Hi team, back online. We join the action with Ian having run hoop 3 and had a long peel attempt for a standard TP. Opts to play it pretty straight and end up planting red onto the lefthand wire, and not having a rush on black.
Gets a good hoop 5 pioneer, but i'm not sure what happened at hoop 4 amid the setup and login challenges and looked up to see him playing what looked like a scatter attempt on black which missed.

Red (4b) now on the wire back of hoop 3 still, yellow around mid west boundary and for hoop 4. Skinley has a 7 yarder on partner with clips that haven't moved yet.

Blue from hoop 4 at black near hoop 5 misses, ending up about 5 yards south of yellow. A couple of good shots will allow Ian to continue his break

Bit of a crowd here now. Brian Boutel has his big lens out, a few players have arrived, and a few genuine spectators. Absolutely roasty and good to get a session in at the driving range before coming here for the action.

Poor old Ian - all against him - stalks his ball and a player on his line has her phone go off a full volume. Then the camera on his line clicks noisily.. Hits blue in the middle, sending it to 5 yards north of corner 1. Pausing for a think...

In case you're starting here, somewhat like me, Greg v Aiken is on lawn 1, and Ian v Paul is on lawn 2. Lawn not all that crispy yet, but seems to be causing enough challenges to dissuade some players from tripling.

Big shot... rolls blue towards 1b going to peelee... too much - blue ends up 2 yards south of the boundary and now yellow is a yard north of hoop 3. Has a wee smidge of a ball which is dead centre of the lefthand wire.
Misses by a dribble by about an inch

Paul shooting from near hoop 1. (I'll try to number turns in the next game/s).
Good roquet on yellow, red should rush somewhere near blue, so Paul has a genuine chance here.
I umpired Ian's shot with yellow - looking quite crispy underfoot - should get to 30 deg out there. Low 20s under the tree here.

Paul has done well here - red still well north of hoop 2, yellow well north of hoop 3, but has rushed partner to 3 feet west of hoop 1. Croquet stroke approaching 1... black rolls on a bit, bout 25deg off-centre angle... hits it nicely and has a 3 yarder back at blue. Still has some work to do with those northwards balls, but Paul has shown decent focus during this tournament.

Has rushed blue back to a foot dead north of hoop 1 - definitely will be taking off from this - going to yellow at 3 first.

Yellow is tidied, now approaching hoop 2 from 4 feet slightly south of west. Nice stroke, but red is not far north of the hoop - some of us would be facing a 6 yarder after this hoop stroke!

Runs 2 smoothly, now in good shape, though blue is a little uncomfortably close to hoop 1. Rushes red short of hoop 4.

Nice break now - has a ball at 5 and 6, making 4... hampered!! Through by about 10 inches, and red is 5 feet away. Should be ok...

Hits red in the middle. This will be an equalising ball to 4b

Sticks in hoop 5 from nowhere!

short roquet available for Ian with his 4b ball as this was put halfway to 2b for the early 2b pioneer.

Backswing looks a little wobbly... hits anyway. Didn't look that convincing

Ian's making some points with red - approaches 4b off partner, it's a bit long, but straight.... good solid hoop stroke. He has a good deep pioneer and now has a rush to penult

I think he was trying to cut partner to black, south-west of hoop 2, but he gets the middle of it and it goes towards the middle of the west boundary.

any comments?requests/, etc... [email protected] Michael is next to me, so can pass stuff on to him too

Nice croquet stroke rolls yellow to teh west boundary level with hoop 2, has a rush on black pointing at the peg. possibly time to tidy up and get through the lift.

Rushes south of penult, very good takeoff to 14 inches dead straight

Creams through to the south boundary to pick up blue which he'd left there. This will now be a leave - trying for some sort of reverse diagonal spread - but tried to put blue to the peg with a very wide split - blue doesn't oblige and goes 3 yards west of the peg. Now has a rush on black to the peg...

nope... rushes black to rover... this break is still under way - this will probably be a standard spread

Comfortably through a slightly angled rover.
Update; Ian Dumergue: red: peg, yellow: hoop 4. Paul Skinley: blue: hoop 1, black is for hoop 5.

