Good morning from Cheltenham. A glorious morning it is, though there's a pesky front to the West which may bring some rain this afternoon.

This morning we have:
Reg Bamford v James Death on lawn 10
Paddy Chapman v Robert Fulford on lawn 11

The lawns have been mown this morning, there are President's Cup hoops in fresh holes.

Chris Clarke has done his homework for me. He has made some incorrect assumptions about lawn allocation. (Maybe I should have told him last night...!)

2014 Opens Semis – Preview by Chris Clarke

We should be in for a treat today with 4 of the world’s top 10 players on display. Yesterday, Bamford and Fulford were both given the easier top lawns to play on and produced a high standard of play – particularly Bamford. My understanding is that today, the semis will be on the faster lower lawns and that Presidents Cup hoops will be used in new holes.
I am told that the Coles final was played on lawn 3 and that the hoops on lawn 6 were unfailable. Perhaps this will see Bamford v Death on 5 and Chapman v Fulford on 4 with the final on 3, but it is never wise to try and guess the lawn planning of the Beast!!

Bamford v Death
Bamford has played 32 games against Death, winning 23. I have no reason to oppose him in this match. It is clear that he is playing better than the other players, he has won this event for the past 4 years and Cheltenham is a venue he thrives at. Whilst James has the ability to win the match, he generally makes too many errors to beat players who play well against him. I believe that his best chance will come from playing for errors from Reg. The slightly faster lawns and hopefully firmer, narrower hoops might make 3 sextuples more difficult today. I’d be tempted to take the first break to 3-b with 2 pops. I think we’ll see James trying to hit hoop 5 if he plays first and probably playing to C2 if he plays second. Against Reg, there is something to be said for lagging 11 yards towards C2 second turn. Playing a Duffer risks Reg going round third turn too much.
I would expect Reg to maintain standard East boundary balls first turn and 18y S of C3 second turn. I still believe that Reg’s main weakness is first stroke of the turn – James needs to cross his fingers that Reg has one of his off days.
If James can get some croquet and plays well, I can see this match going to 5, but whilst I believe the extra hoop difficulty will cause Reg slightly more challenge and potentially cause the odd error, I also believe this will be true for James who tends to have some fairly loose breaks at times.
Prediction: Bamford 3-1
Note: Reg will become world number 1 if he wins 3-0. If Reg wins the event, he beats John Solomon of 10 Opens (currently tied)

Chapman v Fulford
This match is far more balanced. Paddy has shot very well so far this event and had a great sextuple in his 3-0 win against Trimmer yesterday. Paddy has had a great last 12 months, becoming a Dad, being runner-up in the Worlds and winning the Mac. He should be developing the sort of mental comfort zone that allows you to take big matches in your stride and this is certainly one of those.
Fulford is 5 times world champion and 9 times open champion but has looked much more fragile in recent times, not having won the Opens since 2008. He has played Paddy 19 times before, winning 13 of them, including their most recent match in the Mac.
After his quarter-final 3-0 win against Rothman, Fulford said that he was shooting very well at the moment. Tactically, super-advanced is a help to Robert since it increases the tactical complexity. There isn’t much to choose between these two excellent players. I am hopingto see a couple of pegged out endings with hopefully better tactics than Hopgood’s 3rd game v Fulford.
Prediction: Fulford 3-1

Good work by Chris there, managing to include some Hopgood abuse.

I suspect all 4 players will be going for sextuples, unless these new hoops prove trickier than expected.

As I typed in the names of the semi-finalists, my computer underlined Bamford and Fulford. I didn't realize Google did croquet predictions.

The four players are all here, not practising yet.

The Y Doubles gets underway this morning. Yay!

In the Plate so far as I can see, Lionel Tibble is the only chap with 2 lives. (Of course the knock-out qualifiers only get 1 life. This is apparently still called "Gregorian", though it wasn't really my idea!)

On lawn 11 hoop 4 is now out of the ground. The black ball wouldn't go through!
Sensibly the other hoops are being checked!

The good doctor points out that today could be viewed as Nottingham v Rest of the World.

It has been noted that 100% of women qualified through the Burridge Swiss, but only about 50% of the men. Clearly men's croquet is in terminal decline.

Paddy has found some double-banked balls to practise with while the hoopsetters do their stuff.

It's gone 10 o'clock. Reg and James have stopped practising but haven't started yet.

