He's got it a yard away from the peg, I guess wired, but I'm on the wrong line. Reg has laid up with his rush, so he's happy with the leave.

Rob lifted the ball at the peg and shot at the outside ball. Missed though.

12:39 16/05/2009

Reg has rushed to the ball by hoop 2, rushed back to corner IV and then to hoop 1. He has just approached hoop 2 well, but off partner. After 2, Reg has rushed through hoop 5, came through by about 2 yards. James is cheering on Pidcock to make the final. Reg, playing yellow, has rolled red to hoop 4, hit and taken off from blue down to yellow at hoop 3. Up to about 100 spectators for the final. Feels like about a third of those are (or at least were) players. Reg has got a short, but slightly anged hoop 4. No problem, firm shot through to the boundary. Reg has got his escape ball for the 4-back peel too far south. Will probably try to peel straight from about 2 yards. Great roll after hoop 5 to get blue to within a couple of feet of 1-back, and get a short straight rush on peelee. Peelee in a hole, so more gardening. Good use of the hole to rush into, and them fill it before peeling. The peel is perhaps 18 inches, maybe 15 degrees. Jawses it, but has a 2 foot rush straight to hoop 6. Didn't get a useful rush after hoop 6, cuts it to E boundary level with penult. Should have enough space to hold for the rush peel from here. 2-back pioneer is about 6 yards from 2-back, but fairly straight. Rolls peelee over to 1-back for a wylie peel, but clubs it. It's on the line from 1-back to corner I, about 3 yards from the hoop. Rolls peelee over to penult and heads for 2-back. Runs 2-back hard to the boundary. Looks to have also jawsed 1-back on lawn
5! Looks like he wants a death roll peel to 3-back. Has rushed peelee straight in front. Peel catches no wire, and ends up about 2 yards from S boundary. Has 3 yarder at his 3-back pioneer. Reg has misapproached 3-back, is stalking on a line which suggests 30 degrees. Runs it, and gets some hill to have a clear shot at blue. He's rushed to 4-back, and called out the gardener again. Take off was a bit long - might have stopped without the gardening - but runs it easy enough. Big cut-rush to S boundary, about 3 yards from red. Spits black back into lawn to get a rush on red. Didn't get a good rush,
but tries to rush it in front of rover. Oops - red has hit and stuch to the back of rover. Thick take-off to penult, knocking red about a yard to the side. Could have found himself wired had yellow rolled another ball or two, but easy enough approach to penult. Plays for and gets a rush out of penult to black. He's sent it a bit too far. Seemed to be worried about hoop 4, but has got away with it. Doesn't send blue deep, it's perhaps 2 yards SE of rover. Rushes black across to red. Looks to be trying to cannon red closer to peel position. Chris says "he must be completely nuts". Looks to be a simple position to play a small drive to put black W of rover and get a rush to rover. Got a half-ball promotion, leaving a cut-rush on red, about 30 degrees, but perhaps 18 inches closer. Black looks to have stopped due South of the hoop and may well stop peelee. Peel goes through, comes out at an angle and misses black. Yellow has bounced off the hoop and is 45 degrees. Runs the hoop easily, must have been better than it looker. Easy finish for a 2-1 lead. Bamford +26tp.

13:15 16/05/2009

Lunch

13:45 16/05/2009

Reg is back and has taken up station in the shelter between lawn 6 and 7.

13:54 16/05/2009

Game 4

Rob RY, Reg UK. Rob supershot.

Reg middle of E boundary.

Rob hits from corner III. Approaches to 1 yard in front of hoop 1, runs and has a three ball break in front of him.

13:59 16/05/2009

Rob has rushed red into the back of hoop 4, can only take off to hoop 5 pioneer. Makes 5 with a rush back to red. Only gets blue abour 4 yards NW of the peg, and can only rush to peg high. May even be partly stymied by red. Good roll, runs 6 off the lawn and now needs one good shot to recover the break. Rob has got to 3-back with little further problems, and seems to be having a defensive spread. Blue and Red are 4 feet apart, slightly of level with 5. Lags black to 3 yards from W boundary.

14:11 16/05/2009

Reg taking a long lift from corner III. Misses, but looked extremely close.

