Good morning from overcast humid West Palm Beach Florida. Sam Murray is looking after Reg v Mulliner, I am delighted to bring you David Maugham v David Maloof. This should be a cracker, probably a bit close to call, but I'm going to go for Maloof in 4 (sorry DBM!)

It looks like Dave Maloof has won the toss, as he's going first and has the dark colours.

1. Maloof with blue to just north or hoop 4.
2 Maugham 8 inches south of corner 2. Nice quiet stuff here

3. Maloof shoots at partner from A baulk - this guy hits everything!

Taking off to yellow. Commentary team for this semi is me, Michael Wright, and we're joined in the commentary section by Mika Maloof.

Maloof takes off, nice shot to start the game, and hits yellow.

Rolls yellow very tight to the west boundary, south of the line of hoop 6.

We are around the corner this morning, on lawn 12. A very easy lawn. Dodgy west boundary, but that doesn't come into play very much. Very smooth playing surface. Shouldn't see too many errors here, so Maloof's shooting could be the difference - but let's see what semi final pressure can do.

Maloof's roll put partner to the peg, so he has had a very good look at the spot he's going to. Shoots off the lawn. Hasn't lined it in yet, but Maugham is standing near the end of A baulk already. That yellow is very defensive...

4. Maugham shooting from A baulk at blue and black which are just north of corner 4.

Next door on lawn 11 we have Riva v Fletcher in the Shield semi. That should be a good match too.

Maugham shoots... misses. Can Maloof cope with that yellow

We had the pleasure of sharing breakfast with the grounds guys this morning. Bill, Ray and Dave have moved six lawns each day (so alternating between moving the first 6 and second six lawns) all week - they have done a fantastic job! While the players have found the hoops relatively easy to run, and there have been a few balls jamming, the fact is that the lawns have zero rabbit runs, despite a function for 125 people playing golf croquet the day before the qualifier started! And we've had about 12 days of croquet here with the qualifier - the lawns are still in great condition. Bit too much watering for my taste, as they are very easy, however the guys have been rolling them, meticulously filling hoop holes and doing a heroic job with huge hammers. We are very grateful.

We had the pleasure of sharing breakfast with the grounds guys this morning. Bill, Ray and Dave have moved six lawns each day (so alternating between moving the first 6 and second six lawns) all week - they have done a fantastic job! While the players have found the hoops relatively easy to run, and there have been a few balls jamming, the fact is that the lawns have zero rabbit runs, despite a function for 125 people playing golf croquet the day before the qualifier started! And we've had about 12 days of croquet here with the qualifier - the lawns are still in great condition. Bit too much watering for my taste, as they are very easy, however the guys have been rolling them, meticulously filling hoop holes and doing a heroic job with huge hammers. We are very grateful.

Back to the action:

5. Maloof chips black out, chooses to rush red to yellow. Has a big croquet stroke down that difficult west boundary... red is still nearish the boundary, but it was a nice stroke. His rush goes badly - about 9 yards north of corner 1 and a yard in from the west boundary. Rolls in.. 3 foot slightly angled hoop - hits it firmly.. and he's off. Has a straight rush to close to black, but it's about 4 yards. Slightly miscues, and now he's taking croquet from black near the middle of the west boundary, and just has to navigate that boundary one more time.

Croquet stroke gets a good rush to hoop 2 and pioneer short of hoop 3.

Runs 2 well, rushes down towards hoop 4, opts to take off to get a rush back. Bit of discussion in the commentary team if that should have been a croquet stroke, as red is closer to 5 than 4, but maybe he's just guaranteeing getting back to that hoop 3 pioneer well. Rushes up, makes 3, puts black to the peg and rushes yellow down towards black also. Needs a decent croquet stroke now.