I might wander outside for the opening.

James Black bounces off 5 just to the East of the hoop.
Reg Red just S of II
James Blue at Red from B-baulk. Hits.

Paddy Black 10yN of IV
Robert Yellow duffer tice 2'NE of 6.
Paddy Blue at Black from A-baulk. Hits.

L10G1T3 James runs first hoop of the semis. Red is peg-high between 3 and 4. Has Eastward rush after 1. Good rush of Red to 2.

L11G1T3 Paddy rolled Black to 6y SSW of 2, rushes Yellow to 10yS of II. Tries take-off approach, just short, sends Blue to between Yellow and Black.
L11G1T4 Rob shooting from B-baulk. Red hits Black.

L10G1T3 James takes off to 3 from 7y S of hoop. Doesn't get in front. Retires to E bdry.
L10G1T4 Reg Yellow shoots at Black (13y), but has lined his shot nicely as Yellow hits Red (N of 4). Underapproaches 1 from 5'W of hoop (off Black; Blue near 2, Red 5yS of 4)

L11G1T4 Rob Red has all the balls. Making 3 off Yellow.

L11G1T4 Rob is looking to POP Black thru 1 before 5.

L10G1T5 James Black misses Red.

L11G1T4 Rob will be conceding contact... but has 9y return roquet after 6! Did not see how that happened. Anyway he hits it.

So much for my sextuple prediction.

L10G1T6 Reg's rush to 1 is poor, but he copes. Has 4-ball break now.

L11G1T4 Rob POPs Black into jaws of 2 after 1-back.

Just found a corker of some Ctrl-key accidental pressing. Completely exited my browser. Is there a way to disable Ctrl? And Caps Lock while we're at it.

Rob's been doing some thinking after only jawsing Black. Blue is at 2-back. Yellow is croqueted 8yN of 1st corner, and in lawn a bit. Makes 2-back with Westward rush.
Rob leaves Blue 7yN of 1st corner. Rushes Yellow near 2. Yellow is left 3yE of 2nd corner. Rush-POPs Black. Rolls both balls off lawn. Red is 5yW of 4th corner. Black 9y S of 3rd corner.

Reg has made 6 hoops, no POPs, having a spread.

L11G1T5 Paddy is thinking. Red is only 2 or 3yW of IV, not 5 as I had guessed.

L10G1T7 James lifts Blue from near W bdry, shoots from B-baulk, missing into 4th corner.

L11G1T5 Paddy playing Black takes contact from Yellow. Take-off moves Yellow about 4yE. Black hits Blue. Take-off to Red. Take-off back to Blue, sending Red a few yards into lawn. Deliberately doesn't leave a good rush.

L10G1T8 Reg Red makes 1 off Black. Rushes it back into A-baulk.

L10G1T8 Reg Red must have done another Hogan roll. Excellent stroke after 2 sees the 1-back peel thru to about peg-high, while getting rush on ball near 5.

L11G1T6 Rob Yellow to just S of 3rd corner.

L11G1T7 Paddy plays Blue. Rushes Black near Red, Red to 4yW of 3rd corner. Tries to take off to Yellow for a rush to 1. Goes off lawn.

L11G1T8 Rob quickly picks up break. Standard quad ahead of him. (when did Quads become "standard"?)

L10G1T8 Reg Red has peeled 2-back before 5. His hoop 6 pioneer is West of hoop 1.

L11G1T8 Rob failed to do 3-back peel after 4. Does it going to 6.

L10G1T8 Reg has broken down! Didn't see how, sorry. Red clip is on 2-back, Yellow clip on 3-back, (Yellow ball in jaws of 3-back.)

L11G1T9 James picks up break with Black. James being James, we can't rule out the LQPO.

L11G1T8 Rob fails the 4-back peel before 3-back.

Oops first notation error. James is on Lawn 10.

L10G1T9 James Black peels Yellow thru 4-back after 3.

L11G1T8 Robert needs straight triple to finish.

Drama on lawn 10 as James sticks in 5. Is it jammed? Hoop-setter on lawn.

On 11 Rob bombarded after 4-back and now has short angled peel of penult. Peel goes thru but Yellow doesn't, and has to retire to 2nd corner.

L10G1T9 James Black gets a replay. On with the QPO!

L11G1T9 Paddy plays Black an has picked up 3-ball break. Yellow still in 2nd corner.