Rob has rushed to about a foot north of hoop 1. Takes off, hoop and roquet. Just made 2, and is thinking about taking a rush to corner IV. Rob has decided against the rush to corner IV and will settle for a delayed TP. Rushes partner about 7 yards S of 4-back after hoop 3 and takes off to corner IV. He's put his hoop 5 pioneer on the wire of the hoop so will need a good take off back to it from 4-back. Has decided to rush peelee further from 4-back and send it back to make the approach to the hoop 5 pioneer earlier. Deals with hoop 5. Has a hampered stroke after the hoop, but looks easy. It was. Can't get the rush on peelee for the peel before 6, but is setting up for another go before 1-back. Can't get his hoop 6 ball to 2-back, leaves it near the peg going to peelee. Tthis looks to be putting the break at huge risk. Abandons the peel, cut rushes peelee the middle of North boundary (round of applause from Chris Clarke) and sends peelee to 2-back. (Chris suggests leaving yellow (the 3-back pioneer in hoop 4) and red on the wire of 6. We'll see what Rob does.) Reg is for 1+1. Break still under control, now approaching penult. Still has all the balls in front of him. Looks like we're getting a spread, or possible a cross-pegging. Parter is on the W side of the peg, so perhaps a reverse spread. Rob has just made rover. Reverse spread it is. Red is a yard E of the line between 3 and 4, looks about peg high. Yellow is 6 inches from the peg and Rob is joining level with 6 on W boundary.

14:40 16/05/2009

Reg is taking the shot from A baulk at yellow by the peg. 17 yards, probably about the same length as the shot at Rob's balls from B baulk. Hits. Reg has a 1 foot rush to hoop 1. Over rushes by 4 yards, but no problem. Reg has run hoop 2, and has a 4bb. It's not very tight, but shouldn't cause a problem. Reg seems to be thinking after running hoop 4. Perhaps he's thinking about an SXP [Sextuple Peel]. No, just partner going to 2-back. Reg has just made hoop 6, all under control.

15:03 16/05/2009

Reg has completed his break without any further fuss. Diagonal spread, blue quite tight to W boundary about level with 6; black (for 4-back) by the peg, about 18 inches away. Reg has joined near maximum length position.

Rob has lifted the 4-back ball from the peg without hestitation. He's 4-back and peg. This shot should win the game, or possibly lose the match. He's missed; looked to be shooting at the in-lawn ball again.

[Bamford] So, Reg v the lawn for a 3-1 win. He's got himself a 1 foot straight rush to hoop 1. Rushes into the back of
hoop 1. Looks nasty. No, there's some of blue in the jaws. It's easy. Approaches hoop 2 under tight control, with a good pioneer at hoop 3. Rushes after 2 to a yard N of corner IV. Gets a rush while punting red in court a few yards. Reg has run hoop 3 and has called a referee. Chris Irwin is shaking her head. Hits blue anyway (2 foot). Clubs blue about 3 yards past hoop 5, but has got right up to red near corner IV. Reg decides blue is good enough for hoop 5, and sends partner up to 4-back. Provided he can deal with his hoop 5 pioneer, he's got a delayed TP waiting to be had. Rushed poorly after 4, and had to roll across to 4-back. Positions black nicely, but needs to tickle red. Hits it centre ball and ideally needs a thick take off back to blue for hoop 5. Striker's ball is good, but peelee is 4 feet ESE of 4-back. Rushes up to 4-back after hoop 5, but lands blue W of everything. Has to take off to partner, leaving blue in what might be a good position for peeling 4-back before 1-back, but he'll be expecting to do it before 6. 4-back jawsed. 2 yard, but straight rush to hoop 6. Gasps from the gallery. Rushes a foot NE of hoop 6. Backward take off without any gardening (!) and runs it, giving himself a rush pointing at corner IV. Good croquet stroke from E boundary level with 5 to get black nicely in front of 2-back and a tight rush peel. The rush to 1-back skates past 1-back, approaching from 2 yards NW. Reg has peelee nicely in front of penult for a death roll attempt to 2-back. Blue is North of rover, and about 3 yards E. He won't be able to peel rover to it, but it's not too bad if he needs another go at a penult peel. He doesn't, peel goes through nicely, perhaps too far. But
under control at 2-back.

15:33 16/05/2009

[Bamford] Leaves red near rover, no attempt at a Wylie peel of rover. I assume he'll send his 3-back pioneer to penult, and position red with a take off to his 4-back pioneer. Approaching 4-back from 5 feet. Peelee is about 2 feet NE of rover. Gone back to rover, and adjusts red straight in front of the hoop. Reg looks disgusted with his take off to blue, but we can't see anything wrong with it. Peelee is now a foot straight in front of rover , black 2 yards NE of red, and Reg his taking croquet a yard SE of penult having already made that hoop. No excuses from here. Peel goes deep, but striker's ball clear of the hoop, and a simple rush and pegout to come. 3 yards and it's all over. Reg +5tp.