Big of an ugly spread from Mr D .Black a couple of yards WNW of the peg, blue in reverse diagonal spread position near the east boundary, looked like he played a takeoff from blue as his last stroke and it went off a few yards north of yellow towards corner 2, but it could have been deliberate - though don't think he'd want a reverse rush. Anyways, he has the innings, and made some points - all good as the breeze gets up a bit.

Skinley has lifted black from the middle of the lawn and is taking the short shot at red. Blue is nearish hoop 4, yellow's hoop, but it's also reasonably close to the boundary, so there was nothing in the choice of balls to lift.

Good thing Im' doing the commentary on Paul's game, as I'd probably be a bit harsh on AJ's tactics on lawn 1 at the moment.

Actually, Paul was shooting at yellow - which he has just missed.

Went off for a jacket (bit cool under the tree) and drama happened...

Ian tamely failed hoop 4 from right in front.
Paul hit, make hoop 1 with blue, but with black very near the west boundary he's odds against to make hoop 2.
Now approaching hoop 2 from just south of corner 2...

... it's a good shot - but a 5 foot straight hoop...

big rejection - past where he shot from.

Ian has hit in from three to 2 with his peg ball

Leave; blue in nsl position SW of hoop 2, black a couple of yards east of corner 3, he'll lay up in corner 4 with a rush for yellow to hoop 4.

Paul is shooting with blue at black into corner 3 - nice tempo of swing and hits it easily.
The plate have moved back to united for the knockout. Good to have some more people here. Atmosphere and catering there is superb as usual - well done Pauline and her team!

Takes off to red and yellow in corner 4 - overhits the the rush on yellow to hoop 2 - bounces off the hoop to 3 feet west.

sticks in hoop 2

Brian on to watch Ian shooting at Blue in the hoop - 3 yards and angled - looks very easy... asks the referee to stand still. Seems to be quite a long conversation really... ... swinging...

smashes it off the middle of the east boundary

makes hoop 4 well, has a fine takeoff from close to hoop 5 - gets it watched... fails hoop 5 (experimenting with Tim's new commentary formatting)

Paul is now approaching 2 with blue, off partner. gets a longish hoop, but straight - should be ok

nope - blue is now adjacent to hoop 2, yellow at hoop 5 - might be able to run it up to red near 3 or paul at 2. Paul's looking quite frustrated, will need to refocus and get through that hoop to settle a bit.

Ian smashes yellow through a 2 foot hoop 5. But unlucky not to hit the peg and bounce off somewhere towards 2 or 3. Wicks a bit to west of B baulk, and he's shooting at black now - about a 9 yarder

misses to 12 yards south of corner 4. Still not trivial for Paul to make hoop 2

Paul playing his hoop 5 ball - a good cut will get blue to yellow. Plays a good cut - not off the boundary, but good chances to get going

been around the houses, but probably won't get going - he's going to try taking off from the middle of the east boundary... bit short, but great effort

jumping...

decent effort, but a bit too much of the far wire, and probably in worse hoop-running position

ian has missed partner to middle fo east boundary. no targets there .pub time - chris in charge of commentary!

skinley hits from hoop 5 - has a rush north of 5 now

41 minutes left in the 4hr first game and Dumergue leads 17-5

Skinley makes a leave near C1 for his hoop 5 ball and Dumergue moves from hoop 2 to C4. Tough break pick-up for Skinley coming up

Rushes partner to 11yards NE of hoop 5 and gets a rush on yellow to red which is 3 feet W of C4. Rushes Y into C4 and gets a rush to hoop 5 which he plays very poorly to 5 yards SE. I really think Paul needs to be making 2 hoops and then trying to get a break for his hoop 2 ball. Approaches to 2 feet 10 degrees and fails it to much further away. Ian has a 6 yarder with his peg ball............hits

Ian makes defensive leave near C4. Paul shoots from 5 yards W of hoop 1 with his hoop 5 ball...............hits. Needs to make a couple of hoops and set a good leave.

