11th WCF Golf Croquet World Championship

Hello world - I've landed on my feet here. After a looong drive down the coast I've found myself in a beautiful little croquet club surrounded by palm trees and a very well forested hill. This is a gorgeous setting. The hoops are firm, and the people here are doing a stirling job of ensuring they stay firm.

Before we kick off (they're fighting over hoop 1 in game 2, so I have a little time...)...
Lunch... $10 for all-day catering... a very yummy filled roll, muffin, muesli bar (chocolate!), apple, banana, and something else I monstered seconds after being served. Everyone here has looked very pleased with their lunchbags. Fresh lemon drink and plentiful nibbles inside. This club is scoring highly.

Right... Hamish McIntosh (NZ) v Mohamed Karem (Egy) on lawn 1 (? - well , the left-hand lawn, near the gorgeous green hill - please can we post photos Tim??).

Karem got 6-1 up in the first, but Hamish fought back valiantly before eventually losing 7-4.

Game 2 has actually been going for about 15 minutes, but we're still on 0-0. There have been a few long-range attempts at 1, including the most recent shot that nailed the middle of the near wire. These hoops are built of sterner stuff.

Karem wins the first hoop with a very short angled shot, through with blue by about 5 yards.

Hamish plays up to 2 - looks a bit wide.

Karem has a look, and looks unsure if it can be run

The lawns are pretty good here - they're patchy green and brown, as Chris mentioned yesterday - and with a bit of a hill up to the north on the way from corner 4 to hoop 1 the second lawn in was quite fun to play on today -either you go tight to 1 and risk ending up adjacent to it, or you go south - and have to run over a LOT of fast stuff.

Black has tried to play tight from nearish hoop 4 - it's now adjacent to hoop 2. Yellow takes 3 yard position. Blue shoots and misses

Looks like red wasn't that runnable - Hamish has played it up to next to black, but it fell to the side, and black clears yellow. Black now about 10 yards south of the hoop and west, yellow playing back in. Blue is on the north boundary.

Nice yellow.

(In front of me, Josh is 5-4 up against John-Paul. Both lovely chaps, struggling to find someone to support there!)

Blue plays in front of 2, red tried to dribble in front, but pulls up on a green bit.

Karem has a shot at yellow with black - misses.

Hamish has an angled hoop stroke with yellow, with possibly a little red in the way, and red won't be able to get with 15 yards of hoop 3... thinks about it for a while, then runs hoop 2 1-1

Blue takes deep position, red plays to slightly east of hoop 6, black takes deep position. Yellow shoots and misses. Karem will have at least one shot at the hoop. Hes about 3-4 yards back.

Nice hoop - runs it to a few yards south of the peg.

It sounds like this commentary won't last long - Omar reckons i'm second on. although there's currently nothign near finishing.

Hoop 4: Hamish came up short, Karem went too long and ended up next to the hoop couple more strokes and now black is clearing red. Black to the boundary next to hoop 4, red is up peg high, nothing in front of hoop 4.

Bit of controversy on a side lawn where someone wants all the carrots down - think I know who since we had a chat about carrots earlier, but a bit of a shame for the hoop setters as keeping the carrots up a bit leaves room to bang them down as the hoops loosen. No sign of the wee bits of cardboard here that were at Katikati yesterday - but plenty of signs of hoops having been moved. Ross Hamblyn and his team are doing a really good job here.

yellow and blue are now in front of hoop 4. Blue is a bit long, and red plays in front. Black is taking on the clearance at yellow...

(Josh and JP are still fighting over hoop 10)

Restalks black.. clears yellow to the middle of the west boundary. black is now in front of hoop 1.

(Josh has just played a nice clearance, but still has hit work cut out for him to get to 6 points here)

Hamish shooting with yellow...misses

I'm not sure how old Mohammed Karem is - seems pretty young though.

Stalking blue at hoop 4 - smashes through Karem leads 3-1

Red takes nice 3foot position at hoop 5. Black is short, yellow takes position. Blue will be shooting from the south boundary.