(A great performance by Reg, tight break play, and triples looking under control. Not something you could say about the other semi, so that makes Reg a strong favourite for the final, even before accounting for experience and ranking. Rob's shooting wasn't quite up to yesterday's standard, but it's still a great performance 3-1 in a World Championship Semi final in your first full season. I suspect he'll be a strong favourite to go one better at home in Australia next time around.)

Ben Rothman over Rob Fulford +14 +15tp +17

08:14 14/05/2009

(Yes we really have been starting this early. EST will be used today by popular demand.)

08:44 14/05/2009

Rothman now has first break against Fulford.

08:53 14/05/2009

Rothman has hampered shot after hoop 6. Hits it. Rothman has diagonal spread.

Fulford lifts ball by peg taking long shot. Fulford hits.

09:08 14/05/2009

Fulford stuck in hoop 1.

Rothman is in with a standard TP. Rothman has one peel and is on 5. Rothman has two peels done and on 1back.

09:28 14/05/2009

Rothman has broken down 2 back and rover I think - looks like he might have missed his 2back pioneer.

09:35 14/05/2009

Fulford on 6 with a break I dont think he is having Rothman off.

09:45 14/05/2009

09:53 14/05/2009

Fulford has pegged Rothman out, his hoop 1 ball is on the N boundary with hoop 2 in the way of rolling to 2 bakc and the peg ball is in corner 4. I think Fulford had his other ball on E boundary with hoop 4 in the way of approchin 2back.

Rotham rolled from 2 to 4 and then up to the hoop has 5' very angled hoop for the game. Runs it.

10:02 14/05/2009

5 yarder for the game - hits it.

10:06 14/05/2009

Rothamn finsishes.

10:10 14/05/2009

Game 2

Fulford has croquet in the 3rd turn but no rush to hoop 1St. Has a 15yard backward take off that looks fairly safe to play. Fulford has misapproached hoop 3 3rd trun, didnt watch the long backward takeoff.

Rothman has a 10 yarder at a ball by hoop 3 with a ball by hoop 4 in the background. Robs other ball is in corner 2.

10:26 14/05/2009

Rothman is in with a rush from hoop 1 to corner 2 plays it badly will have to roll up to 2 form the corner.

Fulford making 1 with a ball at 2 (sorry no idea how).

10:37 14/05/2009

Fulkford on hoop4.

Rotham just hit lift. Rothmans break has got to 2back. Roithman making diagoinal spread.

11:26 14/05/2009

Fulford seems to have missed his lift Ritham has 4 yard appoach to 1 balls at 2 and 4. Rothman has standard TP at hoop 3.

11:35 14/05/2009

Rothman with a poor position at hoop 6.

11:44 14/05/2009

Rothamn has angled penult peel after 6. Rothman on 3back and still doenst have secnond peel. delayed double for Rothamn. Rothman on a straight double now. Rothmans peel looks like it has finished about 3 yards in fornt of rover (a
little tricky to tell from 70 yards!) Rothmans straight roevr peel is about 25 dgrees cant tell how long. gets it slightly less angle hoop runs it and does roquet peelee - all oevr. Rothman finishes

12:00 14/05/2009

Game 3

Fulford has corner 2 opening.

Rothman hits partner. Rothman made a poor DL.

Fulford has missed a ball near the peg from b baulk.

Rothman has first break.

12:18 14/05/2009

rothman at 1 abck. Rothman diagonal spread thgink rob has a shot from peg to hoop 2.

Rob hits his 10 yarder. Rob has a break.

12:38 14/05/2009

Fulford is popping [peeling opponent]. Fulford has stuck in six after a death roll POP (I think), Rothmans ball for
2 at 2 with an 8 yarder.

[Rothman] Was a target handily hits the ball in the hoop. Standard TP need to rush to 2 from by 6 but the ball there is awkward. No rusgh to 2 for Rorthman approiavchoing from 5 yards E. Takes off and runs it hits the return in the middle. Nobody should be surprised that Fulford, Clarke, Maugham and Bamford are in troubel if any were to win they would be the oldest ever winner. Rothman has something tricky to do at hoop 3 (which I cant even see). 2 Refs needed. Rothman has hit and done the peel. Rothman peeling penult after 6 perfect position. Roithman 6 yard retunr after 1back. Rithman hits in the middle penult peel is thorugh. Rothman setting up for peel befroe 3 back. Rotham jawses peel and makes 3-back. Rothman has backward take off to 4back after hitting pioneer on croquet stroke. 20 degree hoop for Rotham - restalk. ROTHMAN BLOBS!

Fulfoird hits with his hoop 6 ball. Rob has a break.

13:17 14/05/2009

Rob has on the balls in hoop 1 and the other near corner 2 with a rush from the E boundary.

