The 10th Egyptian Open Golf Croquet International Championship
2014 Egyptian International Open Final: Hamy Erian v Ahmed Nasr by Stephen Mulliner
The players are warming up for their best-of-5 final. Hamy is the defending champion. Ahmed is out for revenge following last year's defeat at Hamy's hands. The consensus is that if the players play as they did yesterday, Ahmed will win.
In his semi-final, he played a controlled game with several examples of his ability to combine huge power and accuracy and always had the edge over Ahmed El Mahdi who was himself playing to a very high standard.
In the other semi-final, Hamy out-lasted and frustrated the big-hitting Mohamed Nasr yesterday rather than dominating the match in any sense. He had some lucky breaks (such as running 10 from just through 9 in game 3). Mohamed looked the better player for 70% of the match but Hamy is famously calm and took his chances, finishing with a smoothly run 7 yard 12 in game 3.
Ahmed can combine the power game with a quieter approach with great touch and will present a much tougher challenge for the 22 year old Hamy.
03 Oct 2014 7:05PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
Hamy Erian is BK. Ahmed Nasr RY. It is 1908 local time.
B 2y S 1, almost dead straight. Good start. R 3y SSW 1. K 3y S 1. Y fires at B at 35mph - misses and clears R instead.
B fails 1 - hitting the E wire and ending on the W wire. R from Wb to 2y SW 1. K tries to jaws off B but ends up on E wire with B 2ft W 1. Y 3y SSW 1. B rushes R to 5y E C1. Ahmed ponders - may be blocked from the hoop and K by Y. R to 3ft E 1. K jaws. Y has a jump for 3y but it hits the W wire and bounces off to the E. B now rushes K to 5y S 2. A rather messy start but BK 1-0.
03 Oct 2014 7:13PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
R 4y SSW 2. K at 2 - runs it smoothly for BK 2-0.
03 Oct 2014 7:13PM (Tournament); 6 Readers
Y 5y NNW 3. B just runs into Y from near 4, 8in apart. R 2y NNW 3. K at Y - cuts it into C3, the best he could do. But Y has a 7y at B - but only a fine cut on B to Nb, 10y W C3. B at R - clears R gently to 4y SSE 3, B 1ft W 3. R 3y N 3. K 5ft N 3, not blocking R. Y from Wb to 2y N 3, blocking K at 3. B cuts R to 6y NNE 3 looking for the block of R at 3. R clears Y and K - typical Ahmed - R Wb, Y Sb, K Eb! K 3ft N 3. Y from Sb just misses K at 30mph. B from Nb 2.5y N 3. R from Wb 14y S C2 at K - misses badly on left. K from 3ft - runs it under fair control to 5y W 4. Great start for Hamy. BK 3-0.
03 Oct 2014 7:20PM (Tournament); 6 Readers
Y 4y N 4. B 3y N 4. R 4y NE 4. K at Y - clears it to Eb 14y N C4 leaving 8y at B - powers both balls away - B 6y W C1, Y 12y N C1.
B 3y E 4. R drifts at 4 and just runs it - probably not what he wanted. BK 3-1.
03 Oct 2014 7:22PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
K 2ft SSE 5. Y at K from Wb - hits to Eb. B 2ft SE 5. R 7y S 5 (all he could do from the jaws of 4). K 2y S 5. Y 1ft SE 5 blocking B! Presents a problem for Hamy. Tries steep jump but bounces off hoop to 1ft SSW 5. R clears K to 9y S C2. K 5y WSW 5. Y jaws. B chips Y out to 3y SS5 with B 2ft E 5. Clever shot. R 3y S 5. K clears Y but with cut so that while Y reaches Eb, K is 4y W C4. Y 3ft SE 5. B clears R to 5y E C1 with B 10y S 5. R 4ft SSW 5. K at Y - hits, driving Y to 5y WNW peg, K ends 12y W 5. Y jaws 5 from behind. B 4y S 5. R stops B to middle Sb. K 4ft S 5. Y 1ft S 5. B at R from 9y - just hits, nicking R to just N of 5! R tries to clear K through hoop but only nicks it. K has a jump - struggles over Y and claims the hoop! BK 4-1.
03 Oct 2014 7:30PM (Tournament); 4 Readers
Y 4y S 6. B 4.5y S 6. R 2ft NW Y. Three balls in a triangle. K at Y - hits but peels Y. BK 4-2.
03 Oct 2014 7:32PM (Tournament); 4 Readers
Y 5ft NNW 7. B frim Eb 5y NNW 7. R 2ft NNW 7 blocking B at 7. K tries to block Y at 7 but falls 2ft short.
Y also blocked by R - plays 1ft W to increase block on B. Hamy goes aerial - gets the elevation but misses by 1ft left.
R runs with wire to 12y N 8. BK 4-3.
03 Oct 2014 7:34PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
K clubbed to 2y SSW 8. Y 3y NNE 8. B from Eb 2y NW 8. R 1yd beyond Y, blocking. K 2ft N 8. Y clears B to C1. Y comes back to in contact with K, blocking R at 8. R clears K to C1 and R to 5y W 8. K goes for block on Y at B - seems to have got it. So Y clears K onto B - B Eb, K 6y NNE 8, Y 8y NNE 8. B 3y NW 8. R 2ft N 8. K at 8 - runs it! BK 5-3.
03 Oct 2014 7:39PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
Y 1ft E 9. B 5y S 9. R 5y SSE 9. K 4ft S 9. Y 1ft S 9. B cuts R just past E wire to 9y N 9, B Eb 7y N C4. R at K - hits both to Sb S of 9. K at Y - snicks it to W, K going 8y N 9. Y 2ft S 9, wired from K. B at Y - misses down the hill. R 3ft SSE 9. K gives up on 9 and plays to 8y E peg just on-side. Y runs to 9y S 10. BK 5-4.
03 Oct 2014 7:43PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
B 5y SSW 10. R 2y S 10. K just onto E wire. Y drifts at 10 but misses on left, ending 5y NNW 10. B goes for in-off K - gets the hoop without touching K. BK 6-4.
03 Oct 2014 7:44PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
R 3ft N 11. K at R - hits, cutting R to 9y WSW 11, K to 3y W 2. Y 5ft N 11. B 3y N 11. R 2ft WNW 11. K at Y - misses on left. Y at 11 for 5-6 - runs ti hard to Sb, 11y W C4. BK 6-5.
03 Oct 2014 7:46PM (Tournament); 6 Readers
B 3y NNW 12. R jaws! K just on-side for 13, 6y E peg. Y 3ft E 12. B 2ft SE peg, R taps - no point scored. K to 11y E peg. Ahmed ponders. Gives up on the rush idea and clips B sending Y to Nb 8y E C3! B 4y E peg. R scores - 6-6.
03 Oct 2014 7:50PM (Tournament); 6 Readers
K 5ft N 13. Y can see 13 - runs it at 30 mph. Great daylight robbery. 1-0 Ahmed.
03 Oct 2014 7:51PM (Tournament); 5 Readers
B 4ft S 1. 3y SSW 1. K 5ft S 1 - may be hampering B. Y to 2ft S 1! B cuddles R, preventing R at K? R hammers B into K with split and K goes to Eb. K at Y - misses. Y hit with controlled pace - and only jaws! B tries angles jump from Sb 10y E C1 and misses. R 8y N 1. K 2ft NE 1. Y runs to 5ft W 2. RY 1-0.
03 Oct 2014 7:56PM (Tournament); 6 Readers
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