Croquet Association of Ireland

Home Internationals 2025 Report

robert — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 13:50:58 +0000

Home Internationals 2025 Report robert Tue, 10/06/2025 - 14:50

A strong Irish team travelled to the Devonshire coast to compete in the 2025 AC Home Internationals held at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club. Arriving on Friday evening, the lawns were in great condition and promised a good challenge for the weekend even allowing for rain predicted for the following morning.

Day 1:
With the sun shining, the Irish team drew England in Round 1 and knew a stiff test awaited as their team was a strong as ever. Things began optimistically, with Jane Morrison picking up the first game against young up-and-comer Jack Good early doors and Andy Johnston picking up a game with standard TP against perennial opponent David Maugham when he looked in danger of going behind early. Simon Williams followed suit with a neat TP against Gabrielle Higgins in the opening game. Form player Aston Wade of England got the better of his opening exchange with Sandy Greig to take the first game for England, and ultimately took the second in quick succession to score the first match points for either side. Andrew then quickly levelled things up for Ireland, with a +26tp result in game 2 vs David Maugham. Irish captain Danny Johnston was having a decent start too, battling through some early rustiness to take advantage of some uncharacteristic errors from his opponent, the 2016 World Champion Stephen Mulliner, and take game 1 with triple.
After a steady glooming of the skies above, the heavens finally opened and chased already slightly soggy players from the courts to their lunch. The heavy rain persisted and flooded all bar one of the assigned courts, meaning some headaches for manager Angharrad Walters and some rapid lawn reassignment. After much manual puddle redistribution with brushes and Jack Good’s Bowdry work, the skies cleared and lawns became playable again. Danny’s match moved from Lawn 1 to Lawn 2 and, from the pegged down position, he was happily able to finish a match winning TP (having hit in and taken off the joined up oppo balls some 4 hours earlier as the rain started) to make it 2-1 to Ireland. Simon then delivered the telling match point, defeating Gabrielle Higgins in the 3rd game to secure a 3-2 overall match victory for the Irish.

The Irish team then rapidly moved on to their next test versus Wales, attempting to claw back some of the time lost to the inclement weather by playing into the evening with the sun beginning to emerge from behind the clouds and the promise of paella supper in the clubhouse as a reward. Andy was obviously most eager for his dinner, dispatching the manager +26tp, +26tp in short order to gain Ireland’s first point of the match. Simon looked to following suit, only for his striker’s ball to dive away at the last moment on a rover peel to allow his opponent Rick Harding back into Game 2 and to ultimately level the match at a game apiece. Sandy shook off the morning’s disappointment to quickly take game 1 against Home Internationals veteran Chris Williams before retiring for the evening. Danny began a battle with Ian Burridge and looked in reasonable shape to finish a TP with a delayed double until his escape ball drifted directly behind penult. He managed to recover sufficiently to get the rover peel done but suffered the same fate as Simon, running the strikers ball out of position and having to retire from corner 2. Ian set a leave with Danny’s peg ball in the 4 yards south of penult, which Danny shot at aggressive with his rover ball from corner 2, hitting and finishing the game and retiring for supper. Jane and her opponent Dayal were still duking it out in game 1 of their tie as the light began to fade, when it was decided that pegging down for the next day would be a more humane course of action.

As previously mentioned, the club had arranged an excellent paella to be catered on site and the Irish left that evening with well-fed and in a good position to finish off the test against Wale the following morning.

Day 2:
The sun shone in earnest on Sunday morning and with no threat of rain everything was set for an exciting end to Ireland’s match with Wales and the concluding test versus Scotland that would likely decide the outcome of the tournament. The Scots had earlier beaten Wales 3-1 with one match unfinished and had brought a team with strong depth compared to some previous years. Ireland began the day with Sandy finishing off Chris Williams +26 to bring the match to a 2-0 scoreline, allowing some breathing room for Danny and Simon who duly finished off their matches to win the test 4-0 with Dayal and Jane’s match being halted with Dayal a game up.