Mika has just explained that David Maloof is rather isolated croquet-wise and practises on his own a lot, then plays 2-3 tournaments a year - so he sometimes doesn't use what others might consider "standard" patterns. Very interesting though from a coaching/development point of view. In Russia, the Spartak tennis academy was famous for many things, not the least producing about 7 of the top 10 lady players some years back. Their methods didn't involve lots of technology or constant matches... just a LOT of practice. The kids there weren't allowed to play competitive games for two years - they just worked on technique over and over. (to learn more, google the excellent article by a journalist which is called "How to grow a superathlete". It's well worth a read and is very accessible. It also points out that the top female golfers are South Korean (or were at the time of writing - now we have a kiwi at the top :) ). There aren't that many golf courses for the women to develop in, but they spend many hours at the driving range - again getting technique right. This must have interesting consequences for the mental focus for these players, as they will have had so much play just doing things correctly without all the nonsense thoughts "if I mess this up..." etc that many other players constantly fight with.

Anyways, David Maloof is continuing in turn 5 on his four ball break, is running hoop 6 from 3 inches off partner, has a pivot, so partner is going to 2-back, and has a good 1back pioneer. Not sure what leaves this chap does, but i'm going to bet on a spread

Yup, we'll be having a spread - after a 3 yarder following 2back causes no problems. yellow is on the front of hoop4 as a pioneer, but shouldn't be any issue.

David Maloof must have hit that yellow through by quite a long way, as he's running 3back from way longer than is comfortable. Runs the hoop firmly, hits his return roquet. Needs a decent croquet stroke for a tidy leave. ... good yellow, but he has nearly cross-pegged himself on red - went the wrong side of that one. Has a good look... has a good look at that - might have got the cross peg already - he'd better hope so, as he's not hitting red. Rushes partner off the lawn, but he's coming back to red to tidy up.

Good takeoff and he has rushed red well. Wee takeoff to tidy it up, and he has a very long lag back to partner - needs to be careful here or he'll leave a target or a huge rush.

Really good last shot, and the first clip is on 4back. If that has been Reg the crowd would have applauded. Hopefully some Americans start looking around this way, although maybe not having a crowd clap your every shot is easier.

Well,I applauded. It was just a 4 ball break, but he coped with everything that got untidy, and has the first ball around without error in this semi final. Interesting if Maugham will TPO given Maloof's turn against Paddy Chapman. My best is that we'll see a ball off if Maugham hits.

6. Maugham lifts yellow from near west boundary. Lines up the short shot...misses through the middle.

Happy to take any questions today - I'm on a laptop, hence the extra words, sorry to anyone who can't cope with that :)

7. Maloof has had a chance to gather his thoughts and has stepped up to the lawn. He has a standard TP before him.

Rushes blue short and plays a very proddy croquet stroke putting blue a bit short.. and has a horizontal rush on red! Not a great start to the break - he needed to get that rush on blue a lot closer to red. Very nice cut on red, but he's now facing a roll up from 5 yards west of hoop 1. Plays it beautifully - the lawns are very conducive to this, but you still need to play the shots.

Through 1 and now taking croquet from red in the middle of the south boundary. Doesn't get a rush on yellow, so leaving that near hoop 4.

Taking off from hoop 4 is ok, but the usual way to proceed here is to roll the second opponent ball to hoop 3 also. That way any sort of rush out of hoop 2 on partner will enable you to croquet it up to try for a peel while going to either ball.

Takes off back up the lawn - goes too far - this'll be a longish approach off partner. No problem there. Rushes back well down the lawn but plays a lovely croquet stroke putting his partner up for the peel. Rushes to hoop 3.

Minor disaster - makes my error of approaching the hoop putting the escape ball way too close to the line, runs the hoop and nicks red. That peel will have to wait!

Rolls red well to hoop 5, makes 4 but runs the hoop very far. Misses the return!!

That was about a 4-5 yarder, and he has missed yellow near hoop 4, ending up about 4 feet SSW of partner. Might leave a double for yellow, or red at hoop 5 might be able to see yellow.

Clips on 5 and 4back for Maloof, Maugham on 1 and 1.

8. Maugham shoots from 5 to 4 - just nudges yellow. Raises a finger claiming the roquet in the traditional manner - it was a clear roquet anyway. Interestingly doesn't croquet yellow up the lawn - maybe hoop 4 was in the way, but we expected that to be punted somewhere up the lawn as we're expecting a TPO - but we'll see. A TPO would give Maugham some lawn time, and also establish his strength in the match.