Shooting at red...Irish grip, and familiar aiming while standing upright, then a bend and hands much further down the mallet for the shot.

Unlucky... clears red, but only by a few yards as it hits black and moves that a few yards. Blue is on the north boundary.

Hamish plays the block in. leaving the hoop for yellow. ... seems to have got it ... Karem hits red, but this flies away harmlessly.4 foot hoop ...

Bounces off to the side. That was a decent opportunity.

Blue plays back down in front. Black is near enough to clear yellow

(the youngsters are STILL on hoop 9 - there have been some good clearances, a few tactical bits of hiding behind wires. ... Black has just cleared yellow, but only by 7-8 yards. It's a big shot, as black is now covering hoop 11. Didn't sound like a good contact, but yellow clears blue, and it's back on)

With blue and black in front of hoop 5, Hamish has clearing balls in place. Clears yellow to corner 1. Nice stun shot and yellow is near 5, but probably too angled to run it.

Blue plays back in deep and west. Red clearing black ... nice shot, red bounces off the hoop.

Someone's yelling at Josh in front of me - "Joshua settle down" - i can't think of a calmer chap!

Not sure who this is yelling at him - the manager? - no need to unsettle the lad though.

Not much has happened since I looked away from lawn 1.. Karem now taking on a very long and very angled hoop 5 with blue - nicely through by 5 yards.

(a hoop has been scored - Josh missed his first clearance in ages after being shouted at. JP then ran hoop 10 to level the game.

red plays up to hoop 6, 3 yards short. Black goes too far, yellow a yard short of red. Blue will be looking to clear from 2y south of the peg...

Blue clears red north - this just gave red a straight clearance on back.

(aha - a bee landed on Josh's hand - that'll explain it)

Black played back up to position at hoop 6, and yellow has bounced off hoop 6 towards hoop 3.

Blue clears red - will get two long goes at hoop 6. They are quite long, and red has played up to longish position.

(JP has just played a ripping shot to get to 6-5 against Josh. Josh was in front of 11 with both blue and black - JP ran the hoop from the boundary north of hoop 2!!)

Karem takes his first shot at hoop 6 - and runs it well 5-1

(JP taking on a 7 yarder for glory... misses the hoop completely. (BTW - sounds like the bee incident is sorted and the chaps are gonna make up after the game - go whakatane)

yellow takes position at 7, blue takes position. Too many spectators to see red - it's probably up there. Black plays a spectacular clearance from the north boundary clearing yellow to down level with hoop 5!

Hamish shoots back up and misses blue.

Karem checks the hoop - nice and firm - stalking - bit of an angle and about 3 yards... through by a foot. Mohammed Karem leads 6-1.

This has been a pretty impressive display by the young Egyptian - Hamish is a very strong player and Karem has hit a lot of powerful clearances and run plenty of hoops.

I'm going to turn my attention to Josh's game now - Josh just ran hoop 12 to level things. Red is offside, and blue is directly behind yellow - of course, that means if JP does anything sensible, he'll still get first play to hoop 13 with red.

Nope - he's going for a bit of a jumpy thing... and is now 5 yards in front of hoop 13 - nice shot that - must have had more space than it looked. I fancied just staying in front of blue there, but he has had a good result

Blue plays up to 4 foot position.

Red comes in from the west penalty spot, but is short (lush dark patch south-west of hoop 3)

Karem is now in front of hoop 8 with blue and black, Hamish near corner 1 with red, and yellow dangerously north of black...

red clears black - both balls travel to the peg

(Josh has played black up to what looks like lovely blocking position - ... no JP can see the hoop - just bounces out of the jaws. Blue has a 4 footer for the game... nice shot, Josh Freeth wins game 1 7-6

Back to lawn 1 while teh hoops are checked.
Karem clears yellow from the peg, yellow clears blue with a lovely central contact

blue takes position, black is on the south boundary, looks like Hamish is considering shooting. No - sensible chap - taking position - bit long, but it'll do.