Rothman lifts ball from hoop 1 think it is a peg ball the rover peel must have been just through. Rothman hits. Rotham has rush to 4back from W boundary hoop 1 ball nearly in conrer 4 and 4 back ball between 4back and the corner 3. Rothman doesnt have much room for getting a ball to penult. Rothman has another backward take off to 4back. looks easier than last time runs it. Rothman rusehs to penult. poor approach dont think he will get a rush. flukes a rush to rover. 5 yard straight approach. rolls up. looks good. runs it no rush. 9 yard peg out. Rob motionless on the N boundary. Still lining up. to be fair I suppoe it is important!! Here it comes. Misses! One off.

Rob has a 13 yarder. Wind not too strong. restalk. restalk. Misses!

[Rothman] 3 yarder. (Westerby missed from nearer last year.) Hits. No Whoops, much applause.

13:56 14/05/2009

14:04 14/05/2009

In answer to a question Rob is really out I am not making it up!!

Stephen Mulliner over Paul Billings +3 +3

Game 2

Mulliner 1 up and 1 and 3 with the innings against 2 and 4 back.

Billings setting up delayed TP against 2 and 3 currently on hoop 5. Billings fails 6 with peelee jawsed easy chance for Stephen.

Mulliner on TPO (I think) he maybe just had to do peel to get the break. Mulliner is TPOing (on the lawn I cant see!!). Mulliner misses hampered shot after 1 back.

Billings hits difficult looking hampered shot after 1 back. Billings fails 3 back.

Mulliner in corner 4 ball still in 3 back ball near corner 3 and another ball at 4-back god knows how we got here. Mulliner to play.

Billings hits in with 3-back ball has croquet near corner-1 off an enemy ball with the other nearby partner near corner 3. Billings seems to be on penult with partner around rover. Billings apporoaching penult from 3 yards straight partner beside peg other ball NW of 1. Fails penult off 2 back ball which has easy mid court roquet with ball near its hoop - that wasnt worth moving for!!

20:55 13/05/2009

Mulliner 2 and 4 back has rush to hoop 2 from nearby with oppo joined in the middle of the S boundary.

20:58 13/05/2009

Mulliner fails 3 off the ball for rover with a ball pretty near rover.

21:04 13/05/2009

Billings turns down 5' slight angled rover lays rush behind rover mulliner near corners 2 and 3. Misses frm corner 3 to corner 2. Billings makes rover.

21:10 13/05/2009

Billings in corner 2 with a poor rush with mulliners hoop 3 ball 2 yards in front of 3 and the 4-back ball near hoop 1.

Mulliner missed from 3 to 1 should be easy for billings to take his rush to rover and make penult off Stephen.

Billings rushes short of rover and rolls to corner 1 and then hits the ball there.

21:16 13/05/2009

Billings has room to get that ball to rover going to the other ball. Billings doesn't get rush to penult has croquet near hoop 1. Billings croquet SNM to hoop 2 and lays rush.

Mulliner shoots from rover. Hits.

21:20 13/05/2009

Mulliner in with hoop 3 ball. Mulliner has leave on West boundeary with penult ball at hoop 3 and peg ball SE of 1.

Billings misses from hoop 3.

Mulliner has 4' angled 3 with ball at 4. Runs it partner in middle of W boundary.

21:29 13/05/2009

Mulliner is 4-back and peg against penult and peg with a rush from corner 3 oppo by hoop 1. Mulliner has 4 yard approach to penult with a ball in baulk 2' straight hoop. Mulliner has poor rush to rover from by hoop 2. Plays it well 2 yards beside rover. 1' straight hoop off partner. 3yd rush to the peg. Mulliner 2-0.

Block Play

Players were drawn into the Blocks following the WCF’s prescribed procedures, which aim to produce Blocks of equal strength, and also to spread the players from each country as evenly as possible across the Blocks.

Block play occupied the first three days (9-11 May), and each player had three games each day, with three-hour time limits.

The Blocks are Section Play, that is, positions in the Block are determined by wins, and points are not used in determining the Block placings. If there are not four clear qualifiers from a Block, there will be further play-off games to determine the four qualifiers. The fourth day (12 May) was reserved for these play-offs.