L10G1T9 James Black peels penult before 1-back. Must have been a Wyliesque manoeuvre. tries the rover peel before 3-back. In front of hoop, looks rush-peelable.

L11G1T9 Paddy rushes Red near Yellow after 5.

L10G1T9 James Black leaves Yellow where it is for now.

L11G1T9 Paddy is going to 1-back with a spread.

L10G1T9 James Black is finishing the QPO. Leaves Blue 3yN of 4th corner, Black in 3rd corner.
Red clip is on 2-back, Blue clip is on 3.

L10G1T10 Reg Red takes contact from Black. Take off to Blue. Pretty good approach from E bdry, but not good enough as he fails hoop.

L10G1T11 James misses short roquet at Red.

L11G1T10 Rob has lifted Red from nr W bdry. Hits Yellow. Makes rover off Blue.

Aargh. Just had to do some subMangling and Paddy's on the lawn. I think Rob must have croqueted Blue off the North boundary.

And I should really be concentrating on lawn 10. Reg has 20-yarder at James's balls which are on W bdry. Reg must be for 4-back.

Reg Red hits Black. Rushes Blue to 4-back. Makes it, rushes blue to penult.

L11G1T11 Paddy with Black has organized a cross-wire of Red and Yellow: Red 2'N of 5, Yellow 4yS of 5. Leaving rush near 2nd corner.

Reg wins Game 1 +12oqp

L11G1T12 Rob Yellow attempts to roquet Red. Through hoop, I presume, or maybe there was a sliver. Ends up next to Red.

L11G1T13 Paddy is playing with forward ball. Presumably making 3 hoops.

L10G2T1 Reg 10yN IV
L10G2T2 James Yellow nr II
L10G2T3 Reg hits partner from A-baulk. Take-off to Yellow, rolls Yellow to peg-high a few feet in from W bdry.
L10G2T4 James Red misses into 4th corner.

L11G1T13 Paddy having NSL with Red at 4.

Clips: Paddy Blue 1, Black 4-back; Rob Yellow penult, Red peg.

L11G1T14 Rob lifts Yellow to A-baulk, misses.

L11G1T15 Paddy forfeits a hoop 2 pioneer to ensure a good rush to 1. Makes 1. Nearest ball to 2 is Yellow, 4yE of peg.
He will be on a standard TP if he makes 2. Approaching from 3y to the side. 1y hoop, hit hard, goes thru not cleanly.

Apparently in Reg's final turn he ran 3-back at 45degrees, having lagged there from 2-back the previous turn.

On lawn 10 Reg is going round 5th turn.

L11G1T15 Paddy peels 4-back after 3.

L10G2T5 Reg makes 6 hoops, no POPs, spread.

L10G2T6 James lifts Yellow from near W bdry to B-baulk, rushes Blue off S bdry. (Blue is the hoop 1 ball.) Picks up break

L11G1T15 Paddy jawses penult peel after 6, rush-peels after 1-back. Peelee is going to be 3-back pioneer.

L10G2T6 James tries to POP blue thru 1 after 1. Does the POP before 4. Trying to POP 2 before 6.

L11G1T15 Paddy will need straight rover peel to finish.

James has made hoop 6 and is thinking. Working out his contact leave.

Paddy wins game 1 +4tp

L11G2T1 Paddy Black 13yS of III
That's got Rob thinking.
L11G2T2 Rob Yellow just N IV (from A-baulk).

L11G2T3 Paddy Blue hits Black from B-baulk.

James made 8 hoops with 2 POPs and a reasonable contact leave.

L11G2T3 Paddy Blue takes off to Yellow, tries to roll off 1, short,has horizontal leave.

L11G2T4 Rob Red from B-baulk, hits Blue.

L10G2T7 Reg constructs powerful leave.

L10G2T8 James misses 28-yarder. James's 2 balls in 4th corner, Reg with dolly rush to hoop 3.

L11G2T4 Rob Red picks up break. How far will he go?

Bit of a pause as Reg gets drink.

Oops another commentator error, reg has set up for his forward ball. Rushes partner to 2-back, makes 1-back off James's ball.

Rob has made 1-back.

L10G2T9 Reg makes 3 hoops, having spread. But wait, he's not happy with ball at peg. Yup, Red can see Yellow (11y). Reg lays up near 4th corner.

L10G2T10 James lifts Red to take the short shot at Reg's balls. Misses.