The match versus Scotland commenced immediately, with three of the Irish players under some time pressure to make it back to Bristol airport for their flight having lost time to the weather on the Saturday. Things didn’t start as positively for the Irish, with Andy succumbing to a -26tp, -26tp result against the Scottish No. 1 Duncan Reeve and showing that things can be cruel at the top level. 1-nil to the Scots. Things went from bad to worse, with Sandy dropping game 1 to the rapidly improving Lorna Dewer who was looking imperious. Simon began to turn the tide, benefiting from his opponent Andrew Symons giving him an opening in game 1 which he duly seized. Danny then followed suit, hitting in to regain the innings in game 1 of his match with Scottish No. 2 Alastair Burn Murdoch which was rapidly slipping away. Jane meanwhile was playing against David Warhurst down on Lawn 1 and not having things all her own way.
At this point the manager began to frantically work through the permutations of the possible outcomes in the Ireland vs Scotland match, with England vs Wales very evenly poised at that point. An England win would put them squarely in the frame having beaten Scotland 3-1 with Gabrielle Higgins and Andrew Symons match being paused at 1-1. A win for Scotland over Ireland also put them in contention as there would then be three teams on 2 wins each, and a matches-won countback would begin, followed by a games-won tally if that proved indecisive.
By far the simplest solution it was agreed was for Ireland to beat Scotland. Danny grabbed the first Irish point, finishing game 2 with a neat TP whilst playing around a failed SXP attempt in the third game of the Mulliner-Burridge match. Ian failed to capitalise on his opponent’s misfortune, with Stephen eventually winning and putting England in the driving seat in that test. However, Chris Williams pulled off an unexpected come-from-behind victory over Aston Wade and Rick Harding defeated Gabrielle Higgins to make the final result 3-2 to England: with Mulliner’s win proving more decisive than expected, how would that effect the standings come the end of the day?
Sandy eventually fell in game 2 to Lorna, leaving Scotland 2-1 up in the test. Simon almost immediately levelled the test in the same lawn, leaving Jane to battle it out with David on Lawn 1 to try and seal an Irish victory. Meanwhile, the manager, no doubt conscious of possible permutations, ordered Gabrielle and Andrew Symons unfinished match to be completed resulting in a rapid victory to the former and a scoreline of 4-1 to the English. This left England poised on 2 Tests won, 9 matches won, and 21 games won. Jane was looking down and out in game 2 but heroically wrestled the momentum back to take game 2 and force a deciding 3rd in the gloaming of Devonshire evening. The details of the match were relayed to Irish supporters at home and abroad via WhatsApp updates from Sandy, the only remaining Irish player after Andy, Danny and Simon had to hare off to make their flights home. As the third game started, herself and David traded opportunities with the match waiting for someone to seize the initiative. Ultimately it was David who managed to make the first breakthrough, bringing a ball to 4-back. Jane had a chance of a break shortly after, but a failed hoop 3 in the fading light allowed David to take control and eventually take the match and the Test for Scotland. With Jane’s previous match vs Dayal remaining the only pertinent unfinished tie in the event, Ireland had fallen cruelly short of the win with 2 Tests won, 9 matches won, and 20 games won, a single game short of England’s tally.

From an Irish perspective, there can be no regrets having played very well throughout and outperformed our world ranking positions consistently across the event. Everyone played their part in what was a very well-fought and enjoyable event. Special praise must go to Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club for their excellent hospitality and to the manager Angharrad Walters who calmly dealt with the significant rain delay getting the event back on schedule seamlessly. We look forward to welcoming this excellent series to Ireland again in the very near future!

Irish Team Photograph.

Danny Johnston.

CAI Silver Medal 2025 Report

robert — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 12:04:04 +0000

CAI Silver Medal 2025 Report robert Tue, 29/04/2025 - 13:04

The CAI Silver Medal selection eight competition was held in Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club on the weekend of April 26- 27th this year, with good weather and enthusiasm for the new season’s croquet.
The early games saw a couple of +26tp results for the highest ranking players, Simon Williams and Danny Johnston and some early interactive pegged out endings, with Fred Rogerson coming through against Alan Looney and Simon Jenkins succumbing to Russell Harris’ 3-ball ending on his first appearance in the tournament.

