On day two players arrived in good time for a prompt start – there was work to be done! By lunch time 3 games had been played and Cliff Hunter (Surbiton) and Sandra had each won all 3 games. The leader board was then showing two players on 7 wins (John Picken and Sandra) with Patricia, Gareth Hobby (Caversham), Richard and Cliff each on 6 wins. Still all to play for. In fact, with the ups and downs of Advantage croquet, nothing is to be taken for granted. As the players went into the final game, Sandra and Richard were both on 8 wins and Cliff, Patricia and Fiona were all on 7 wins. There was still time for a surprise winner. However, Sandra held her nerve to get the ninth win (result 7‐6) while Richard lost out in his last game (result 6‐7). GC ALL ENGLAND CONTINUED
Patricia, Cliff and Richard all ended on 8 wins and the manager – with the help of a trusty calculator and Mike Huxley (the score keeper) ‐ did the maths to find the final order of the day:
1st Sandra Guildford 2nd Patricia Mulcahy 3rd Cliff Hunter 4th Richard Perkins There then followed 6 players all on 7 wins. What a close call!
DO OTHER FEDERATIONS HOLD A GC REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT?
by Chris Roberts The Southern Croquet Federation (SCF) held an inaugural SCF Championship single‐day tournament as a trial in 2023 and, encouraged by the interest from players and particularly spectators at the host venue of Phyllis Court, repeated with another very successful event in 2024. The tournament is for the top eight ranked players who are full members of a SCF member club, and the second edition of the Southern Croquet Federation Golf Croquet Championship drew in most of the best players based in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The top seed was UK top 20 player Tim O’Donnell (Hamptworth), who started as slight favourite ahead of holder, Steve Leonard (East Dorset and England) and Chris Roberts (Phyllis Court and Wales). O’Donnell lost an early game of the seven‐round ‘all play all’ tournament and when Roberts was beaten by old adversary, and former Phyllis Court player, Raouf Allim in round two, the event was blown wide open. Roberts had beaten clubmate and bottom seed Rick Lilley easily 7‐1 in the first round and it looked like being a long day for the latter, but he then went on an unbeaten run of four impressive victories, including taking the scalps of O’Donnell and Leonard. With two rounds to play, Leonard was in the ‘box seat’ with only one loss with O’Donnell, Roberts and Lilley hoping to pull the leader back into the chasing pack. Roberts ended O’Donnell’s hopes in the penultimate round, but Leonard held his lead and defeated O’Donnell 7‐4 in the last round, to put his name on the newly inaugurated trophy for a second time. The event had attracted a good‐sized spectator gallery from the Phyllis Court faithful who lined the South and East sides of the courts, which had been fenced off as a safety measure for this and the visit of four international players in Nottingham’s Inter‐Club Championship team due the following day. This tournament was easy to organise and would be good to see other Federations replicate. The key for logistics and keeping the playing quality high, is limiting the field to eight, which allows for an ‘all play all’ seven games block, hosting by a two‐court venue (available in all Federations) and likely an enjoyable spectacle for spectators. Finishing order: Steve Leonard (East Dorset, 6 wins), Chris Roberts (Phyllis Court, 5), Rick Lilley (Phyllis Court, 5), Tim O'Donnell (Hamptworth, 4), Duncan Catterall (High Wycombe, 3), Raouf Allim (High Wycombe, 2), Jonathan Smith (Ryde, 2), Paul Gunn (Wingrave, 1)
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 33
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