SHORT CROQUET FOCUS NEW MERIT AWARDS Congratulations to the following:
ASSOCIATION CROQUET – BRONZE MERIT AWARD Colin Carver ‐ All‐England Final Brian Jamieson ‐ All‐England Final ASSOCIATION CROQUET – SILVER MERIT AWARD Raghu Iyer ‐ Roehampton End of Season Handicap ASSOCIATION CROQUET – GOLD MERIT AWARD Charlie Martin ‐ Budleigh Summer Tournament Peter Rothwell ‐ Wrest Park Handicap GOLF CROQUET – BRONZE MERIT AWARD Janet Sherwood ‐ Ashby C Level GOLF CROQUET – SILVER MERIT AWARD Philip Tremble ‐ Crake Valley B Level GOLF CROQUET – GOLD MERIT AWARD Michael Bilton ‐ A Level Final If you qualify for a Merit Award, remember to claim it! To see the standard to reach enter Croquet England Merit Award Scheme into Google to get straight to it. All CqE events have a Manager, and yours will be able to make the claim for you; otherwise, download a copy of the form from the CqE website. The form covers both AC and GC Merit Awards so claiming your Award should be straightforward.
Sue Longcroft (right) receives the 2024 Viking Challenge trophy from event manager Fiona Crompton (Photo: John Harris)
SC SEASON FINALE While Sue Longcroft (see photo) was securing a long‐awaited victory in the Viking Challenge at York, further south Nottingham were battling Blewbury in the final of the National Short Croquet Competition. Blewbury had already notched up a comprehensive semi‐final win over York, who had themselves significantly outgunned the 2022 winners Bury. Blewbury’s Joe King played a captain’s innings by winning all his games. Strong performances by Brian Jamieson and Steve Fisher contributed to a convincing 8‐3 Blewbury victory and a well deserved place in the national final. Nottingham meanwhile had had a much more nail‐biting day in their semi‐final, drawing 8‐8 against a strong Southport team of Gail Moors, Bill Nicholl, Eileen Rossiter and Tony Thomas. It had already been determined that in the event of a draw the deciding factor would be hoops run, enabling Nottingham to go on the next day to take on Blewbury in the final. This National Final match too could have gone either way, with only one game between the two sides as they went into the last round. This however proved decisive with Nottingham winning three of the four games and notching up a final score of 7‐4. Nottingham’s David Park won each of his games during the day which helped his club take home the handsome Ranelagh Trophy for a second successive year. SC FOR LOWER HANDICAPPERS Short Croquet holds many enticing prospects for experienced AC players. The smaller lawn places a high premium on precision play at the lawn edges. The shorter distances mean leaves need additional thought and care. Meanwhile the more exacting Short Croquet wiring rule provides an intriguing extra challenge. For players with mandatory peels, these need careful pre‐planning, not least because there are fewer hoops within which to work in the number required. Two experienced players might experiment by taking a leaf out of the Advanced rulebook for 14‐point games and agree to playing with hoop 3 as a lift hoop (Law 52.3) or lifts/contacts at hoops 3 and 4 (Law 52.4). Alternatively an 18‐point or 26‐ point format makes for a rewarding game, with or without the usual Advanced penalty hoops. Above all, we play for pleasure, and as well as being excellent practice in precision AC play, Short Croquet is fun – at all levels!
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