The team representing Great Britain for this year’s Solomon Trophy competition has been announced. The USA versus Great Britain test will be held November 7-12, 2023 at the Sarasota County Croquet Club in Venice, Florida.
Read MoreWCF Announces New Ranking Regulations
The WCF has announced that the member organizations have voted to approve the new ranking regulations. These are now available to view on the Statutes & Regulations page of the website: worldcroquet.org/wcf-business/statutes-regulations/
These regulations govern the operation of the Association Croquet Grading System (ACGS) and the Golf Croquet Grading System (GCGS) which are used to generate ranking lists of individual players and teams in relation to AC and GC respectively.
Read MoreWCF Delays 2020-2023 Events By One Year
With the Tier 2 and lower Golf Croquet WTC already postponed, the World Croquet Federation has now announced that all WCF events scheduled for the remainder of 2020 through 2023 will now be shifted back by one year. The first event affected is the 2020 Women’s Association Croquet World Championship that was scheduled for November 2020 in New Zealand.
In the release, the WCF also noted that further adjustments could be made depending on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic. The table below indicates revised dates which “are approximate and subject to detailed agreement with the relevant event hosts who have all indicated their support.”
Looking ahead to the 2025 MacRobertson Shield, WCF Secretary-General said, “The MacRobertson Shield is due to be held in England in 2025 which will be the centenary of its founding. It was also agreed that, if possible, this event should still be held in 2025 with the forward calendar being revised slightly to accommodate this.”
Beyond Expert Croquet Tactics - New Book
The Croquet Association (UK) in now selling a limited run of a new book titled Beyond Expert Croquet Tactics. The ambitious book has a wide-ranging focus, but at the top of the list it looks to provide updated tactical advice on Keith Wylie’s Expert Croquet Tactics which was first published in 1985.
Read MoreSoo: No Time Limits Needed #09
The Main KO semifinals were played at the Wellington Municipal Croquet Club, a hundred year old club with three lawns south of the city center. Weather was calm and overcast with occasional sprinkles, and fog developing throughout the day. The lawns were about the same medium-slowish pace we've seen at most venues throughout the week, with some lusher areas and a few tricky hoop approaches, but overall quite true. The main challenges were the hoops -- based on the number of failed shots these must have been quite solid -- and the pressure of the situation.
Read MoreClarke: Bamford and Chapman for the Title #09
The semifinals were played at the Wellington club. The lawns were only running at 10 seconds after overnight rain, but the hoops were in fresh firm ground, albeit they were set much wider than a standard Wellington Open weekend. The day started overcast and there was the occasional light drizzle as it progressed.
Read MoreSoo: Riva Back from 0-2 to Advance #08
Plate, Bowl, and of course Main KO quarterfinals were played today. The Shield (for players knocked out in the round of 16) has a doubtful level of interest. The widely dispersed venues are probably a factor (participation in the Bowl was also on the low side). Now that the tournament is in its final stages it feels like a unified event again. Those on hand to watch the Main KO quarterfinals were treated to four great matches, each with its own character.
Read MoreClarke: Top Four - Chapman, Mulliner, Bamford and Riva #08
We were treated to four interesting matches at Kelburn today. The sun was out and there was no breeze, so conditions were as benign as they could be. By early afternoon there were a couple of faster patches near hoops on most of the lawns which made breakplay that bit more interesting.
The first match to finish was Chapman v Patel. It looked like a straight games victory for the Kiwi before he failed rover when about to peg Patel out in the third. Patel took that game, but Chapman then won the fourth.
Read MoreClarke: Advancing to the Super 8 #07
Another still and sunny day at Kelburn meant that playing conditions were easy. The Riva v Death game “enjoyed” even easier conditions since they played on a lawn with five day old hoops. It was a high-quality match where a Death ball to 4-b was countered with a Riva ball to 1-b followed by a tpo with two balls pegged out 1 v 1-b. Death picked up a 2-ball break off the contact but missed his rush to h4. Riva then took position at 1-b and after Death missed an overly aggressive shot, finished next turn. In the second game, Riva went to 4-b 4th turn, failed to pick up a break 6th turn and finished after Death cornered 8th turn.
Read MoreClarke: A Wild Day of Playoff Action #05
Today was the day that the croquet really started to heat up. We had game after game of excitement and tension. Possibly the most exciting game was played at Kelburn between Jim Nicholls and Sam Murray. Time was called with Sam on rover and peg and Jim on rover alone. Sam had a tough 4 yard rush down the East boundary with his ball for rover to Jim’s ball and opted to play his peg ball, roll partner towards rover and peg out to equalise.
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