Black clears yellow, but only by 7 yards. Black is now somewhere on the north boundary.

Nice... yellow has just run hoop 8! - this from about 8 yards.Might have had a double - hard to tell from here. Karem leads 6-2

Hamish fought back really well in the last game, let's see if he can do it here...

Blue plays over first - short and long. Red is nicely in front, but easily cleared. Black's in corner 3... plants on the wire of hoop 4. Yellow is shooting - misses.

Blue must have a shot at the hoop for that - Karem's hoop running has been excellent. The manager is now stalking the lawn with new name labels.

somehow black has played back through the hoop - yellow appears to be blocked by blue ... shoots .. hits blue, but black is still just through the hoop.

Blue shoots at red.. misses. Red has a long jump shot to stay in the match

misses the hoop and Karem has an easy shot to win the match. Mohammed Karem wins the second game 7-2

##Josh Freeth v John-Paul Moberly game 2##

Back to the action. JP has just run hoop 5 to 5 yards west of hoop 6. No idea what they're whittering about -must be that black ball that's lying off the lawn 4 feet north of the west penatly spot. JP leads 3-2

dang - summoned - lawn 4 (looks like the third one across...). Better dash...

nope - that lawn is currently occupied by game 2 of Ann v the Swedish opponent. They confused everyone by shaking hands atfter Ann (Anne?) won game 1

So... 4 balls surrounding hoop 6. Josh and JP catching up on the lawn like old friends, now laughing their heads off - great to see the connections made between the youngsters in the last couple of weeks.

Here's usually where someone senior tells the chaps off and insists they focus. One last quip from JP and he nails his clearance centreball. Maybe that's how these chaps focus?

Josh plays up. JP centres another clearance. Josh comes back but skates well past the hoop. JP shooting at 6 from next to the peg.

Seemed a nice shot, but hits the western leg and bounces away.

Josh dribbles beautifully into the jaws with black from a wide angle. Somehow yellow gets it out of the hoop, but not far.

Blue clears yellow, staying in front, and Josh is now all over the hoop.

Red clears black from in front of the hoop, stays nearby (can probably jaws), black centres its clearance on red. A really good sequence of quality shots here.

First to blink is JP, who misses to an offside position with yellow from the east boundary, and Josh runs the hoop 3-3

Red is short, running over the lush patch again. Black's in front of the hoop, but easily cleared - blue will be shooting from north of hoop 6.

Josh is checking out the commentary. Reckons the game is boring. So does a spectatory. I think they're doing fine!

My other options are Reg v someone-he-is-currently-destroying, Steve Piercy v Judy Wembridge and Archibald v Ann Quinn. I'm gonna take the really close match thanks.

Blue clears red to the north boundary, going off the side boundary. red clears black. Black plays in short, yellow clears black, but goes a few yards away.

Speaking of Mr Freeth - I'm sure blue shorts aren't part of the NZ uniform! Though I must admit they're tidy and look better than the CNZ black ones AND Chris thought they were black last week.

Apparently both Chris and Josh are colour-blind, so maybe we can cut them some slack

It looks like JP will have first shot at hoop 7 - from the boundary - in a wee hollow - clears blue - nice shot - red is 5 feet back from the hoop.

blue clears red. red now has a yard hoop... catches a wee bit of the inside wire and bounces off.

black in front, yellow takes position, blue clearing red again. The hoop running isn't all that stunning, so taking position here looks viable.

red takes position - just about got the block!

black runs the hoop down to 8 yards north of hoop 8 josh leads 4-3

Yellow plays down, so does blue. Carol Piercy has just pointed out how well Josh is playing compared to at the GC nationals at the start of the year. He wasn't very good there.

Black clears yellow. Yellow has a yarder back up at blue... bit unlucky as JP hits blue, but then follows on to red

blue into lovely 6 inch position - at last a tight ball!

red rushes yellow down to where it can safely clear blue, but black is shooting fro the side boundary .Hits blue. Oops.