Rounds 2 and 3 saw Jenkins find his footing, beating Nathaniel Healy for his opening win, while Fiachra Carroll also overcame his early loss to pip Alan to the post to win +3 and shake off early-season rust. Danny and Simon Williams continued their winning form, entering Round 4 facing Simon Jenkins and Alan, respectively. Simon Jenkins looked to haul in Danny’s unbeaten start, only for an unfortunate fault at the start of turn 5 to let Danny back in from where he took the initiative. Simon Williams, too, ended the day unbeaten, dispatching Alan 26-0.
Most remarkably, and to the manager's delight, the event moved at lightning speed with no games going to time; an indication of the quality of the play despite double banking.
The start of day two saw Simon Williams and Danny, the two remaining unbeaten players, pitted against one another. With the dew still settled on a bright Lawn 1, Simon’s duffer tice hit from A-baulk ended up mid-way between the peg and hoop 6. Danny hit his own east boundary ball on turn 3, and the dew caught him out as he failed to get a rush on the duffer ball. He managed to cope, taking off to 1, making a 3-yard hoop and making a break from there. Simon missed the resultant 3-ducks leave, and Danny finished on turn 5 to remain unbeaten. Meanwhile, on lawn 2, Russell Harris beat Fred with his first-ever ranking triple peel, consigning Fred to a 4th loss of the weekend, having had a strong start.
Nathaniel and Simon Jenkins began to show some sharp play to creep up on the leaders, beating Fiachra and Alan, respectively. In Round 6, Nathaniel had the early play against the leader, Danny, hitting his own duffer tice and setting an Old Standard leave after a little colour confusion at the peg. It was a strong leave, and Danny failed to hit, but Nathaniel was unable to dig out a break and an error left Danny with an opening which he used to TPO his opponent, leaving him on 2 and box. Off the leave, Nathaniel ended jawsed in 2, and had a good chance in his subsequent turn, running 2 and hitting a 17-yard roquet on the oppo peg ball near hoop 3. He rolled off 3 and gained a rush to 4, but here a hill caught his hoop approach, and Danny was able to finish with a 3-ball break in the ensuing turns to remain unbeaten.
In the final round, Simon Williams was up against Simon Jenkins and needed a win to keep the pressure on Danny, who was up against Alan Looney on the next court. Unfortunately for him, Simon Jenkins did what he’d been threatening to do all weekend and completed a neat TP to bring them both to 5 wins out of 7 and leave Danny as the winner on the day and the recipient of a shiny new Silver Medal arranged by Sandy Greig after several years of absence.
Huge thanks to Carrickmines for hosting the event and providing an excellent atmosphere as always, and to the players for making it a great weekend’s croquet.

Full results on CroquetScores.com

CAI Silver Medal	DJ	NH	FC	SJ	SW	AL	FR	RH	Wins	Net Hoops
Danny Johnston	*	26tpo	26tp	26tp	26tp	26	26tp	26tp	7	150
Nathaniel Healy	17	*	26	8	0	26	26	13	3	-40
Fiachra Carroll	0	15	*	13	4	26	26	*	2	-52
Simon Jenkins	1	26	26	*	26tp	26	26	13	5	56
Simon Williams	0	26tp	26	9	*	26	26	26	5	52
Alan Looney	5	14	23	5	0	*	17	10	0	-108
Fred Rogerson	2	23	9	1	18	26	*	0	1	-94
Russell Harris	7	26	*	26	13	26	26tp	*	4	36

CAI Selections for International Events in 2025

robert — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:03:25 +0000

CAI Selections for International Events in 2025 robert Wed, 12/02/2025 - 11:03

The CAI Selection Committee are pleased to announce that they have selected the following players
for international events in 2025.

AC World Championships. Florida. 18-26 October.
Andrew Johnston, Sandy Greig and Russell Harris.

AC Home Internationals. Budleigh Salterton. 7/8 June.
Danny Johnston (Captain), Andrew Johnston, Simon Williams, Sandy Greig and Jane Morrison.