Block A	CC	JD	ED	TM	JL	MM	DD	JO	RL	AM
Chris Clarke #1	1st	+26		+25tp	+23tp	+26tp	+26tp	+17tp	+24tp	+26
James Death #19		4th		+25		+16	+4	+19	+5	+26tp
Ed Duckworth #21	+26tp	+26tp	2nd			+17	+11	+26tp	+17	+27tp
Tim Murphy #47			+5	7th		+16tp			+20tp	+20
James Le Moignan #52		+4	+5	+3	2nd	+23		+17	+13	+26
Martin Murray #88						9th				+20
Duncan Dixon #93				+25	+25	+26	5th		+16	+16
Johnny Osborn #144				+14		+5	+18	5th	+11	+21
Ron Lloyd #178						+2(t)			8th	+26
Allan Morris #757										10th

Block B	RF	JK	TL	DO	KB	JB	JG	TH	EN	KM
Robert Fulford #2	1st	+12	+26tp	+13tpo	+3	+24tp	+16		+25sxp	+24
Jonathan Kirby #18		6th					+26tp	+4	+20	+25
Tony Le Moignan #22		+6	5th				+24	+8	+16	+23
David Openshaw #46		+24tp	+6	4th			+18	+18	+1(t)	+17
Kevin Beard #54		+17tp	+5	+2	1st	+26	+20	+15	+24	+26
Jim Bast #86		+15	+1	+25		3rd	+24	+20	+24	+13
Jerry Guest #109							9th			+10
Trevor Herin #136	+20tp						+6(t)	6th	+18	+21
Evan Newell #212							+1(t)		8th	+19(t)
Koji Moriyama =602										10th

Block C	SM	RF	CF	LM	PT	KB	AR	DW	CG	PJ
Stephen Mulliner #6	2nd			+25	+5	+17tp	+15	+26tp	+25	+25
Robert Fletcher #13	+4	1st	+18		+16tp	+6tp	+14	+21	+26tp	+24tp
Chris Farthing #41	+7		4th*			+9			+14	+9
Leo McBride #37		+17	+26tp	2nd	+26tp	+8	+26tp	+24tp		+22
Peter Trimmer #60			+26tp		4th*			+26tp	+24	+22tp
Ken Bald #70					+6tp	4th*	+5		+14	+1
Anthony Ritchie #120			+26		+13		9th
David Walters #128			+3			+2(t)	+16	4th*	+24
Charlie Gillmarten #187				+14tp			+20tp		9th
Peter Just #204							+16	+7	+12	8th

Block D	RB	SP	PD	MA	SW	MP	PB	DK	CJ	JA
Rutger Beijderwellen #5	1st	+26tp	+16tp		+17tp		+10	+25tp	+11	+14stp
Samir Patel #15		1st	+14	+17	+26tp	+16		+2	+13	+26
Philip Drew #28			5th	+17			+8	+11	+26	+22
Mark Avery #40	+25tp			4th	+19tp	+16tp		+26tp	+23tp	+23tp
Simon Watkins #59			+8tp		6th			+13	+21	+20
Mark Prater #74	+4		+17		+20	6th				+16
Paul Billings #111		+2(t)		+5tp	+3	+23	1st	+23	+24	+21
Dick Knapp #132						+17		9th		+26tp
Carol Jackson =309						+16		+21	8th	+24
Jose Alvarez-Sala #533										10th

Block E	RB	JB	RL	RL	DH	DC	BS	EC	JH	MF
Reg Bamford #4	1st		+7	+25tp	+25tp	+26qp	+26sxp	+11otp	+26tp	+26tp
Jamie Burch #16	+2tp	1st	+17	+10tp		+25	+26	+26qp	+17tp	+15
Robert Lowe #27			4th	+17tp		+23	+12	+7	+19	+21
Rich Lamm #44				5th		+6	+22	+4	+25	+7
Danny Huneycutt #56		+10	+17tp	+12otp	1st	+23	+26tp	+26tp	+17	+14
Debbie Cornelius #83						10th		+3tp
Brian Storey #107						+23	7th		+15
Ed Cunnigham #133							+3tp	7th		+12
James Hopgood #163						+14		+19	7th
Malcolm Fletcher #						+24	+3		+19	6th

Block F	DM	SF	IB	BF	DB	CI	RJ	BC	AV	KW
David Maugham #10	1st		+17tp	+25tp	+26tp	+26tp	+25tp	+20	+25tp	+25tp
Stephen Forster #11	+6tp	1st	+21	+10	+11		+19	+13	+14	+26
Ian Burridge #30			3rd*	+8	+1(t)	+14	+3	+25		+26tp
Bruce Fleming #34				3rd*	+17	+14	+17	+1(t)	+7	+25
David Bent #67					7th		+26tp	+14		+23
Colin Irwin #71		+26tp			+26tp	6th		+16		+17
Roger Jenkins #113						+18	7th	+16		+19
Bob Cherry #125								9th		+10
Anton Varnäs =389			+3		+4	+17tp	+6(t)	+3(t)	3rd*	+14
Kevin Wells =412										10th

