Great Britain drew first blood on the final day of the Solomon Trophy test. Ian Burridge defeated Jeff Soo +17, +15 to cut the U.S. lead to 8-5. Currently, Great Britain is leading in three of the five singles matches in progress.
US 8-5: BURRIDGE (GB) beat SOO (US) +17,+15
In Progress
BAST (US) vs LINES (GB) +25
MAUGHAM (GB) vs HUNEYCUTT (US) +13TP
ROTHMAN (US) vs MULLINER (GB) +13
LE MOIGNAN (GB) vs GRIMSLEY (US) +3
PATEL (GB) vs PATMORE (US) +7
The day started with a 4-3 lead for Great Britain, but the U.S. swept the third round of doubles and also won the both of the resumed matches. The Croquet Association website reported that Great Britain won just one of the nine games played today.
Tomorrow is the final day of play with six singles games to start, two pegged down singles games and one pegged down doubles match on the schedule. The US needs to win three to of the nine matches to win their second straight Solomon Trophy.
ROUND THREE DOUBLES
SOO & PATMORE (US) beat LINES & PATEL (GB) +15, +3
GRIMSLEY & ROTHMAN (US) beat BURRIDGE & MAUGHAM (GB) +16, +14
HUNEYCUTT & BAST (US) beat MULLINER & LE MOIGNAN (GB) +3, +6
RESUMED GAMES
PATMORE & SOO (US) beat LE MOIGNAN & MULLINER (GB) +26TP (P), -21TP (M), +22
GRIMSLEY & ROTHMAN (US) beat LINES & PATEL (GB) +1, +17
ROTHMAN COMMENTS
Ben Rothman posted the following comments on the Croquet World Forum:
To those wondering why no one seems to be "on form" yet (failing hoops and putting down triples etc.) I invite you to come try the Hamptworth lawns. If you mowed Ren Kraft's [Arizona] court bare and set the hoops at contact, you would find it more managable than lawns 3 and 4 here.
Mulliner took it upon himself to reset the hoops to a 64th of an inch clearance and seems to enjoy checking hoops to reveal a few photons of light through and declaring any claim of contact hoops "over ruled".
That being said, our team is staying mentally strong (although I am a bit of an exception as I mutter to myself on the sidelines like a psych patient). We have tied the test at 4-4 and we are tied or ahead in the seven matches in progress.
They've started day three with the third round of doubles action, meaning rounds two and three have been left to be completed at a later time. Early scores:
SOO & PATMORE (US) beat LINES & PATEL (GB) +15 lead 1-0
GRIMSLEY & ROTHMAN (US) beat BURRIDE & MAUGHAM (GB) +16 lead 1-0
HUNEYCUTT & BAST (US) beat MULLINER & LE MOIGNAN (GB) +3 lead 1-0
Ian Lines (GB) beat Jeff Soo (USA) +19, -17 , +3 later in today's action to put Great Britain in front 4-3 overall. Second round results:
GB 3-1: PATEL (GB) beat GRIMSLEY (US) +5TP, +10
GB 3-2: BAST (US) beat BURRIDGE (GB) +2, +4
TIED 3-3: PATMORE (US) beat LE MOIGNAN (GB) +3, +15
GB 4-3: LINES (GB) beat Soo (US) +19, -17 , +3
To be continued:
MAUGHAM (RY) vs ROTHMAN (KU)
HUNEYCUTT (KU) vs MULLINER (RY)
Second round doubles action will be concluded at a later date. In the meantime, singles matches started today with the following early results:
GB 3-1: PATEL (GB) beat GRIMSLEY (US) +5TP, +10
GB 3-2: BAST (US) beat BURRIDGE (GB) +2, +4
TIED 3-3: PATMORE (US) beat LE MOIGNAN (GB) +3, +15
Currently in play:
LINES (KU) vs SOO (RY)
MAUGHAM (RY) vs ROTHMAN (KU)
HUNEYCUTT (KU) vs MULLINER (RY)
Action proceeded on the first day into the second round with Great Britain leading 2-1. No matches were decided before end of the day, so Britain retains that lead. Results thus far for Round Two:
US Patmore/Soo vs Le Moignan/Mulliner
Game 1: US Patmore/Soo +26TP
Game 2: GB Le Moignan/Mulliner +21TP
Tied 1-1
GB Burridge(U)/Maugham(k) vs Huneycutt(r)/Bast(y)
Game 1: US Huneycutt/Bast +18TP
US leads 1-0
US Grimsley/Rothman vs Lines/Patel
Game 1: US Grimsley and Rothman +1
US leads 1-0
First round scores:
GB 1-0: Burridge/Maugham beat Patmore/Soo +15, +5TP
GB 2-0: Le Moignan/Mulliner beat Grimsley/Rothman -2TP (Rothman), +3TP (Mulliner), +1
GB 2-1: Bast/Huneycutt beat Lines/Patel -5, +17, +8
Championship Finalists / Click for full gallery / Photo by John WarlickHeld May 26-29 | Wilmington Country Club | Photo Gallery
By Ben Rothman
Another beautiful weekend in Wilmington, Delaware, greeted the twenty-four participants in this year's Delaware Invitational. Tom and Joan Hughes were kind enough to open up their home for the welcoming reception again this year and provide shelter from the heavy heat that weighed down the practice day. Barry Gibson, the tournament co-host, welcomed a few select players to compete at the DuPont Country Club to alleviate the double banking concerns of tournament Director, Ben Rothman. The heat held back during the actual competition but the players left it all on the court. Handicaps were lower than last year, players were better and there were several games that went to the peg compared to zero last year.
The field was split into three flights of singles and two flights of doubles with assigned partners. While Jim Hughes aimed to repeat his championship victory, he would have more than the usual Delaware players to contend with as former rookies-of-the-year Micah Beck and Justin Berbig made their Delaware debut in the Championship flight