Paul plays a great rush to a yard in front of hoop 5 - approaches to 1ft straight and blobs off Ian's peg ball

Ian makes another leave, but this time, black is 6yards SW of hoop 2 (blues hoop). An opportunity to take a shot from near C3 to C4 for Paul for a chance of a break with his backward ball? With just 22 minutes left it must be tempting.

Paul opts to shoot black at blue..........misses narrowly

I'd be tempted to not make any hoops from here and try and split Paul up and defensify the balls. Yes - Ian refuses his rush on partner and is lining up a take-off to C3 - good shot

Ian gets a rush to hoop 6 but misapproaches and has a 2 foot 20 degree hoop. Corner 1 looks like the place to go me. Ian lines up the hoop...........then plays 5 feet North of C1.

Paul plays blue at black (12 yarder) near hoop 3..........hits. Rolls partner towards C2 going to Ian's yellow near C1 - really good shot. He now needs to croquet this to hoop 3 and move red to hoop 4 and leave a rush to hoop 2. Almost goes off going to red near C4, but he's ok. Red is left 3 yards S of hoop 5 and blue has a guarded rush to hoop 2 - good turn.

Ian plays yellow at hoop 3 to just N of C1. Paul needs to go to the peg with a peel and peg out to take a one point lead , although he'll still be underdog since he'll be giving contact. 2 peels would be a very good turn.
Rushes to hoop 2 and grovels through the hoop. Now taking off to C1 - good shot. Now for the difficult roll sending Y to hoop 4 getting a rush on R to hoop 3.............y is good and he gets a 7 foot rush pointing at the end of b-baulk. Hits it in the middle to 5 yards N of hoop 6. Approaches hoop 3 - really good shot leaving an 18" 20 degree hoop - good shot - runs it getting a rush south!! A real chance from here

I think Paul needs to try to set up to peel 5 before 2-b which will give him a second try before 3-b and still leave time to peel hoop 6 after penult. He can't really peel hoop 6 after rover since he'd be leaving a ball at Ian's hoop giving contact. Time is very short now.

2 minutes left. Paul has played some more good shots and can set up to peel 5 before 1-b if he feels brave.

Time is called as Paul approaches hoop 5.

After hoop 5, Paul sends red 3 yards S of 1-b and gets a rush on black to hoop 5 - underhits it. He'll need to peel it going to 1-b now. Needs a rush out of hoop 6.........takes out from 5 to 6 and his ball travels a yard further than ideal - good cut rush to 4 feet straight - approaches to 18" straight sending Y deep. Really good hoop stroke obtains a 3 yard rush pointing at 2-b which he hits in the middle 14 yards.

A good gentle 2 yarder rushes partner 9" in front of hoop 5 slightly off centre making an easy roll to 1-b. The peel fails and Paul does well to jump out of the way of the rejecting peelee. He's now appraoching 1-b from 3ft to the side

Paul makes 1-b and has a hampered rush south - taps it gently in the middle.

Rolls red to 3-b and gets 5 foot south of peelee.............only hits it quarter ball, but has a chance to peel going to 2-b. I like playing these with take-offs just to jaws. Paul plays a split roll...............peelee misses the hoop completely after getting loads of pull. Paul now has a 2 foot backward take-off to 2-b..........18" hoop...........gets hoop and roquet.

Really good croquet stroke sends Y to 4-b and gets a good rush to hoop 5. Partner is left near hoop 5 whilst Pau makes 3-b. He'll be trying to peel hoop 5 all the way to hoop 6 rolling to 4-b.

6" 10 degree 3-b see Paul stalk it from 5 yards - these hoops demand respect......runs it by 3 yards.

Another good croquet stroke sends out a penult pioneer getting a rush to hoop 5. Peeling from 18" 5 degrees............peels hits the near wire and finishes nearer hoop 1 than hoop 5. Paul is in all sorts of trouble now.