Anyway, red takes off from yellow, leaving it a yard SE of 4, almost runs into black (but doesn't), roquets blue, rushes black to 1. Approaches 1 getting a rush towards yellow. Black as hoop 4 pioneer, rushes yellow to blue at hoop 3, and now has a tidy break

The condtions are really extremely easy, and Maloof did very well yesterday after being TPOd.

Maugham has made 2 off Maloof's 4b ball, hits blue, ... rolls it across - still unclear if he's peeling (we're side on, so it's hard to see how close in front it is, and the roll across looked like it went pretty far.

Runs 3, roquets blue gently... it doesn't look in front ...croquets it to hoop 6 - this is a ball around. Makes sense - Maloof won't finish from 5 and 4back.

Blue is a good hoop 6 pioneer, makes 4, making 5 off partner- we should see a MSL here.

Black, the hoop 5 ball, is going onto hoop 2. Nice tight leave coming up.

3back pioneer goes a couple of yards too far. Runs 2back off partner and cuts it well to NE of 3back. Approaching from a bit of distance, but plays it well. This turn will give Maugham a lot of confidence.
And we have an MSL.

Maloof has lifted the ball from hoop 4 (blue, his 4back ball) and is taking the long shot. Plays it smoothly... misses.

10. Maugham cuts partner well to 1. It looked like he'd underhit it, but it's a really good shot, and he's through. Rushes red towards corner 2. A good roll out of corner 4 in a few strokes and it's a standard TP. I'm not sure the defensive shot has much value at this stage of the competition. Might have to reassess my predictions now - this opportunity has settled Maugham and he's looking a lot more comfortable than I've seen him most of this week.

Red's about 3 yards south of hoop 3, which is perfect as Dave will be rushing black towards the south boundary, and rolling up from corner 4. This turn is highlighting the superiority of a MSL over an NSL in these conditions.

Tony Hall called on to do a bit of gardening (mallet held near the head, shaft vertically up to call a gardener). Puts a bit of sand in an old hoop hole and he's very good at smoothing it down.

The rush is to about a yard west of corner 4. I fancied croqueting yellow to 4, then playing the big roll on these easy lawns, but Dave opts to take off and rush blue up. Means he doesn't have a hoop 4 pioneer, but he's much better at this game than me!

Rushes blue past the hoop, plays a nice croquet stroke and rushes peelee to position - gently places it into the jaws getting a rush to the south boundary. Rushes blue off the south boundary about 2 yards from black - all very tidy.

(and no huge rolls needed)

Right - stopped for a convo with Daniel Pailas - he had a brilliant qualifier, been playing 28 months, and is having a ball here at the worlds.

Dave makes 4, gets black a bit closer to 4back to put it as a 1back pioneer, so we'll see a Wylie peel (This is kind of second-hand info about how the balls got here, as I was chatting to Daniel)

Anyway, Maugham runs 6, hits black which is deep, puts it very short to 2back (about a third of the distance between the peg and 2back on that line), and goes to peelee.

Peels penult to a couple of yards north of the peg and gets a tight rush to 1back on blue. Makes the hoop with a firm stroke but didn't really need a rush. Blue to a few yards short of 3back, but on a nice line for the peel. Red a foot WNW of rover and rushes well to 2back. He'll have all the peels before 3back to take a dominant start to this game.

Game? - i meant Match.

Makes 2back, croquets black about 6 yards south of 4back. the "Maugham Error" is named for Dave Maugham getting all three peels done before 3back but breaking down before finishing.

Peeling red... jawses it - bit awkward given that black isn't a good 4back pioneer, but the conditions are easy. Approaches 3b well, but runs the hoop past blue.

James Death has just joined us to report he has won against Ian Dumergue: +23TP, +26TP. Pegged out just before Reg finished his first game. Soo is one-up on Gavin Carter in the other Bowl semi.