L11G2T4 Rob made 8 hoops, no POPs. Contact leave Yellow nr IV, Red in III, Blue Black across II.

L11G2T5 Paddy Black takes off from Yellow to Red to Blue. Laying up near 2nd corner.

L11G2T6 Rob Yellow misses Red (30y)

L10G2T11 Reg unable to organize standard TP - probably forgotten how. Delayed TP coming up.

L11G2T7 Paddy Black picks up break.

L10G2T11 Reg gets 4-back peel just thru before 6.

L11G2T7 Paddy Black needs to play spectacular jump shot to get thru 4. Does so, Rob applauds.

L10G2T11 Reg peels penult before 2-back.

L11G2T7 Paddy Black makes 6 hoops, having spread.

L10G2T11 Reg is thinking, i know not why.

L10G2T8 Rob lifts Yellow from by the peg to A-baulk. Hits Black.

Clips: Paddy: Blue 1, Black 1-back; Rob Red 3-back, yellow 1

On lawn 10, the bucket is on. Seems to be some ground that needs repairing. Maybe an old hoophole. Reg waits to approach 4-back.

L10G2T8 Rob sticks in 1.

L10G2T9 Paddy Black hits 10-yarder.

Reg does straight rover peel to win game 2 +18tp

Reg leads 2-0.

Paddy making some hoops, and a (trivial) POP of Yellow.

Paddy has a difficult 3-back : 4' 35 deg maybe (you do understand all these things are guesstimates). Fails hoop.

Reg and James are lunching I presume. Rob's not around either but i think it's just a pause.

On lawn 6 Wixy appears to be on a TPO v Tibble in the Plate Draw semi.

Meanwhile Rob has snuck back on and missed something relatively short.

L10G2T11 Paddy is in with Blue. Makes 1, but you couldn't really call it a break yet.

L10G2T11 Paddy has run hoop 2 off the lawn and into the hedge. He's found it. The nearest ball to hoop 3 is by the peg. Paddy misses 5-yard return roquet.

L10G2T12 Rob Yellow hits 13-yarder at Red. Red is now 4yN of 4, Blue is 4yE of I, Black is near end of A-baulk and in lawn a few feet.

Rob's rush of Black to 2 is not great. Rolling up from 9y. 8' hoop. Restalks. Another refusal. Runs it to boundary.

L10G2T12 Rob Yellow hits 4-yard return roquet. He's got a chance of getting the 3-back peel before 3, as his pioneer for that hoop is at 4. Jawses peel. Pretty good rush to 3. Makes hoop.can he finish the quad this time?

Wixy completed the TPO, Tibble rolls off 1 from E bdry.

L10G2T12 Rob Yellow got the 3-back peel sometime around 4, and is now going for 4-back peel before 6. His 1-back pioneer is a bit deep (halfway between hoop and corner).

L10G2T12 Rob Yellow peels Red thru 4-back before 6. Seems to have things more under control now.

Statto tells me that Rob has now won more matches at the Opens than anyone else, passing Humphrey Hicks this week.

Er seem to have got my lawns confused again.

L11G2T12 Rob Yellow jawses penult peel before 3-back.

L10G3T1 James Black bounces off 5 to West of the hoop.
L10G3T2 Reg Red to 13yN of IV
L10G3T3 James Blue hits Red from B-baulk. Picks up break.

L11G2T12 Rob Yellow just has to cope with straight rover peel. Except he's failed penult from nowhere.

Tibble finishes off contact to dump Wixy out.

L10G3T3 James Blue makes 8 hoops, leaves Black in II, Blue in IV, Red 13yN of IV.

L11G2T13 After much thought, Paddy Blue hits Yellow out of penult from 5y. Makes 3 off Black. Yellow is left behind N of 3. Peels Black thru 3-back after 4.

L10G3T4 Reg takes off from Blue to get a rush on Red to Black. Makes 1 off Black.

L11G2T13 Paddy has a take-off to 6 from 2 or 3 yards to the ENE off Yellow, overhits it, clip goes on.
Black is still only just thru 3-back, Red is 2y E of 1-back. Blue goes off in 2nd corner.

L11G2T14 Rob Yellow hits Red (8y). Ignores Blue and Black, rolls Red off in III, Yellow 5y S of III.

L10G3T4 Reg has picked up a 4-ball break. Looking to get a POP on Black.

