Two US players have advanced to the 2023 WCF Association Croquet World Championship “Last Four” after working through their matches in relatively quick fashion earlier today. 2020 AC Worlds runner-up Matthew Essick was the first one through dispatching Mark Avery in three games, 26tp-9, 26-13, 26tp-0. Fellow American Tom Balding was next through as he worked past Alain Giraud (ENG) 26-9, 26-9, 26tp-9.

Balding’s win means he’ll get a shot at one of the sport’s legendary players, Robert Fulford (ENG) in the semifinal round. Fulford was the third player to advance, defeating New Zealand’s Logan McCorkindale 26-9, 26tp-11, 26tp-9.

With his performance, Balding also has made a short list of American players that have reached the WCF AC Worlds “Last Four,” joining Jerry Stark (1990), Jacques Fournier (2001), Ben Rothman (2009) David Maloof (2016) and Essick (2020, 2023). Essick is the first U.S. player to reach the Last Four more than once.

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To round out the day’s quarterfinal action, Robert Fletcher (AUS) and Jose Riva (ESP) had an all-day affair with Fletcher snatching game four with a finishing triple after Riva was on a winning turn that came apart with a missed roquet on yellow with red after rover. The match finished at 8:02 p.m. with the scoreboard indicating a total match time of nine hours and 52 minutes. The final score was 26-22, 26-12, 23-26tp, 26tp-24 in favor of Fletcher.

Reports on the Livestream indicate Fulford and Balding will be on Lawn 3 for tomorrow’s semifinal. The two players have never met.

Fletcher and Essick are an even 3-3 in AC play, with Fletcher taking two games against Essick in the 2022 MacRobertson Shield and Essick winning a 3-1 semifinal match in the 2020 WCF AC World Championship knockout.

They also squared off in the 2022 GC World Championship semifinals and Essick took a 3-1 match win.