Dave croquet blue to penult, ends up rather close to somewhere horrible on red, but manages to rush it through to complete the peels. Good approach allows him to have a nerve-settling crunch through 4back. Blue is 4 feet south of penult. and red's SW of rover having been peeled, so he'll rush to red .. no - rush goes a few yards south of blue - leaving it there, so he'll make rover off partner, but there's absolutely no danger there.

Through penult, blue down as a side ball, but it's a bit short. Black going as a deepish ball halfway to the boundary. Approaches rover off partner to get an 8 inch hoop and pokes yellow through to black.

David Maugham wins game 1 26TP-13

News from the plate: Sherif Abdelwahab has done a sextuple against Robert Hurst in the first round of the 16-player knockout!

That's Sherif's first ever ranking sxp - from a player who has only 8 tournament TPs to his name - very impressive.

Game 2: Maugham leads 1-0

Turn 1: I'm confused... Maugham still red and yellow, Maloof still going first. Who knows who won the first toss.

1. Maloof to east boundary

2. Maugham a foot south of corner 2

3. Maloof just misses partner from A baulk. Balls going on a foot apart.

4. Bit of variety - Maugham is up to B baulk - Shooting at the double from approx the end of B baulk. Swinging...

Looks hopeful... but misses south of blue. I wonder if Maloof can get, and play, this cannon.

5. Not a very impressive start. Maloof chips partner out, gets a rush on red... to near the middle of the north boundary, and will be putting together a leave. I guess he was trying to rush into corner 2, but that just gives an extra rush and doesn't always work - easier to just rush to hoop 1 (particularly given his brilliant approaches to start each of his breaks in the first game).

Croquets red north of hoop 2, hits yellow, rolling yellow to hoop 1 with a proddy sort of half roll. Yellow is 2 yards west of 1, and he's about level with 6. Looking at a bit of boundary to go off. It'll be a nice leave, but at this stage of the competition giving oppo the extra shot is treacherous.

Last night we watched two TPOs in the quarter finals turn into OTPs and Chris Clarke was advising the kiwi youngsters to pay attention to this and be aware of potential consequences of TPOing on very easy lawns. Maugham is extremely dangerous to TPO, and Maloof played a really lovely turn to win his game.

6. Maugham shoots yellow at red after Maloof joined up with partner. Misses.

A quick check of the TPO/OTP results in this tournament so far...
Block play: 4 winning TPOs, one loss
Plate: 1 winning TPO
Shield: 1 winning TPO.

But into the crunch stages of the main event, TPOing the best players hasn't gone well... in the knockout there have been 2 winning TPOs and 6 losses.
Who has won? - Reg Bamford (against Hopgood - probably better here to hope for Reg to miss, though he has shot pretty well this tournament), David Maugham, David Maloof, Mark Avery, Samir Patel, Paddy Chapman. The winning TPO was Stephen Mulliner in the quarter final decider against Danny Huneycutt. Danny gave himself a good opportunity to win, but missed a short roquet after hoop 2, with a ball near hoop 3.

Maenwhile...

7. Maloof rushes into the lawn goes to yellow, croquets it to 2, rushes to 1, and is now on a four ball break with black.

(correction: 7 peeling turn on oppo - 1 win, 6 losses. Total for the tournament so far (if my counting is vaguely accurate): 7 TPO, 7 OTP)

Not sure how badly this is eating into my data allowance, but vodafone are warning I'm at 80%. At least we're connected though - the phonebill will hurt when we get back, but a huge shout out to my employer the University of Canterbury, who have given me paid leave to be here (and in London at the GC world teams). Bless them. (they don't actually seem to be missing me!!)

Good to see Jimbo keeping busy covering three of the eight plate games. The Aussie support here and back in Australia has been great. I've appreciated hearing from a few kiwis during the tournament also - John Prince, Mike Crashley (GC teams manager and a genuinely good chap) and Tony O'Donnell (fantastic worker at United Croquet Club in Chch) in particular, but also a few people I don't know so well. The Aussies in particular have been lovely too :)

Meanwhile Maloof is continuing on turn 7 with his 4ball break. Running 1back from less than a foot but angled... smashes that somewhat (he uses Irish grip, and has a gentle style, but gave that an extra bit of flick in his follow through). Through nicely and puts red to the middle going to yellow. Partner at 2back. Rushes red off the west boundary and can get that to 3back without any drama.