L11G2T15 Paddy Black retires 2yN of I.

L11G2T16 Rob adjusts Yellow nearer Red. [i think, offput by Kibble reporting his result by text]

L11G2T17 Paddy Blue misses Red (26y)

L11G2T18 Rob Red approaches rover off Yellow (the clip is on 5 but no misleading). 4 or 5' hoop, bounces back to 2' in front.

L11G2T19 Paddy Black misses Yellow (14y)

L11G2T20 Rob Red runs rover cleanly. rushes Yellow 11yS of III (and Blue). Rolls both down toward III, hits Blue.

L10G3T4 Reg makes 6 hoops, 1 POP, spread.

L10G3T5 James lifts Black from near W bdry to B-baulk, hits.

L11G2T20 Rob croqueted Blue to just in from middle of W bdry, lays rush for Yellow to penult. Red / Yellow wired from Blue.

L11G2T21 Paddy misses Blue at Black (30y).

L11G2T22 Rob Yellow makes penult off Red, takes off to Blue / Black, makes rover without a rush after. Red is left between 4-back and penult. Takes off 4y beyond Red, copes.

Rob wins G2 +12 i think. 1-1, and it's after 3pm! Weather is still holding.

L11G3T1 Rob Y 11yN IV
L11G3T2 Paddy K duffer 1y SE of 6.

L10G3T5 James misapproached 3.
There has been some interaction, the details of which i shall have to discover later.
I think James was back on the lawn, then maybe took off off the lawn? Anyway Reg is on the lawn.

L11G3T3 Rob Red misses Yellow into IV.
L11G3T4 Paddy Blue hits Black, rushing it 5yN of 1. take off to Yellow, short. Hits Yellow. Takes off to Red - good shot! Has rush to 1.

On lawn 10 Reg is starting his sextuple.

L11G3T4 Paddy Blue has 4-ball break.

Reg peels 1-back after 2.

L11G3T4 Paddy Blue POPs Yellow thru 1 before 5.

Reg jawses 2-back peel before 4.

I must apologize to the Ctrl-key. I use Ctrl-c and Ctrl-v all the time.

L11G3T4 Paddy Blue will be conceding contact. No he won't, he's failed 1-back.

Red, Yellow and Blue are by 2, Black is by 1.
L11G3T5 Rob chooses to play with Red.

Reg fails tricky 3-back peel before 6.

L11G3T5 Rob fails POP of Black after 1. Rush-POPs it after 2.

Reg gets 3-back peel before 1-back.

Commentator error. Black not rush-POPped at all. But now...

L11G3T5 Rob POPs Black thru 1 before 5.

Reg peels 4-back before 3-back.

Plate:
Draw: final will be between Tibble and winner of Mulliner v Giraud (just starting lawn 4)
Process. Dawson has reached final. In the other half Polhill is playing MMurray, Tibble is playing Ormerod.

Reg has just run 4-back, looks like peelee is in middle of penult.

L11G3T5 Rob POPs Black thru 2 after 1-back.

Maybe Yellow wasn't right in the middle. Reg has called a ref on. George Noble obliges. Yellow has been marked. It is in the jaws, but presumably at an angle. Anyway, Reg copes.

L11G3T5 Rob has made 9 hoops with 2 POPs

So clips are Rob Red 4-back and Yellow 2; Paddy Black 3, Blue 1-back.

Yellow is left 2yN of IV, Blue 2yE of II, Black 7yS of III, Red in I

A smattering of applause tells me Reg has finished, and wins the match 3-0.

I think I was misled into misleading you about the misplaced clip last game. No misplacement, but rover has the top of the uprights painted red which gives the illusion of a red clip on top.

L10G3T6 Paddy plays Blue, takes off from Red to Yellow to Black. Laying up near 2nd corner.

Bamford beat Death +12oqp +18tp +15sxp

The tea-bell sounds.

Paddy has left dolly rush for Blue to 1-back.

L10G3T7 Rob plays Yellow into III.

L10G3T8 Paddy makes 1-back, rushes Black to near 1st corner, makes 2-back, 3-back. Still has to dig Yellow out of 3rd corner.

L10G3T8 Paddy leaves Black nr 4th corner, rushes Red into 3rd corner. Which would have been nice, had Red not moved Yellow out of the corner. Blue stops Red to peg-high nr E bdry. Yellow is croqueted maybe 6y S of 2. Blue might be trying to scatter Black, Blue is now 1y W of 4th corner.