The Selection Committee have also invited the following players to play in the CAI Silver Medal at
Carrickmines on 26/27 April:
Danny Johnston, Simon Williams, Simon Jenkins, Fred Rogerson, Nathaniel Healy, Fiachra Carroll,
Russell Harris and Alan Looney.

WCF GC 2024 World Championships

robert — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 13:11:40 +0000

WCF GC 2024 World Championships robert Fri, 08/11/2024 - 13:11

This is a report by Patricia Mulcahy who was Ireland’s sole representative at the World GC Championships held in North Carolina in October.

80 players from 17 countries gathered at Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club (CBCC) for the opening ceremony on 17 October. I had the honour of carrying the Irish Flag and appeared in a bright green blazer in the group photograph. CBCC boasts 24 courts and games were single banked throughout. The courts were notably sandy and instead of the usual white painted lines, string defined the boundaries. With quad hoops set to 1/32nd of an inch, many hoop shots rebounded.

Play began at 8.30am every morning, with dew covering the lawns but by 10am when the sun was high, lawns played much faster. The organisation was thorough and efficient. A large number of volunteers had been recruited from as far away as Chicago. Referees were each allocated a block of four courts. Every lawn had a human scorekeeper to operate what looked like a digital scoreboard (actually a metal board with reversible black and green tiles which were fixed by elastic and could be flipped over as required) to indicate the score. Each player had a little name board printed with their name and country flag. There were 8 blocks of 10 and the schedule showed the sequence of games each of us would play, and the allocated lawns.

When a game was scheduled, two name boards were stuck on a central board, with the court number written in between. You took your board the designated court, and when the result of the coin toss was known, stuck it to the scoreboard on the blue/black or red/yellow side. Details of each match were printed on small squares of paper with the names of the players, start time, court number and boxes for writing results. At the end of a match, you returned your name board to the tent, the winner wrote down the score and both players signed the chit. During the game, you raised your hand to indicate that you had run a hoop. Each match was best of three and the later games were listed for 10.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm but obviously this did not always run to time when games lasted longer than assumed. But since you always knew which court you’d be going onto, you could track the progress of the preceding match. Some days you were listed for 8.30am, others for 10.30am starts. Sundown was around 6.15pm, and a few matches were pegged down.

I was in B Block and played Dom Aarvold (England), TeKiri King (New Zealand), Paul Neubecker (USA), Air Hamdy (Canada), Greg Fletcher (Australia), Mohamed Walid (Egypt) and Ahmed Elmandy (Egypt).

With block games due to finish on the Tuesday, the knock out draw and gala dinner were arranged at the nearby Piankatak Golf Club, generously funded by Beverley and Randy Cardo. Since the final games of the block were still in play as we sat down to eat, we were denied the drama of the draw.

Given the competition, my baseline was not to lose any game 7-0. I did manage to achieve that, and I did make my opponents work for their wins. I took one game from Paul Neubecker and might have won the match had I not inadvertently touched my ball when lining up to clear him from just in front of hoop 13. My next best effort was against block seed number one, Ahmed Elmandy. I found myself leading by 4-1. When we arrived at hoop 13, I had a jump shot, which hit the hoop. I lost the match but he said I’d given him the toughest 13 he’d played all week. I took that as a great compliment and I got a handshake from Tournament Director, Jeff Soo.

That left me in the Plate where I managed to beat Alexander Kirsten (Germany) 7-1. He then beat Kyle Malouf (USA) 7-3. My next was against Kyle, who beat me 7-1. Croquet is a funny game. I played a couple of Zed games (for players who had no further matches to play) and lost both. I turned my attention to watching the finals hoping to learn something from the best in the world.

Saturday 26 October was Finals Day. In the Plate final, James Galpin (England) led Patricio Jnr Garay (Spain) 6-1 in the final game. Patricio gamely battled back to 6-6, but James held on to win. The main final was a blockbuster between Blake Fields (USA), who had turned 18 only the week before, beating the fancied Robert Fletcher (Australia) 7-0 in their last game. You can see it on YouTube.