Maloof is taking a break - mid-break. Yellow and blue near the peg, red near 3back, black and Maloof nowhere in sight.

He's back... Nice steady turn from Maloof. He needs to complete his TP if Maugham misses here.

Very diagonal spread here (about 45 degrees - usually it's a bit more horizontal). Red and yellow look open, though there's a bit of distance there, and yellow is a long way from the peg. Maloof currently in corner 4 which we can't see from here.
Actually yesterday there was a massive pot plant in the way of about 25% of lawn 12, but Doug Grimsley relocated it for us and the view has improved drastically since then.

I can't see blue and black - I'm assuming they're tight in corner 4, but there's a small building in the way sorry.

8. Maugham shooting red and yellow from where the balls lie. Smooth stroke hits the middle of yellow rushing it about 7 yards. He has taken off to blue and black and it looks like he might be rushing to get a cannon.

Maloof has kidnapped the black clip as a souvenir, bit is now returning the hostage to 4back as Dave rushes black to north west of hoop 1. I'm guessing there wasn't a cannon, and wonder if an in-lawn rush was left since blue is now a long way north of corner 4.

Maugham takes off, getting a slightly angled hoop from a couple of feet which he runs comfortably.

Error!! Runs 1, hits black rushing it a couple of yards up. Takes off to blue (the hoop 1 ball) near the east boundary... too far. Maloof is back on with a 2 foot roquet and a standard TP at his feet. Big moment in this match.

9. Maloof hits his 2 footer, croquets red towards hoop 2 and rushes to black. Wee take-off and rushes to 2 feet north of hoop 1 - you'd want this south of the hoop - backward takeoffs are horrible.
He has a longish, slightly angled hoop - runs it well - that man has a second reception ball!! Runs hoop 1 to peg high where yellow is waiting. Hits yellow, taking off back to black. This means he can only get partner to to 3 and has to leave the other ball south west of the hoop which isn't ideal, but it was a sweaty hoop and he's looking comfortable enough.

Takes off south of black, rushes it up to where hoop 6 is completely in the way of croqueting it to 3, but a good spot to go to a wayward red pioneer. Threads black past six to be a perfect hoop 3 pioneer and has a rush to 2 which he cuts pretty well. Through the hoop, rushes red to SW of hoop 6. Needs a decent croquet stroke here, but it's not a difficult one - just has to get south of yellow

Plays a good shot and now has a three yard rush to black (I said "good", not "perfect", and he's a very good single-ball player).

red near 4, rushes yellow to between 2 and 3 and rolls to black - this is a better shot - yellow is a good reception ball that he can't run into like in game 1, and he has total control of black. Needs to finish from here.

Slightly angled hoop 3 which he runs to within a cm of black. Taps black.

Hits the peel quite gently - bit disappointing to only jaws the peelee from there as yellow was in a good position, but he should cope.

Great quote from David Appleton about his application to get leave from uni for the French worlds: "my head of school wrote 'I think the university would benefit from Dr Appleton's absence'.".
I suspect the deliberations at UC went that way too!!

Maloof has the hoop 5 pioneer three yards east of 5,makes 4 and croquets red to 6. Rushes black through from a couple of yards without making a gratuitous call for an umpire. Good man. I've seen umpires called to watch one foot roquets from dead on.

I don't really like this line of play with Dawson balls - used to love it with Barlows, though it's still frowned upon there...

Having rushed black through to the north boundary, Maloof plays a pass roll putting black really well to hoop 6 - and has a long roquet on the hoop 5 pioneer. Puts risk into a turn on a very easy lawn - better percentage play is to just rush black through a couple of yards then take off to tidy up at hoop 5 - even if you don't get a rush out of 5, or on black, the conditions are easy enough to roll peelee into suitable position.
Anyway, he coped well - hits hoop 5 pioneer gently rushing it in front of the hoop, makes hoop, no rush, yellow to 1back, makes 6, gets the peel.