Yellow plays towards the jaws - bounces out and blue has an easy in-off - which he plays well Josh leads 5-3

Black's offside.

Red has just gone racing past hoop 9. Terry couldn't get it to stop in front in our match earlier either. The wind isn't helping matters now either, though it's not too bad.

Black plays from the west penalty spot. Awful shot (I can say that now I'm not commentating on the worlds final) - 6 yards short

yellow goes too long, blue plays in short. Drinks break

Maybe I was a bit critical of that red of JP's - somehow he has just dribbled through hoop 9 with it. Josh leads 5-4

Josh takes longish position with black, a bit west too. Yellow goes level and straighter
blue gets nice position

red has rolled up into yellow - bit of a disaster really as it has nudged it so that Josh can clear yellow to get a wire.. rushes yellow off the lawn - nope - full ball visible. Helpful when the players are chatting

Yellow clears blue - blue's got a 8 yarder... smooths it into red and blue stays near the hoop. Red has a 5 yarder, but I'm pretty sure blue can get into the jaws, so a decent result.

To get any further into this tournament Josh will need to start hitting the ball harder here though. This pace was ok at United where the lawns were very quick, but here the clearances aren't going far enough for the quality of opposition he'll face.

Yellow shoots at the hoop (good choice - he was 15 yards away at least, but Josh had two balls in play. Plays blue into the jaws.

Red clears black, but this just gives black a chance of a rushpeel going to hoop 11. Plays it beautifully.

Josh leads 6-4

Yellow takes good position, blue takes good position - black is pretty straight and its only risk is rush-peeling yellow.
Red plays in but goes harmlessly past

this is ugly - Josh has only a small gap to clear yellow - left and it runs the hoop, right and it clears blue. Hits it perfectly!!

Clears yellow to level with hoop 12, blue rolls into red - set up to be a perfect blocking ball, and black is in front of the hoop

JP stalks yellow at black... and black is no longer in front of the hoop - nice shot. Black now 3 yards east, yellow near the middle of north boundary, and blue and red about 1.5 inches apart.

Unlucky -josh plays blue into red and they're touching.Black back to position. Yellow has a clear shot at the hoop - a double. Misses entirely. If those two balls were touching, it was a poor shot, as both balls moved about 3-5 yards, and red went north. Must get that lad playing AC.

Might have been a gap... - will ask Josh when he comes back for a visit

Welcome back Josh - yes, the balls were touching. bit of disappointment expressed at the curves while JP runs a good hoop with red.

Black drifts down and hills a bit to end up next to the hopo

Got distracted. JP had first go at hoop 12, but now Josh seems to be all over it - yellow is near hoop 1, and all three other balls are tightly around hoop 12. There must be a big double clearance on offer here.

I got it wrong with Reg's match - he's currently 5-4 up in game 2 against Hisham Abdelgawad. That's his first really competitive game.

JP still pondering the balls - red 18 inches from black and blue, blue near the jaws. Red very very angled, but he's playing a jump - ?????

Wee hop disturbs the balls slightly , but then black just plays into the jaws. Omar fancies my option of smacking hard into both balls.

Yellow shoots at not much, and bounces off the wire, blue plays to blocking position...

Casting - he's going to try to jump blue to clear black... nice wee hop, but hits the hoop.

Angled hoop 12 to win the match, but he's likely to get a go at pushing it through with blue. - unless yellow can do some clearing...
referee on for the hoop stroke. Black runs the hoop, Josh Freeth wins game 2 7-5

Awesome quote "The young pommy kid's very pleasant" Got to agree with that :)

ah - turns out if JP had smacked the two balls, black would have just ended up in the jaws.

Josh is trying hard to convince me his really awful shot had a plan. Sounds kinda convincing. Well done to Josh on his fourth win in his block. Two losses against the top two in the block, and he has a real chance to qualify for the KO here. Still a long way to go.

Reg is just wrapping up, so i'm off for a quick drink. Omar is next to start on lawn 3 (the second one from the left).