Chesapeake Bay is a beautiful part of the world. It’s worth looking at a map to understand just how much of the area is water. I stayed at Flowering Fields, an excellent B&B a mile off the highway between Kilmarnock and White Stone, about 30 minute drive from the club. This involved crossing the 1.9 mile Norris Bridge over the Rappahannock River, described by some as a white knuckle drive, with narrow lanes and unnerving overtaking permitted. Our hosts offered all sorts for breakfast, crab cakes a specialty, but I couldn’t face them at 7.30am. The house was old, and had been dismantled and removed back from the waterfront to avoid British canon fire in the war of 1812. I’d studied American history and enjoy reading the biographies of early American presidents. I'd just finished reading a dual biography of Jefferson and Madison, so many of the place names rang bells, as I drove around.

I stayed on for three days to do some sightseeing: day one was Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown, day two Arlington cemetery and a whistle stop tour of Washington, day three Jefferson’s estate at Monticello and lastly, Virginia’s state capital Richmond, with its Civil War Museum on the way to the airport.

What I am especially pleased to report is the number of players and volunteers who approached me to speak of the warm welcome they had enjoyed at Carrickmines and most of them mentioned Simon Williams with great affection. I had the time of my life and hope I added just a little to Ireland’s presence on the international croquet scene.

Irish Team: GC World Team Championships

robert — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 22:52:38 +0000

Irish Team: GC World Team Championships robert Wed, 06/11/2024 - 22:52

The CAI Selection Committee are pleased to announce that the following team has been selected to play in the GC World Team Championships taking place in Tasmania in February 2025.

Mark Stephens (Captain)
Alan Looney
Kieran Murphy
Evan Newell
Rob O’Donoghue
Simon Williams

Irish Golf Croquet Championship 2024 Report

robert — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 09:19:54 +0000

Irish Golf Croquet Championship 2024 Report robert Mon, 30/09/2024 - 10:19

13-15 September 2024 Report by Daniel Bennett, Manager

The Irish Golf Croquet Championships were held by the Croquet Association of Ireland at Carrickmines from the 13th to the 15th September 2024.
The three titles being competed for were the Singles championship, the Maggie or Handicap Doubles, and the Plate event.
24 players entered the singles event. They were sorted by DGrade into 6 blocks of four with the 6 winners and 2 runners up proceeding to the quarter final knockouts.
The blocks produced some great matchups. Huw Spiers pulled off a 500 D Grade swing against Mark Stephens, going undefeated in Block A. Fred Rogerson kept Norwegian Marius Thorne just outside the playoff grade with an experienced performance. Henry Bagwell’s 300 leap to outgun Alan Looney wasn't enough for either of them to make it out of block E. Visiting Glenn Fauske, fresh off a Baltic Open victory, won all 3 to top the group.

Simon Williams went the distance in his first playoff game in the best -of- format against a vibrant Evan Newell. Huw Spiers meanwhile made Fred Rogerson dig deep to come from 1
game back. Glenn Fauske and Robert O’Donoghue made up the other semi -inal competitors In the finals, Glenn Fauske played some great Golf Croquet in the first game to pip Simon Williams 7-6 but Williams used every bit of his experience and stamina to win the Irish Singles title for 2024.

The ‘Maggie’, or Irish Golf Croquet Doubles trophy, had its own share of the excitement. The dashing duo of Clair Whyms and Fernando Llorento Danino beat the obliging Fiachra Carroll and Henry Bagwell in an early round, only falling to the Looney/Rogerson experience and the oscular strategy of the first-time visitors Cami and Tate Russock. Huw Spiers and Marguerite Cremin Chung found their groove early and managed to make the finals on both sides of the table, resulting in a draw marry on the Sunday. Fred Rogerson and Alan Looney met their match in a very entertaining first game on finals day. Their inability to match the celebrations of their opponents delighted their audience but allowed their opposition to reach the 5 hoops needed in this handicap format.
The formidable Spiers and Chung partnership were then to face the Florida couple, Cami and Tate Russock. Perhaps it was the result of over-tiredness on the part of the Irish contingent, having played more games than anyone else all weekend, that they couldn’t halt the American duo. The ‘Maggie’ will be engraved with foreign names for the first time.

