CROQUET IS BACK ON THE BIG SCREEN IN MAURITIUS
By Duncan Ca1erall
Flying in from around the world, croquet players once again returned to Mauri7us for the second edi7on of the Sugar Beach Interna7onal Croquet Cup. A fun, new style of croquet tournament combining a des7na7on holiday with an exci7ng compe77on. Croquet lawns beside the beach, lined by palm trees and overlooking the Indian Ocean, is this the most picturesque croquet lawn in the world? The players certainly agree. Topped off with a lawn side bar, big screen to show all the ac7on and live streamed on YouTube! Events kicked off on the Monday evening for all the players and their partners with a welcome cocktail party on the beach terrace where we announced the doubles partners for the following day. The deep orange sunset over the ocean providing a perfect backdrop for a warm welcome by the hotel management and a big welcome from the Mauri7an croquet team captain, Jeremie, who awarded Jenny and Guy, Dodo themed croquet shirts for best male and female player of 2024 as well as honorary membership to the Tamarina Croquet Club in Mauri7us. For those that don’t know, Mauri7us is the island that was home to the Dodo before passing sailors drove it to ex7nc7on in the 17th century. Post cocktail party, the players and partners all gathered at Le Pa7o restaurant for a welcome dinner for everyone to get to know each other. Our first day of play saw the doubles compe77on mixing up all the players so everyone got a chance to meet each other. The morning consisted of qualifying blocks and a'er breaking for lunch, when a few players took the opportunity to have a dip in the pool, the players returned for the knockout and consola7on in the a'ernoon. A'er some 7ght games that went to 7‐6, the final saw Peter & Agueda vs Beatriz and Adam. All the players gathered to watch and with the hotel providing a bar for us right beside the
Wednesday kicked off with Jenny providing an amazing masterclass that even the top players found really useful, running through ball hi9ng drills, shot selec7on and tac7cs. A couple of the players even came away with a new and improved grip! The a'ernoon saw the start of the singles championship, split into 6 blocks, played over 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday). This meant everyone played a half day block qualifier and then had a day to relax at the hotel or explore the island before finals day. Several people went to explore the local nature and safari park, others went snorkeling on the reef and some did a tour of the southern half of the island, which I heard included a few rum dis7lleries along the way. Wednesday evening brought all the players back together for the Mauri7an Themed night in the main restaurant with tradi7onal dishes and a performance of music and dancing. Our finals day on Friday featured the plate knockout in the morning, which saw Samuel, one of the Mauri7an players, narrowly miss out on reaching the plate final in a close game with Mar7n Gill, who made it through to face defending plate 7tle holder, Peter Haydon, in an all Dulwich Croquet Club plate final. The a'ernoon saw
lawns, everyone enjoyed a drink in the sun while enjoying the croquet. Peter and Agueda had looked unstoppable all day but they met their match in the final and a closely fought game resulted in Beatriz & Adam coming out on top to win the doubles. All the players having been able to get to know each other, the evening’s dinner at the hotel’s new beach side Mare restaurant was a buzz of conversa7on followed by drinks at the beach bar, because when you are in Mauri7us, another drink the day before a compe77on is always a good idea.
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