Runs 4-b and gets a rush back to peelee. Needs to rush in front of hoop 5 and peel going to penult

Rushes peelee in front of rover, so he'll need to try and peel before or after rover and peg himself out for a 1 point lead conceding contact. I expect Ian to play his peg ball from the contact unless black is within 6 yards of hoop 6

Paul goes to black first at rover. Gets a 1 ft rush which he cuts to 4 feet in front of hoop 5. Now lining up a hoop 5 peel going to Y 3 yards NE of rover.................peel gets too much pull and hits the right hand wire bouncing almost 6 yards West

Should be playing to try to cannon black towards 5, but doesn't get a rush pout of rover. He's almost dead now. I'll pass you over to Burridge for the last few strokes (CC signing out)

odd time to take over. Y level with 2 on W boundary, R 10 yds S of it rushes to 18" 45 degrees

Aspinall peel?

I dont think it goes any other way

Dumergue has contact and is for the peg remember

Tries it hard bounces back to 4' straight

Dumergue rememebers the contact its all over

Dumergue 18-17

Every chance that will prove to be a good turn for Skinley's confidence, I think he is still very in this

Game 2 Skinlye to play 1st with black

9 yards N of corner 4 - as per the British Open the only place for the 1st ball!

Some confusion over time which is now being clarified as 3 hours - the players had set a clock running at 4

Dumergue to just S of corner 2

Paul misses to a few inches W of corner 4

Ian misses partner, replaced in contact

Blue misses black to corner 3 - I wonder how many points are required to win this game?

Yellow takes off successfully to U on corner 3

Quite chilly in teh wind in the commentators booth between lawns 1 and 2, lawn bathed in sunshine except for corner 1 and a yard or so outside

Ian corquet blue into hoop 1 bounces back to 6" in front of 2 back hits K

Dumergue - funny sculpted mallet shaft with green grip and long (12") wooden head with holes bored through. White cricket sunhat, blue shirt white shorts, sock and ankle boots with yellow laces.

Needs to give U a shot doesnt have one to corner 2 the shot to near corner 3 is not as far N as he woudl like looking at other options. Will 9 points be enough?

Great shot with K to almost the maximum extent of the open area 3 yards SW of 3. Y goes out 5' S of R

Skinley - White sunglasses, black shirt, black shorts, white socks and trainers, yellow neckerchief soaked in water as a coolant. Terminator(?) mallet

Misses U at K. Dumergue seems good at getting people to miss (I missed my first 15 shots yesterday!)

Paul retires to his chair on the N boundary of lawn 3 (I hope it is comfortable)

R taps Y good take off to U

U to 6 poor rush to 1

Rushes well to 8' W of 1

approach goes downhill to 2' 30 degrees

Going back to Y

(thanks Ian for taking over there while an emergency dash to the engravers took place. Bless them - Academy Awards engravers, Stanley Street - best engravers ever!!!). Jenny back now..

Paul's got a 15 yarder shooting north from near hoop 1 to near hoop 6

misses by several inches.

Ian's first stroke sees yellow rushed a couple of yards north of hoop 5 - looks like it's going to corner 3 heading to black which is on the boundary up near there. Plays a nicely controlled strong on quick looking lawns. Chris reckons 13 sec lawns

Rolls black to 2 getting a decent-looking rush to 1...

Has a backwards takeoff from about 7 yards north of hoop 1 - might end up just having a leave?

Nope - takes it on - beautiful pace, a bit west of perfect line. Chris is very impressed. Has about a 20 deg hoop, 12 inches - lovely stuff.

Runs it nicely to get a rush towards the middle of the west boundary - nearly got a perfect rush as well.

Still not all under control - black is a few feet east of hoop 2, yellow is closer to corner than to hoop 3

Don't like this -Chris claiming a tactical error... Ian rolls blue between hoops 3 and 4 going to yellow - now has a 2 yarder which will make his pioneer worse, and will have to take off from further away to get to black. Yellow now 2 yards west, and 4 yards south of corner 3. He's taking off along the rushline, but bit long for my liking

Good takeoff

safely through hoop 2 with a rush he can cut to corner 3 - rushes to north boundary behind hoop 3 - a good stopshot and it should be a quiet ball to 4back.

nope - plays a perfect roll putting black 3 feet north of hoop 4 and getting a 4 foot rush back to yellow - very nice stroke there by Ian

all under control now.

oh dear. Ian has poked a ball just through hoop 4 and has a hampered stroke. This might be controversial, but i absolutely do not believe a handicap 14 player who qualified as a referee a couple of months ago should be refereeing anything in a New Zealand Open semi final. Fortunately it's a pretty trivial stroke

oh dear - * Ian has prodded red into the jaws of hoop 5*

fortunately for him it's off partner and Paul has to hit an 8 yarder, or something closer to 13 yards from hoop 6 (which he's looking at taking).