There was a healthy scattering of plate games throughout the weekend, even with the very tight schedule in just three days of play. Celine Reilly defeated Henry Bagwell in the final on hoop 13, a well-deserved result after some storming play in the semi. Some excellent croquet was played over the weekend on world-class lawns at Carrickmines. The Croquet Association of Ireland are lucky to have such a fantastic venue overlooking the Dublin Mountains and easily accessible on a tram line direct to the City Centre. Having been fully subscribed this year, we would encourage anyone wanting to experience the occasion to enter as early as possible for next year's event, provisionally scheduled for the 12th -14th September 2025.

Egyptian Open Semi-Final Report

robert — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 11:25:41 +0000

Egyptian Open Semi-Final Report robert Sat, 28/09/2024 - 12:25

As we approach the final. the last Seed remaining (Mohamed Nasr) has fallen and the Finalists this evening are (only) two Block 3rd seeds Fawzy Helmy and Ayman Nagah. But these bare statistics do not reveal the high standards of this Competition as match after match was played with so many different aspects in play and just sheer intensity. In a way we have the two most deserving contestants in the Final as Mohammed Nasr (who lost to Fawzy Helmy in the semis last night on hoop 13 final game but more of that later) had actually dropped his only other game (a block 19 pointer) to Ayman.

The first semifinal was predictable but only after the event. The younger up and coming Yousif Yasser (son of Yasser Esmat) did not have the experience to sustain his ability through the third game and was overwhelmed in game 3.

And now the other semi: quite simply the equal of anything I have seen. Clearances from all over the Lawn by both Players again and again and again. I lost count of long 7 yard hoop runs (typically North Boundary to hoop 7) and their positional touch just become a matter of routine. But Fawzy seemed to be stronger reaching 5:3 (I think) and then 6:4. This, of course as we all know, is a deceptive lead and (by their standards) a few clearances from hoop 10 to hoop 11 opened things up and Mohamed muscled his way to 6:6. And now the final hoop with Fawzy first up from the South Boundary (no attempt to take position, just straight to the North Boundary where he could control things). I will only describe the last shot. Mohamed is bang in the middle of the jaws (and smiling momentarily to his supporters). But not for long as Fawzy jumps from the North Boundary to conclude matters. WOW. and Sherif Abdel Wahab has most, if not all on video and well worth a watch if you can find it on U-Tube and have an hour or so with nothing better to do.

Roll on the final!

Evan.

Egyptian GC Open, Early knockout report

robert — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 19:33:50 +0000

Egyptian GC Open, Early knockout report robert Thu, 26/09/2024 - 20:33

Shock reverberates around the Croquet World .. Three ex-World Champs (+ Mohamed Taha = top 4 seeds) defeated in first Round of Knockout .. All games of a high standard but Reg's game is outstanding and I am going to say that is about equal to the best I have seen him play. The game never quite ran in his favour and on three or four critical moments he was forced into difficult options because of long-distance blocks (perfect pace) by his young (unknown) opponent: Particularly last game at hoop 11 where he was forced to have a go at jumping a ball in the jaws from angled North Boundary .. he "pinged" it 100% BUT the ball jumped over the hoop !?! .. never complained and said already booked his ticket for next year as this is the main Tournament that continues to be "un-won" by an "un-Egyptian" ..I believe he is even sponsoring the creation of a revolutionary new mallet to assist in this ambition.

Dina who beat Ahmed Elmahdy has about the best (straightest) swing possible .. Ahmed Elmahdy (in some discomfort from a banjaxed knee) played sufficiently well to win most matches BUT Dina won on merit, took on big shots and got sufficient number + very few 10 yards misses .. She now meets Soha in the next round so a Lady will be in the semi-finals although anyone's guess as to which one.)

Ben Rothman was just workmanlike to wear down Mohamed Taha (last year's winner) but I suspect he will meet an Egyptian "having a good day" in the later rounds and that may do for him.wide.

