AC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUED and latest MacRobertson hat, and wearing shorts instead of the usual long trousers! “Where’s the Manager”, “anyone seen Samir?”. response, “perhaps your shots were slightly worse than Jack’s”.
For those who like statistics, I find an indicator on how challenging the lawns are, is the number of triple peels achieved. In the 29 Championship Doubles games, only 11 triple peals were completed, all by MacRobertson Shield players, bar one by Rick Harding. In the Championship Singles swiss and knockout of 150 games there were 1 sxp (James Death), 1 tpo and 12 tps. In the Singles Plate there was 1 tp in 38 games. However, this is no record as I have been reliably informed that in 1983 there was an Opens where Michael Heap was the only one to complete a triple. An enjoyable semi-final from Samir and Pete. With the evermore challenging lawns all three games went to time; 1st to Pete, 2nd to Samir. 3rd game was interesting. Only 2hrs to play. Shortened version, Pete went to 4back, Samir, challenged, went round to peg and pegged his 1st ball off, giving contact. So, Samir for hoop 2 alone and Pete for 2 and 4back. If Pete plays with 4back ball he can only equalise, so he plays with hoop 2 ball. Took contact from the ball near corner 4, put ball towards 3 going nearer rush on partner to hoop 2. Rush went to boundary behind and east of hoop 2. Take off, he is in front of 2, but a little nasty. Shoots at the hoop, but rejected. A great attempt, and good spectator stuff, but this match did not finish until 5pm on the Finals day. Plate final is played between Jack and Jordan Waters. Allocated Lawn 7, very tricky. This was a very interactive game with Jack eventually winning +17. The Singles Championship final is between James and Samir – doubles partners in the Opens, but also in the MacRobertson Shield coming up. Best of 3, James took the first swiftly, and looked to be doing the same in the 2nd, but a failed attempt at a bombard for the Rover peel left balls out of place, and Samir was able to capitalise, taking the 2nd game by +3. Sadly for the spectators, it was now 8pm on the last day, and decision was made for this final game to be played sometime over the next few weeks. Edited to include the final game: James Death won the final game at Sussex County Croquet Club.
Marcus Evans is our ROT (referee of tournament), and his job has been never-ending, with the 33 degree heat it feels like either the balls are swelling, or the hoops narrowing. Re- setting hoops and balls just grovelling through have made referees in demand. More Championship Referees required for this event. Meanwhile: I found budget accommodation, to save where I can, however the chairs are just too small to sit in, and the bunk beds (yes, that’s what I said) are very narrow - I did only fall out of bed once though. : Sarah HAYES was seen chasing a squirrel that had knicked her strip of strepsils. : and then, Jamie Birch, who had already left his croquet shoes at home, was now marking with a toe where he wanted a ball placed by partner, turning his ankle slightly and tensing his calf muscle for the ladies - impressive. Only playing in the doubles, he arrived home end of day three and phoned the club “is my bag there?” with his house keys in ! : A girls night out is planned for Wednesday night - when was there last an Opens with this event - what happens on a girls night out, stays on a girls night out, so nothing to share here other than ladies night is a MUST for future Opens. Croquet - right, back to croquet. The singles has started. A Burridge Swiss initially for two days, so first four opponents fixed, based on average grade, should be similar overall average level of opponents. Three wins out of the six or seven games played giving a position in the Knockout. 24 achieved three or more. Those not achieving three are entered into a Draw and Process Plate, and a Z is also available. The knockout is seeded by top 8, of which there are 5 English and 3 New Zealanders. In the top half, Jenny Clark is beaten by David Fuller and Jack Good by Rick Harding. In the bottom half Felix Webby is knocked out by fellow team-mate Greg Bryant, and Mark Avery by Pete Trimmer. By Saturday the semi-finals featured James Death vs Logan McCorkindale, and Samir Patel, having beaten Stephen Mulliner (rotter, it’s his 50th Opens) vs Pete Trimmer. A Z game finishes, and Robin Brown is whingeing next to me ‘Jack and I had exactly the same amount of bad hoop strokes as each other, but he was lucky, the ball would rattle around in the hoop then just grovel through by two inches, mine would rattle around in the hoop and just stay there”. Samir’s
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