Paul hits his 8 yarder.
right - the ROT is back in charge. Watches as Paul peels red through 5 from a scary angle. Rolls it near 2 getting a rush on partner from hoop 6 to somewhere near 1. That last turn in game 1 was probably huge here

Approaching hoop 2 from 2y WSW of the hoop - lovely stroke - he has a 4 ball break. I wonder how far this break will get?

Not that far it turns out.. paul has run hoop 1 by about 7 inches and might not be able to hit anything... shooting at partner with Brian in attendance - might be ok, but it looks a bit challenging. Blue 4 yards NE of the hoop

Paul now making hoop 6, has good pioneers at 1b and 2b. Can't tell what sort of leave Paul will do as he's a bit unconventional about the parity of balls sometimes. Spreads look safe on these lawns though.

Hmm, sorry Skinley fans - had a bit of a blip in comms between my computer and croquetscores - Paul hit his hampered stroke and has picked up a lovely 4ball break - will be looking t have an NSL

red (for 6 now) about 12y S and 2y E of corner 2, yellow out as a good 3back pioneer and paul's approaching 2b off partner from 6 inches. This has been a nice turn.

Got distracted by work stuff on another screen... Paul has approached 3b putting yellow 7 feet north and slightly west of 3b, runs the hoop and hits partner, croquets it towards the east boundary and doesn't rush yellow well enough - he has now put it 2 feet west of the peg and will be having a B spread

Not the best leave, but a very tidy ball to 4b.

Does Ian have a target from the peg??? - he is having a good hard look

Maybe just a single ball, as it's the shortest shot on the lawn - red is quite deep...

Hits the middle of black, which ricochets onto blue. This is yellow, his hoop 1 ball.

Croquets black towards hoop 4, and has a rush he can cut to either red or to 1... lovely rush off the boundary next to red - good opportunity here.

Gets a good hoop 2 pioneer and rushes to 2 feet from hoop 1. Bit skatey in front of this hoop

Nice-looking croquet stroke, but yellow just took off - big jump needed here... not even sure if it's doable, but it's off partner, and there's nothing else for him. Probably 55 degrees - went straight down the west-east hill.

jumping - good stroke - hit the far wire on the up, and comes back out

Skinley misses from hoop 2 shooting down at Ian's balls. Ian is playing yellow and has a rush on partner pointing at the peg.

Hits it in the middle, but still doesn't look convincing. Guest commentator Jono Hart thinks he should have played his hoop 6 ball which had a rush towards corner 1. I'm inclined to agree as blue is on the boundary 11y east of corner 1 and black is 2y in from the east boundary level with hoop 4.
As it is Ian has now left red on the hoop 3-4 line, 11y south of hoop 3 - so pretty in-lawn, and hasn't rushed black anywhere near that blue ball on the boundary. He can still have a go at approaching 1.

Plays a big croquet stroke from near corner 4 putting black to 2 and coming along a beautiful line just inside the yard line a few yards past blue. Hits blue, rushing it 4 yards east of the end of A baulk.

Plays the approach to 1 - gets no sympathy from the hill and end up just north of hoop 1 - looked a beautiful stroke

shoots off the east boundary level with partner.

Paul corners with blue from hoop 1.

Ian shoots red back at yellow on the boundary - so playing his hoop 6 ball and hits - black is south of hoop 2

Rolls yellow across - it's a bit closer to corner 2 than 1back, gets a decent cut chance to hoop 6 - now approaching from 5ft SW

While i've thought Ian has looked a bit fragile, I've always been impressed by his big croquet strokes, and courage to play them.

