THE GC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS 23-28 JUNE 2026
By Richard Bilton
The GC Open Championships returned to Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club in late June, in the hottest week of the year so far. BSCC began preparations months in advance to ensure that everything was perfect. The grounds team worked tirelessly to present the courts and surrounding areas in pristine condition, with countless volunteer hours contributing to the delicious and varied menu throughout the week to keep all players, officials, and spectators well fed, and the bar staff were under pressure to keep the fridges stocked. The livestreaming crew assembled a team of camera operators and invited various players to provide commentary as the Championships were broadcast to the world throughout the week. The Championships have always attracted an international field, but there were even more visitors this year, and only half of the field were English. There were players from Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, USA and Wales. The Championships continue to increase in strength year on year. The GC Open Doubles Championship excellent playing conditions. The catering team produced a established pairs, some with new partners. Defending champion Sam Cuthbert was now playing with current England number 1 Jack Good. 2024 champions Reg Bamford and Tobi Savage and 2022 winners Euan Burridge and Callum Johnson returned to attempt to regain the trophy. Also competing for the title were some new strong partnerships in Mohamed This year’s Doubles included 8 previous winners – some as
Karem and Mohammad Kamal, and Levi Franks and Salah Hassan. Block Stage Two blocks of 8 pairs played 7 games in the scorching heat on the Tuesday, only for the top four from each block to be the top 4 seeds anyway, albeit not in seeding order. Had Levi and Salah been top seeds in Block A, that block would have gone to seeding, with them only losing to Dom Aarvold and Tim Russell, as did Reg and Tobi. Sherif Abdelwahab partnered with Richard Bilton, and they came fourth in Block A, tied on wins and hoops with Dom and Tim, but having won the match between them. After a long hot day, it was decided before the last round that it was too late and too hot for playoffs. Most of Block B went to seeding, except for Stephen Mulliner and Jenny Clarke losing to Burridge and Johnson, and Karem and Kamal. Jack Good and Sam Cuthbert won every game in the block. Knockout Levi and Salah surprisingly went out in the first round to Jenny and Stephen. The Burridge v Burridge quarter was
also won comfortably by Euan and Callum. Bamford and Savage took 2 hours to win game 1 against Karem and Kamal, and a further 1.5 hours to take the second game 7-1. Meanwhile, Jack and Sam absolutely thrashed Sherif and Richard 7-1, 7-2. Euan and Callum were equally swift in despatching Jenny and Stephen in the semi-final. Stephen missed a sitter of a jump at hoop 8 in game 2 to level the scores and leave the next ball to play in the hoop. It didn’t take long for the youngsters to win the remaining hoops, but they now had a long wait for their next match. Reg and Tobi had taken nearly 4 hours to play 20 hoops, and were only just starting their semi-final as the others finished. All the players struggled to take position, including Reg, though it was Sam and Jack’s clearing that let them down in game 1, but they came back in game 2 with some great hoop running. Sam was hooping well in game 3, but the pair was missing clearances at the start of the game. Reg and Tobi’s positional play was still
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