Spare a moment for poor Ahmed Nasr (2 times World Champ) who needed the win to finance his trip to the World's next month as he was not selected by the Egyptian Federation and got in only as a "Wild Card" ! However at this stage I have not the slightest idea who is going to win this so I am out of predictions. Incidentally, Reg is lined up for Tasmania and they have a new player I believe. They are taking the avoidance of relegation very seriously .

Evan.

Egyptian Open GC Championship Report

robert — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:39:26 +0000

Egyptian Open GC Championship Report robert Thu, 26/09/2024 - 15:39

Early Rounds Report by Evan Newell

So what is going on in the real world of Golf Croquet here at the Egyptian Open?

It is not as it seems. Ben Rothman failed to get through his Block (first 3 in each Block) but gets a second chance (clever 4th, 5th, 6th knock out of 24 players to produce 8 additional qualifiers). Reg scraped through with only one loss BUT three of his games were desperate affairs all going to 9 all and a last hoop win.

On the Egyptian side, matters are different. It is being said (by them) that only 5 can possibly win .. and sort of in order: AHMED ELMAHDY (ex World Champ who has suddenly got better) MOHAMED TAHA (won last year and definitely consolidating his form) MOHAMED KAREM (has all the shots but tends to fail in finals) YUSUF YASSER and new on the block (2nd son of Yasser Esmat, increasingly reliable but maybe a lot to learn to come through critical stages) AHMED NASR (slimmed down by 3 stone, still has every shot and more in the book, plays lightning fast but slightly inconsistent .. He does need to win to finance his trip to the World's as he was not selected by Egypt ?? = $$$ = a focused Ahmed.

There are a host of other 2nd rankers who have moments of brilliance but haven't managed the "break-through" yet such as Mostafa Nezar (ex 21 champ) with his contorted but now much improved grip .. and who knows about the (now) older timers such as Mohamed Nasr and Hammy Erian (maybe not just as good as they were and you need to at your best for every match to win this tournament) As for Reg.. that is what he is up against and needs to get back to his best (and so far "not yet") but Reg is Reg. Just to finish,

I know you will want to know what happened to me. Well the scores are the worst ever but maybe I will win the Plate (it happened before! But I did play MOHAMED TAHA in my last game and here is a description which will tell you why he is now my Tournament favourite. HOOP 1 .. he jumped my blue ball (nicely in the jaws) from 3/4 of the way back to the South boundary.: jumped clean and this also ran hoop 2. HOOP 2 .. already won HOOP 3 .. as my blue ball was still in the middle of hoop 1 and my other ball more or less in corner 1, there was no conceivable way for me to approach hoop 3. He takes position and wins immediately after I miss a 25 yarder with my miserable blue ball. HOOP 4 ., he jumps my well placed blocking Black from 10 yards. HOOP 5 .. I win .. Hurrah

Now It Gets Worse HOOP 6 .. nice approach with my black ball to within 2 feet and blocking .. he jumps me from 10 yards with his yellow and, just to remind you, that is his third (tricky as the hoops are quite tight) jump although this time not very well to just 4 feet the other side of hoop 6. I take position nicely in front of hoop 7 with my blue and safe from His red ball obscured by the peg from hoop 7. So he quite simply uses the red to promoet his yellow to the North boundary .. and immediately takes on the steep angle at hoop 7 (which he gets) to go 6: 1 up.

I have no idea what happened after that and I even won a hoop or two. Remember these are 19 point games so the whole thing took at least as long as 15 minutes. So there you are .. up to date. I can't imagine him not getting to the final and hopefully a revived Reg will be there also to make it more exciting ..

Evan Newell

Entries for Irish Open GC

robert — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 16:01:14 +0000

Entries for Irish Open GC robert Tue, 13/08/2024 - 17:01

Entries for the Irish Golf Croquet Championships should be sent it as soon as possible.

See link in left side bar for entry form.

Note the singles is a championship event played off scratch whilst the doubles is a handicap event. Places may be limited so get your entries in early