As i keep getting it wrong, I shall stop using the L notation. This match IS on lawn 11.

G3T9 Rob lifts Red to B-baulk, Hits Yellow. Having a leave.

Polhill beats MM +17

Blue is at 2, Black near 4th corner. Yellow and Red near 1st corner.

G3T10 Paddy decides to take shortest shot; Black at Red. Misses. Comes into my hut saying it hilled off

G3T11 Rob should have a break now, indeed a standard TP, so I'm off for some tea.

Please, Rob, don't break down before I get back....

Oh dear, commentator's curse

Ron has blobbed 3 from 6" dead in front. Trying to do it gently apparently.

G3T12 Paddy Black is for hoop 3, so this is a real gift. Though maybe for fairness I should go get another tea and cake and see if i can jinx Paddy...

G3T12 Paddy Black tries a 4-yard peel of Blue thru 4-back after 3. Blue misses hoop altogether. Stays on lawn.
Paddy now setting up for a delayed TP.

OK I forgot to have lunch again, so I really do have to get more tea and cake.

Please, Paddy, don't break down before I get back....

Unaccountably Paddy is still on the lawn.

I think he tried to rush-peel Blue thru 4-back after 6, but the blue clip is still on 4-back.
He's now for 2-back, the pioneer for which is East of 6. Fair rush.
He's hoping to do 4-back peel before 3-back.

Paddy does get 4-back peel before 3-back. Setting up for straight double.

The Mangler is back. He complains that in his absence I have put the tournament in danger of not finishing with the feast in front of me set for the twilight or later. Even though I've had zero managerial input on that particular front.

Paddy doesn't get penult peel. He is now penult and peg. He has left Red in back of penult, Yellow 4yS of II. Blue is 7'N of IV, Black 1' N of Blue.

G3T13 Rob lifts Yellow to A-baulk, hits Black. looks like Red will rush to 3.

G3T13 Rob could be getting standard TP here. Remembers to run 3 this time. Tries peel after 3. Looks like it might be just in front of the hoop.

I've moved alfresco again, now that my subMangling duties are over. It's clouding over, the sun shines weakly, but no sign of rain yet.

G3t13 rob has made 4, now rush-peels Red thru 4-back. Big roll to 5. Might be able to get penult peel after 6...

G3T13 Rob's penult peel after 6 does not go through. Ignores Red after 1-back, and after 2-back..

Looks like Tibble has beaten Ormerod.

G3T13 Rob fails to get helpful rush after 3-back. Hits Red, peels it thru penult before 4-back.

Spectating by third corner we have Keith Aiton, Pete Trimmer, Dayal Gunasekera and Gordon Hopewell. By 4th corner we have Reg sitting next to SUsan Fulford. Paddy is in the small hut. A few locals by 2nd corner, I'm near the middle of the West bdry with Louise and Dave K who is kindly buying me a drink.

Rob has run penult without a forward rush, other balls ideally placed for straight rover peel. Well, not ideal, I mean Red isn't actually in the jaws. One would expect him to finish, is what I mean.

Irish peel, Red goes 6y thru, Yellow is in middle of hoop. Finishes.

Rob wins G£ +4tp and leads 2-1.

G4T1 Paddy Black 10yN of IV
G4T2 Rob Red lags 10y from end of B-baulk, presumably just in from the North bdry.
G4T3 Paddy U shoots at R from B-baulk. Rushes it into II. Rolls Red 8yNNW of hoop 1. Blue presumably missed Black. (4 of us here, none of us saw it!)
G4T4 Rob Yellow at Red from A-baulk (14y). Snicks it.

G4T4 Rob approaching 1 from 3y E. Runs it without control. Rejects 8y return roquet in favour of the much closer Red., which was to have been his pioneer for 2. Fails to get anywhere near 2. Has optional approach from B-baulk. Fails long (10'?) hoop.

I'm told Mulliner failed a 6" rover having done 3 peels of a tpo, thus losing to Giraud in the plate.

G4T5 Paddy misses Black at Yellow (14y - maybe Red part of target?)

Yellow is 1y in front of 2, Red 3yW of Y, Black 3yW of Red. Blue is 5yS of 4.

G4T6 Rob Red hits Black, tries to rush Yellow to Blue but Yellow hits hoop 5. Good take-off behind Blue and he's away.

