This championship has now been re-instated after a hiatus since 2018. It was held over the weekend of August 31st and September 1st at Como Croquet Club – a good way to herald in Spring!
We had 10 competitors with players from Busselton, Cambridge, Como, and Sorrento. Several interested players were not available for these dates for various reasons including the GC Nationals in Queensland and overseas trips. Had this not been the case we could well have been over-subscribed.
A cross-block format allowed us to play 3 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday followed by a deciding play-off.
The games were recorded on Croquetscores and, pleasingly, everyone had at least one game they were proud of, although the blocks did appear somewhat unbalanced due to the brand new handicap allocations and some unexpected performances.
The competition for the top spots was intense with the final round robin game holding the possibity of a 4 or even 5 way tie. After some deliberations, the quirks of the cross-block play-off rulings gave us a husband and wife face-off for the championship – Amanda and Larry Hurt from Cambridge CC. Of course, this meant that one household would be taking home both 1st and 2nd prizes! However, this didn’t stop them from treating us all to an enthralling final match.
Larry was holding on to a 2 hoop lead as the game neared an end and looked like the likely winner. Amanda closed the gap with another hoop and on her final turn had no option but to peg out with one ball to force the draw. That meant a ‘sudden death’ race for the winning (or ‘golden’) hoop and Amanda now with only one ball in her arsenal. A long positioning shot put her a couple of metres in front of her next hoop and Larry wasn’t in a position to attack until after Amanda’s next shot for the hoop and the win. It stuck in the jaws! Larry had a longish clearance but just missed, thereby handing the win to wife Amanda. Marital bliss?
The players appeared to be happy with the event organisation with one competitor deciding that he now preferred the singles format to the traditional club doubles games.
Ricochet contiues every Friday at Como – 9:15am for a 9:30 start.
Full results on Croquetscores