Block G	IL	BC	ME	PB	DB	LF	AW	SL	JO	BH
Ian Lines #7	1st	+25		+25	+17tp	+12	+18	+26tp		+4(t)
Brian Cumming #12		3rd	+10			+17	+8	+17	+12	+9
Marcus Evans #29	+2		1st	+3	+26tp	+26tp	+5		+9	+22
Paul Bennett #39		+11		6th	+3		+10tp			+23
Damon Bidencope #62		+22			5th	+16tp	+2	+9		+26
Liz Fleming #81				+17		9th			+25
Andrew Winn #112						+13	8th		+9	+22
Stuart Lawrence #124			+26	+20		+16tp	+25	3rd	+13	+20
Juan Ojeda =372	+12			+4	+4				6th	+14
Bruno Hess =424						+1(t)				10th

Block H	KA	JG	BR	CP	DG	AH	CW	GF	PE	AD
Keith Aiton #3	1st		+21tp	+5	+3	+26	+14	+10tpo	+25	+19
John Gibbons =16	+22	1st		+26	+13	+14	+15	+26	+26tp	+16tp
Ben Rothman #25		+3	3rd	+16	+19	+7	+5		+19	+14
Chris Patmore #45				6th	+20		+18tp		+25tp	+16
Doug Grimsley #55					8th			+6	+6	+17tp
Aiken Hakes #84				+16tp	+2	4th*		+16	+24tp	+18
Chris Williams #96					+18	+17	6th		+5	+19
Greg Fletcher #161			+7	+8			+3	4th*	+26	+21
Paul Emmett #266									9th	+16
Andres de Diego =553										10th

PREVIEWING THE 12th WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE NATIONAL CROQUET CENTER IN WEST PALM BEACH

8 May 2009
National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
by Bob Alman in Croquet World Online

Eighty players from 20 countries have qualified by various means for the 12th WCF Croquet World Championship headquartered at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach.   It's only the second time the event has been held in the United States, after the first championship on the American continent in 1992 in Newport, Rhode Island.  The National Croquet Center has also hosted its share of other major international events, including the MacRobertson Shield team event for the "big four" croquet nations in 2003, and the Golf Croquet World Championship in February of 2002, celebrating the opening of the world's largest croquet facility.

LATE-BREAKING NEWS

When Egypt announced suddenly a few days ago that their two players were not coming to Florida because of Swine Flu (after the first three cases were reported in Florida), the Qualifier tournament could then produce six players for the Championship, up two from the original four placements planned. As reported by Tournament Manager Johnny Mitchell, a happy combination of circumstances occurred to enable the THIRD Fletcher teenager to join his two brothers in the Championship - which surely must be a record of some kind (if not for brothers, then surely for TEENAGE brothers!)  These three remarkable teenagers join three teenagers from neighboring New Zealand and Trevor Herin from the US, a high school senior playing in his first world championship.  So it's probably a record for the number of teenagers in the event, also.  (If I'm wrong, I'll be told about it soon enough, and I'll let you know; research is not my strong suit.)

WHO WILL WIN?

If you're betting, you should probably go with one of three players: the three who have dominated world championship croquet since 1992, when Robert Fulford of England won the second of his several world titles.  Chris Clarke of England has won it twice and is the current champion, while Reg Bamford, who won in 2005 playing for his native South Africa (though he's a long-time resident of England) is always a major threat.  Chris Clarke, who likes to make odds (though he doesn't bet, citing the regulations of the WCF) has generated this estimate of odds, taking into account the leading players from several countries:

• Fulford 7-4
• Bamford 11-4
• Clarke 9-1
• Aiton 12-1
• Beijderwellen 12-1
• Maugham 14-1
• Mulliner 14-1
• Death 25-1
• Cumming 33-1
• Fletcher 33-1
• Kirby 33-1
• Lines 33-1
• Rothman 33-1

Clarke is a cagey observer of the international croquet scene, and although the numerical distinctions in these rankings are minuscule at the top, it will be interesting to see whether Clarke's table of odds is more accurately predictive of the outcome than the current world rankings (as of late April), exhaustively and dutifully compiled and maintained by Chris Williams of Wales.

Seven of the top eight live in the British Isles, with other countries barely represented:  Beijderwellen reflecting the best of emerging Europe, Cumming a perennial champion in Canada (though strongly rivaled by Leo McBride, not in Clarke's accounting) the teenager Robert Fletcher from Australia, and fast-rising Ben Rothman of the US.
The rankings above make note of the peeling statistics as well as the frequently of sextuples - considered the ultimate mark of refinement in croquet, but somewhat scorned by Clarke, who persists in maintaining that the sextuple is not the highest percentage play, overall.  So far, his current standing at the very top of the world rankings and his holding of the world championship seem to support his viewpoint on sextupling.