Approaches 6 putting black very deep - looks like red has skidded past and he's looking at joining up with partner near the west boundary level with 2

Paul has put black 12 yards north of corner 4,so has a very wide join .Ian hits red with yellow and now has a long takeoff to get a better leave

Takes off to the northern ball.

cuts black off west of corner 4. blue is a foot north of corner 4

1hr 19min to go - Paul has a 9-5 lead at the moment - could it be enough??

rushes blue a yard NW of hoop 1 - let's see how he copes with that takeoff

not well at all - takeoff is wimpy and barely gets south of hoop 1 - time to go home up towards corner 2.

looks like he left blue a big double from hoop 1 - Paul misses red by not much, and hits yellow. This is his hoop 1 ball.

Yellow to 2, rushes red to black near corner 4 - lovely rush to 4 feet dead south of hoop 1 - a nice place to approach the hoop from.

Chris wins $5 from Ian as blue falls down the hill - looks about as hard as Ian's jump stroke - this looks too hard...

Beautiful wee jump - it's through! - through by an inch - might not be able to hit anything, but priceless to be off hoop 1. Brian on - looks fairly straight actually, but black is 5 yards north

hits the middle of it - good job Paul.

Approaches 2 nicely, hoop 3 pioneer is a few yards SW of 3. yellow to 4, has a rush to black (pioneer), if he copes with this rush it's a ball to the peg for a definitive lead.

Paul's starting a standard triple on lawn 2

Wibbles the peelee gently towards the hoop - doesn't touch the hoop and just sits somewhere up near 4back. Good 5 pioneer, and running 4 from a bit of an angle but close...runs it nicely. rush is west -needs to abandon that TP

Through 5, plays big standing-up roll putting red 3y north of 1back getting a westish rush on black - that TP is over - good decision

Fails 1-back from about 4 inches. Having a long hard look... clip is on.

Ian's having a polite umpire to shoot red at blue ... looks nuts - he's for hoop 6 with red, but he's for 1 with yellow and black is next to hoop 1. Should be playing yellow

Has established a break, made 6,1b and now 2b, has a NW 3b pioneer which should be ok. Not sure what leave is coming - balls not ideal for anything at the moment.

update: Paul: black 4b, blue 1b, Ian: yellow hoop 1, red in play and on 3b. 39 minutes to play - time at 5.30pm

Through 3b, has a 2y dribble back at blue to fashion an NSL..

Pokes it far too hard and is taking croquet 18 inches south of hoop 4.

it'll be an OSL. Blue 3y SW of hoop 2, black 3y east of the peg, and red and yellow will be tight in corner 4

Paul has lifted blue and is shooting at black from A baulk towards corner 3... hits!

Fails 1back with blue. Bit far back to try to run it next time, red (reception ball) is well south - Ian is shooting at partner near corner 4.

Tough position for paul - blue north-west of 1back, black next to hoop 1 - yellow is still for hoop 1 - paul might be tempted to corner here as red has missed into corner 1.

Black into corner 1

Ian hits partner, takes off through the shadow of the big tree to corner 1 - there is no way to approach hoop 1 from that direction! - ends up 3 feet ESE of hoop 1.

back to partner

Difference is now Ian has a rush to hoop 2

Paul to corner 3. This seems a shame - I was enjoying Ian's attempts to approach hoop 1 from west of it!

Ian rushes red to 5y west of corner 3, plays a nice takeoff - might be able to rush this directly to hoop 1!...

Nope... into the yardline, 6y east of corner 1 - we get to see another hoop approach!

Manager has confirmed plate and final are best of three. We are still in game 2 here...

17 minutes to go here

Ian is approaching 1... - doesn't hit it hard enough - and the wind-against stops it early - will be running to corner 3 - he's 5y south and quite well west

Paul's running again - into corner 4 this time. It will leave Ian a long rush to blue at hoop 2

Jim Nicholls looking a little sheepish - has just reported his 5th/6th match (the other two quarterfinalists didn't continue) is presently 1-1. This is very respectable - however it is 5.18pm, and Jimbo had been asking for a best-of-five!