G4T6 Rob is on a break with Red. Yellow clip is on 2, Blue and Black clips still on 1.

There's a Y Doubles game behind me on lawn 6, but i shall try to concentrate on lawn 11.

On a trip to the bar I see the other Y doubles semi is just starting on lawn 9.

Rob is still on G4T6. Red is now POPping Blue thru 2 after 1-back. Black clip still on 1.
Looks like just the 8 hoops. Black is left 9yN of 1st corner. Yellow 2yE of 2nd corner. Blue is 8yS of 3rd corner. Red is in 4th corner.
.

Maybe some bridge in the offing but it's a bit windy for outside play.

I didn't mention that one half of the Y doubles had a retro theme. This morning Hope & Murray beat Noble & Vincent, and are now playing Mulliner & Ormerod.

G4T7 Paddy plays K, croquets Yellow 5y WNW of 1,misses partner from 7y.

Black is 1y S of Blue.

G4T8 Rob Red misses Black to 1'W of 3rd corner.

G4T9 Paddy Black rushes Blue into 3rd corner. Black is for hoop 1. Rushes Red to Yellow, makes 1. Picks up break.

G4T9 After 3 Paddy black rushed Yellow across to 2 looking for a POP. Has now jawsed the POP before 6.

G4T9 Paddy Black completes the POP before 1-back. Has go at POPping Yellow thru 3 after 1-back. Looks like Black is making 9 hoops.

G4T9 Paddy gets the POP thru 3 in a death roll to 3-back. Now has to organize contact leave. Ends up with big roll, Blue in 2nd corner, Black 5yN of 1st corner, Red and Yellow about 10' apart East of hoop 3.

Clips are Paddy: Blue 3, Black 4-back; Rob Red 3-back, Yellow 4.

G4T10 Rob Red takes on his 10' "rush" to 4y E of 3-back. Take-off approach. Runs hoop 6y thru. Lags to leave rush for Yellow.

G4T11 Paddy shoots Blue at Black (28y). Misses into 1st corner.

I keep feeling the odd spot of rain, but not enough to send me inside.

G4T12 Rob Yellow rushes Red toward West bdry, but hoop 5 intervenes. Take off to Black. Bit short. Good snick toward Blue. Take-off for rush to 4. Pretty good rush.
Could this be finishing turn? Lot of work to do...

G4T12 After 4 Rob Yellow takes off to Black (Blue left by 4). Black to 6. Makes 5 off Red, rushes Red off S bdry. Red croqueted toward 4-back. Blue to 1-back, makes 6 off Black. Black is croqueted West of 4-back, so he's aiming for the first peel before 2-back.

G4T12 Rob Yellow makes 1-back off Blue, without useful rush afterwards. Blue croqueted to 3-back. Maybe 4' peel. Makes it. Reasonable rush to 2-back, maybe 3y short. Copes.

G4T12 Rob yellow has 1-yard penult peel before 4-back. It's in the jaws, but a quick squint suggests it's through. Rob makes 4-back. Strangely goes to Blue before Red. Maybe Yellow wasn't through. It doesn't matter as he's Irishing from the jaws. Red misses the peg and is 2y N of rover.

G4T12 Rob is 1 yard in front of rover. Maybe 2'6". Red sticks 3/4 of way thru hoop. Little half-jump goes well.

Rob wins Game 4 +15tp, and match 3-1.

Sorry I've been missing all the fun on lawn 6, Y doubles semi, junior section. Robert Wiikinson is TPOing Gabrielle Higgins. After some dodgy half-jump at rover, peelee is on the S bdry. Wilko and partner Smith are now lining up 7-yard peg-out. They get it, and Wilko's ball follows on to the peg. Crowd most amused.

So we have Polhill on 4 v Richard Smith on 5.

I am NOT doing ball-by-ball on this.

In the experienced half of the Y Doubles, Mulliner & Ormerod have beaten Hope & Murray.

In the Plate, the Draw final will be between Tibble and Giraud.
The Process final will be between Dawson, and the winner of Tibble and Polhill, the latter still being in the Y doubles.

Smith in front of 6, Polhill for 1-back.

The rain is here.

On lawn 6, both clips are on 1-back.

OK, time for me to head off in search of refreshment.

Singles final, Reg Bamford v Robert Fulford will start at 10am tomorrow on lawn 11.

Good night.