BALLS, BALLS, BALLS - FORTY SETS OF THEM

The Australian manufactured Dawson 2000 International Balls, Second Series, considered to be the best ball in the world and highly favored by most of the top players, has NOT been the ball most commonly in use in the US for the last eight years, since the introduction of the less expensive Sunshiney ball, manufactured in Taiwan.  So the 40 sets of Dawsons needed for the championship were borrowed from American as well as international players, a set or two here, a set or two there, in order to satisfy the quality expectations of the players.

INTRODUCING: THE SUPER-HOOP!

More attention has been given to the hoops for this championship than, perhaps, for any other croquet event in memory. Because the lawns of the National Croquet Center are built on sand - as are many of the finest courts in the US - keeping the hoops firmly set for major events has always been a challenge.  For the 2002 Golf Croquet World Championship - dominated by the hard-hitting Egyptians - a special hoop was manufactured by Oakley Woods with broad fins in an X-pattern reaching out beneath the turf to grip and hold the hoops firmly in place.  Despite this, the hoops had to be frequently reset. 

For this event, leading US player Danny Huneycutt supervised the manufacture of stainless steel hoops of a similar design, used and extensively tested during the four-day Qualifier and for the Carter Challenge here the first week in May.  They tested well, although a unique design feature of the hoop led to a most unusual situation, requiring the resetting of some of the hoops which, instead of loosening, became tighter in the course of play!  This unique design requires that in the setting the two posts be spread APART, rather than together.  If they loosen to any degree they will move together rather than apart, preventing the ball going through.  So in a sense, these hoops are "self-regulating."  When they need to be reset, they will announce it unmistakable when the ball gets stuck in the jaws!

Players have commented that these unforgiving wickets will force them to take better position in front of hoops to avoid breakdowns, and they will be a little less reluctant to try jump shots, especially at angles.   (A picture of a ball stuck in the TOP of a wicket on an attempted jump has been widely circulated by Simon Watkins.)  The verdict is not finally in on this major innovation of the 2009 championship, but the next 10 days will provide the essential test for these new "super hoops," and more on this subject will be reported on this Bulletin Board.

THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES are encouraged by the World Croquet Federation to send players to the World Championship, even though there is little chance for many of them to qualify for the play-down ladder beginning Wednesday for the 32 best players in the block games contested Saturday through Tuesday.  Beginning Wednesday, they will be eligible to play in one of several "plates" - competitions organized to accommodate those who don't achieve the final 32.   One of those competitions is the Developing Countries Plate.  Provision has also been made for including in the plates players in the Qualifying tournament who didn't get into the 80-player lineup. 

MANAGING THE GAMES AND THE GROUNDS

The management of the World Championship games, though it's played in South Florida, is truly a cooperative affair among many nations.   Johnny Mitchell of Texas is the overall Event Manager and the Tournament Director of the Qualifier, while Andrew Gregory of England is the Tournament Manager of the World Championship proper.  The head referee is Owen Edwards of Australia, who has been seen often in recent days poring over the newly revised laws of the game, just released in the last month.  "I'm a little confused and overwhelmed," he told me as I passed him sitting at a table on the veranda with the new laws in front of him, but I don't believe him.   I'm betting he'll make the right calls, and assisting him with refereeing will be Rhys Thomas of Southern California and veteran Tony Hall, also of Australia.   (Hall and Thomas both qualified in the preliminary tournament, but gave up their places because of their prior commitment.)
Local NCC stalwart Jim Taylor is an all-round nice guy who, those his precise title is unknown, will likely do anything he is asked to make the tournament work well.  (He's the guy who arranged for 5,000 linear feet of black irrigation pipe to be laid around the courts as ball stops.  They're not all that pretty, but they do the job superbly.)   Center General Manager Stewart Jackson, affectionately known throughout the croquet world as "the MacRob Nazi" for his scrupulous enforcement of the rules of deportment and entitlement during that 2003 event, is constantly on hand to regulate polite and respectful conduct by everyone and ensure that everything is working sufficiently to maintain the NCC's reputation as a fit host for world events.

Although the croquet culture in America — and especially in South Florida — is very different from that of other countries with respect to volunteer support, many volunteers are supporting this event in many roles, including grooming of the lawns, hosting in the clubhouse, and ferrying players to the other excellent courts being used for the Championship at the PGA club 10 miles or so north in Palm Beach.

PAYING FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The budget for this championship has been a strain for the USCA, which bid on the event in booming economic times and failed to capture a corporate sponsor to supply the cash for the considerable expense of mounting it.  In fact, a large cash gift from Alex and Ann Ix has been a godsend for the USCA in paying for this event, in the absence of significant corporate sponsorship, and a number of smaller donors are listed in the front of the program (produced by Johnny Mitchell, who also publishes the US Croquet News). 