Rushes red reasonably well, ok croquet stroke getting a good rush to 1, but red 3y west of hoop 2. Let's have another go...

Rushes blue 2.5 yards slightly south and unfortunately WEST of hoop 1. Here we go...

Nice stroke - takes an extra ball of roll, but it's definitely runnable. Blue is nice and deep...

almost dead straight, actually. and 18 inches... and through by 5 feet to plenty of applause - has a rush to corner 2 - that really was nicely done. Needs to get to 1b to tie, 2b to take the lead. 10 minutes to go

Rush isn't convincing, doesn't get off the lawn, and he won't get it anywhere near hoop 3.

Nice stop-shot approach sends partner slightly into the eastern side of the lawn and gets a 1yard hoop...

Solidly through. Will he smash blue down to corner 4 and pick up boack/

hmm, distracted... "black?"

nope - gentle roquet and a far safer line of play

Came up a bit short on partner to rush to 3, but approaches hoop, and runs it getting hoop and roquet - rushes red 4 yards south of hoop 5. Now taking off to black in corner 4. Blue is a few yards north of hoop 4

Ok roll out of corner 4 - black is a couple of yards north-east of hoop 5, yellow has a cut towards north of hoop 4

time's up

Approaching from 5ft north and slightly west of hoop 4

maybe 4 ft

nice approach - straight in front, 15 inches back, blue is nice and deep

Cleanly through to the boundary - remember he's aiming to get past 2-back

close, but slightly angled hoop 5... runs it to the peg, and has his partner 3 yards away

Hits it in the middle.

Partner to 2b, black south of 1b getting a rush to 6. This is a very good turn so far.

Hoop 6 is "slightly off-centre" (chris)

Runs it well. Has a rush to north boundary. Chris fancies a hoop and a leave here - has merit, red is closer to hoop 5 then 2back

Didn't rush north enough, Blue is somewhere near 2back though, so in better shape. Chris wanted blue halfway between 1 and 2 and to have a leave. Definitely doesn't want him making 3b. Ian Burridge "pegging out wins". I'm with Ian.

4inch approach - basically to where Paul failed 1b from - makes sure of it - good play - placed black for hoop-and-roquet. Ian B is getting nervous and fancies Chris's play now. Black 4ft NW of 3b.

Nice approach to 2b. 6 inches and straight. Makes sure of the hoop and gets a 2.5 y roquet. He'll be going to the peg. Chris wanted blue put west as a reception ball and a leave

8 inch slightly angled 3b... through nicely again "good positive hoop stroke" (Chris)

Black is now going to rover - red will be penult pioneer

Rushes well to 4b. Paul is going to have 3 balls on the lawn and have to do something amazing to stay in the NZ Open.

10 inch 4back.. runs it nicely, can rush blue to black and swap pioneers. "Hoop 5's the firm one" (CC)

Leaves black there ,rushes blue a couple of yards, and will put blue to the peg as a backup to run penult to. Expect to see a deep ball for running rover hard

no deep ball ! total control at rover though

black not rushed off the lawn, but croquets it 2y SE of hoop 4 - that was the one that needed to be off the lawn.

rushes blue to mid West boundary. That's not very important as it's the ball that's going to play. Chaps want red mid east boundary -and give credit to paul if he can rush it into corner 4

Chris cringing - takes off to get a rush pointing at the middle of the north boundary... really needs to get near the middle of the east boundary. Huge cut rush has Chris in mild shock - could have missed that!

taking croquet halfway between 6 and west boundary... croqueting it towards east boundary going to peg out - will likely leave a double target from north boundary - but at least he keeps it on the lawn and can peg out.

Great opportunity for Paul - can take the short shot at black and red is a couple of yards in to rush to 1b, or can take the double from north boundary

Paul has lifted blue and is taking the short shot at black from A baulk

Misses badly to the right and it's all over. Well done Ian Dumergue - wins 22-15, 2-0 at 6.07pm.
Final will definitely be best of three.