THE GC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS CONTINUED Plate There was near full participation in the them went past hoop 10. On day 2, Jenny Clarke played out of her skin to take a game off Reg, and he lost
known, but any of them could win the block. Sherif quickly beat Ignacio, but the two with another game to play both went to 3 games in their morning matches. Tim Russell beat Kamal to keep him on 4 wins, and Richard beat Tim Jolliff to reach 5 and join Karem and Sherif. Richard could therefore top his block if he won the remaining game against Kamal. The manager gave them an hour, and Kamal was victorious after Richard missed a shot at hoop 12 with the last of the 8 extra turns. This meant all 4 players finished on 5 wins. There were no ties on matches in Block D, and only 4 matches didn’t go to seeding. Two of them were sixth seed Mateo Palazon – also fresh from the Spain test – who beat Dom Aarvold and Alison Maugham to finish fourth in the block. Callum lost to Euan and Levi on day 1, and Levi suffered his only loss in the event to Euan on day 2, but all three won all their other matches. The only 3 games that Euan lost were 7-6 to Levi, Callum and Alison, all in game 1. The first game between Euan and Levi could have gone either way, as both were evenly matched, though neither was on top form. Levi was a bit too aggressive in his shot selection in game 2 and 3, whereas Euan played the percentages, but also ran some good long hoops when needed, and his positional play was more successful. Last 16 and Quarter-Finals The knockout draw was conducted publicly using updated grades for the block winners and seconds, and randomly drawing the thirds and fourths, while avoid block clashes. While only half the Singles field were English, just 5 of them reached the knockout. Apart from the match between two of them, they all won
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 26 Stephen were in the same block, and their match at the end of day 1 again went to 3 games, although none of favourite to retain the title. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t strong competition – Euan Burridge, Levi Franks, Jack Good and Mohamed Karem were among those with a good chance of winning. With the hot weather continuing, the players were advised to drink plenty and have a break between games. With this in mind, as well as the tough playing conditions, there was a chance that some matches may need to be held at 1-1 and be completed on Saturday morning. The manager therefore decided that there would not be playoffs for progression to the knockout. Block Stage Although they dominated the event for 2 decades, this year Reg and Plate knockout, despite the heat, although no-one played any more consolation games after being beaten in either knockout. All first round encounters were won 10-8, most notably Dom Aarvold and Tim Russell beat the holders Guy Scurfield and Lionel Tibble. They then swept past Roger Goldring and Rick Lilley 10-2, while Spanish pair Juan Ojeda and Alvaro Canas Bartivas beat Tim Jolliff and Raouf Allim 10-8. The final went down to the wire, with Dom and Tim narrowly beating the Spaniards 10-9. The GC Open Singles Championship For 20 years, Reg Bamford and Stephen Mulliner dominated the GC Open Singles. This came to an end in 2021 when a string of new winners began (although Reg did win again in 2025). However, with none of the recent new winners present in this year’s event, Reg was most people’s
another game at the end of the day to Lionel Tibble. Despite losing these 3 games, Reg still won his block with 7 wins. Stephen came second after a close win against Doubles partner Jenny, who came third. Rob O’Donoghue, Guy Scurfield and Andy Barbero were tied on 3 wins each, and with no playoffs, it was Rob who progressed to the knockout. Only 2 of the top 4 seeds in Block B qualified for the knockout. As third seed, Juan Ojeda – part of the Spanish team that played at Bowdon the weekend before – won 6 matches, only losing to top seed Jack Good. Sixth seed Alvaro Canas Bartivas won his bottom 4 matches, beating seeds 4 and 5 on day 2. Both of the Spaniards won a game 7-6 against Jack, but he was still on 6 wins after the second day, including a relatively easy 7-1, 7-6 against second seed Tobi Savage. Bottom seed Vojtech Dusek was on 2 out of 5 wins, but surprisingly beat Tobi at the end of day 2 (7-6, 7-6), and Jack Good the next morning (7-4, 7-2). This last match meant he reached 4 wins and progressed to the knockout, denying Tobi a place in the process. At the end of the first day, Block C already looked wide open, as Mohammad Kamal had beaten Sherif, Sherif had beaten Richard, and Richard ended the day (it was the last match to finish) by beating Mohamed Karem, so all 4 players were on 2 wins. The following day, Kamal beat Karem and Karem beat Sherif, while Richard looked to be taking control of the group as he won his first 5 games of the day, but after losing game 2 to Kamal 7-6 at 20:15, their match was held over to the next day, to be played if needed (and it was). Meanwhile Karem and Beaudry had played their fourth match of the day to finish the block. Going into day 3, the top 4 were
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