WCF world championship events are costly for the hosting nation. According to the regulations Federation, the dues are set low, and they go to the WCF.  Even the dues for the Qualifier Tournament (which may be used to cover the expenses of the host) were lower than anything normally seen in the East Coast Croquet Establishment, at only $70 for the four-day event organized to give the players 15 games each.  (It may be the cheapest multi-day tournament played in American in the 21st Century - less than five bucks a game!)

The Qualifier tournament, requiring only four of the 12 lawns of the Center, allowed plenty of space for arriving players to accustom themselves to the court conditions.   The top players favor fast lawns, and the lawns of the National Croquet Center will doubtless be at their fastest speed after double-cutting and rolling on Friday, May 8, the day before the tournament.  Even before this final preparation is done, the players have commented on the surprising speed of the sand-based lawns.  Much of the slight irregularity in the court surface, owing largely to frequent moving of hoops, is likely to be gone after final cutting, rolling, and grooming.

THE WEATHER

It's mostly sunny and dry, all week, in the eighties, and this pattern is expected to persist for some time - although it's too soon to make a week-long forecast accurately at this point. And in fact, the Championship website warns that there is a possibility of LIGHTS being employed for evening play.  (That's probably because of the brou-ha-ha surrounding a famous incident in Australia not long ago, when players in a championship at the new and raw Victoria Croquet Center in Australia were not warned of the possibility of night play.)  Lights have to be rented and wheeled into place for night play at the National Croquet Center, they aren't all that satisfactory for the glare produced by their lower height, and they've never been used at the Center for anything but corporate events and private parties.  Torrential and persistent rains could, I suppose, call for night play late in the week to make up for lost time, but even that is unlikely, because the lawns drain very, very quickly.  (It's been said they've been engineered to accommodate two monsoons at once.)  So you can bet on it:  No light play.

Player Selection

The four finalist players in last year's World Championship automatically qualify to play this year. The remaining 76 players are selected to play in the World Championship by the member countries of the WCF under a quota system; plus fourteen wildcard players selected by the WCF; and plus the top four players from the World Championship Qualifying tournament held on 2-7 May at the National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, Flordia, USA.

Finalists 3: Chris Clarke , Robert Fulford , Stephen Mulliner .

Australia 8: Ken Bald, Kevin Beard, Bruce Fleming, Liz Fleming, Robert Fletcher, Stephen Forster, Prather, and Watkins.

Austria 1: declined.

Belgium 1: Allan Morris.

Canada 3: Brian Cumming, Paul Emmett, and Leo McBride.

Czech Republic 1: declined.

England 12: Mark Avery, Jamie Burch, Debbie Cornelius, James Death, Marcus Evans, John Gibbons, Jerry Guest, Ian Lines, David Maugham, David Openshaw, Samir Patel, and Brian Storey.

Finland 1: declined.

France 1: declined.

Germany 1: Bruno Hess.

Ireland 3: Andrew Johnston, and Evan Newell.

Isle of Man 1: Kevin Wells.

Japan 1: Koji Moriyama.

Jersey 1: Tony Le Moignan.

New Zealand 5: Philip Drew, Duncan Dixon, Anthony Richie, AJ Reid, and Robert Lowe.

Norway 1: declined.

Russia 1: declined.

Scotland 3: Keith Aiton, James Hopgood, Jonathan Kirby, and Martin Murray.

South Africa 2: Reg Bamford, and Carol Jackson.

Spain 1: Andres de Diego.

Sweden 1: Anton Varnas.

Switzerland 1: withdrew due to injury.

United States 11: Paul Bennett (AZ), David Bent (FL), Damon Bidencope (NC), Bob Cherry (NC), Doug Grimsley (VA), Trevor Herin (MI), Danny Huneycutt (NC), Dick Knapp (FL), Rich Lamm (CO), Ron Lloyd (NC), and Ben Rothman (CA).

Wales 3: Ian Burridge, David Walters, and Chris Williams.

Wildcards 6+8=14: Rutger Beijderwellen , Chris Farthing , Chris Patmore , Peter Trimmer , James Le Moignan , Tim Murphy , Juan Ojeda , Walid Wahban , Colin Irwin , Jose Alvarez-Sala , Johnny Osborn (FL) , Jim Bast (TX) , Andrew Winn , and Roger Jenkins .

Qualifiers 6: Charlie Gillmarten (VA) , Greg Fletcher , Paul Billings (CO) , Stuart Lawrence (NY) , Peter Just (FL) , and Malcolm Fletcher .

See biographies of all the players.