Felix Webby (NZ) peeling the opponent with a "death roll"

DAY 3: BLOCKS WRAPPING UP

Waikanae is an especially attractive venue on the Kapiti Coast, about an hour of Wellington. There are five lawns, one of which is newer and faster than the rest, and about which Simon Hockey was in raptures after a fifth-turn (I think) +26tp he played there. Hockey (AUS), the top seed in block G and therefore the #7 seed in the event (pre-tournament world ranking #15), finished with 7/9 for a share of first place in the block. He lost to Aiken Hakes (NZ) after a Hakes TPO and a two-ball finish. Earlier in the game Hakes had broken down at 1b, and on the peeling turn he also peeled partner to 2b, and then pegged off both rovers. In the two-ball ending, each player scored five hoops.

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The final round in Block G featured two significant games: Hakes vs. John-Paul Moberly (ENG), and Joe Hogan (NZ) vs. Callum Hyland (AUS). Hyland was on five wins and the others were on six. If Hyland were to win, there would be a three-way playoff. But Hogan, the 1989 world champion making a welcome return to the game, won +17. Moberly, seeded #7 in the block (pre-tournament world ranking #136) beat Hakes +23, sensibly deciding not to push for a triple and getting it done with an old-fashioned 9-12-5 set of breaks. John-Paul Moberly (ENG) pegs out for a share of first place in Block G. Click to Zoom.Moberly beat all four of the top seeds in the block and won 7/9 overall, so his world ranking will be considerably higher when the rankings are updated later today. A university student in his final year, he started in GC (where he is currently #10 in the world) and is still relatively new to AC.

Five lawns is perfect for two blocks of ten, and block E also finished at Waikanae. Kiwi wunderkinds Josh Freeth and Felix Webby both finished the block 8/9, Webby's only loss being to Freeth, and Freeth's only loss a rather shocking +5 upset from another countryman, Mike Crashley. Webby finished off the day by peeling out Kevin Beard's forward ball, needing two turns to do so. Beard (AUS) had a few half-chances to pick up three-ball breaks and made a few hoops, but Webby finished from #6. Fortunately for Beard, his fellow Aussie Stephen Forster finally had a good day which included a win against Stephen Mulliner (ENG), the top block seed and defending world champion. Beard's six wins assure him a spot in the KO. Mulliner, on five wins, faces a playoff game against Vincent Commarieu (NZ). Commarieu had beaten Mulliner on the notorious Plimmerton lawns, 12-10; today's playoff at Paraparaumu will undoubtedly have a different character. If a 12-10 score seems shocking for a world championship (and it is), consider that Paddy Chapman (NZ), the #2 seed in the event, lost a game at Plimmerton today, 4-7 to Annabel McDiarmid (ENG).