He has sped up - argh - much harder to keep up now!

I can tell he's playing much more quickly as my daydreaming is being punished.
Peelee is through by 3 yards, 2back pioneer is short by 6 yards - that's a good shot to practise, as in difficult conditions that can cause a disastrous breakdown, and if you play it well you can often get a crack at the rover peel before 2back.

no rush out of 1back, 3back pioneer is closer to 5 than 4, but still a decent place to peel rover too. No rush on peelee, so it's croqueted to a yard from rover getting a rush to nearish 2back. Approaching from 4 feet and a bit offline, as a 18 inch hoop. These even numbered hoops are good to have a settling thrash through to the boundary. Not that Maloof ever actually thrashes.

Rushes red back up to north of 2back - probably should have had a look at that spot before playing the rush, as he has the peg in play, and consequently gets a very average 4back pioneer - about 4 yards ESE of 4back.

Having a go at a 1yard peel. He's playing this upright, so makes sure it's through - that'll be handy with red out of position. Rushes well to 3back

Through 3back, rushes off the south boundary (Black wasn't through that far that it was needed, but was nice to release some pressure maybe).

Not a very impressive couple of strokes now.. yellow is closer to the peg than penult, rushes black to where it also can't go to penult, but he gets a good rush to 4back. Will need another decent rush to penult in a bit. Makes 4back and hits red too hard - can't get it to rover, partner going to rover and going to that poor penult pioneer. 3 yard rush to penult with a slight cut - hits it well.

Has an angled shortish penult which he gives a bit more and runs well, running into the reception ball. Putting the reception ball for hoop and roquet is under-rated. In this case he wouldn't have gone far though.

Makes rover, rushes to a yard from the peg.

David Maloof wins 26TP-1 to level the match at 1-1

It's only 11.50am, so we should get another game in before lunch. Quick refreshment break being taken

For anyone with questions or comments, the address to send them is [email protected]. There's a good crew around here, so we can check out anything you're interested in. Micheal has just received his new binoculars, so we've got full coverage. It's been great catching up with Daniel Pailas also. He's been playing croquet just over 2 years, and has been practising 6-9 hours a day recently! - it paid off in the qualifier, though the step up into the main event has been challenging, and probably the long hot days. Nice guy though, with a fantastic attitude.

The players are coming back onto lawn 12. While they sort out start and balls...

On lawn 11 we have a Shield semi final with Greg Fletcher game down against Jose Riva (Riva had a quad in the first).
Greg, the current Australian Open Champion, has a unique method of lining up when shooting. He casts from some distance, then walks forward, sometimes with a little more casting. Then takes a few more steps to get to his ball. Stops. Lowers his mallet. Looks at his target, and shoots. (it's the casting from distance then not when at the ball that's unique...)

Game 3: Maugham v Maloof - match tied at 1 game all

Well, this is familiar. Still don't know what's happening with the toss...

1. Maloof to east boundary with blue.
2. Maugham to south of corner 2 with yellow
3 .Maloof misses partner from A baulk
4. Maugham takes the double on from B baulk (takes the shot from a bit west of the 3-4 line), and misses.

All the action deep in the corner where we can't see. A ref was called...

5. Aha - Maloof has rushed blue into corner 4 (or wherever Maugham ended up) to get a cannon

Blue goes about 9 yards north of hoop 4, and I'm not sure where he approached 1 from - red looked to be going ok, but he has a long and slightly angled hoop. Runs it well. Runs it too well... misses a 5 yard return roquet to the south boundary!... and his clip is on hoop 2.

(I should have mentioned - Greg Fletcher is on a standard TP to square up his match with Jose Riva. Is approaching hoop 6 off peelee.)

We have a house competition with the plate - loser is waiter for tonight. The competition is picking results in the plate. Currently Chris is losing due to McBride's round 1 victory, so we might have the manager bringing drinks. Edmund and I have made a safe start, and Felix's momentum was lost when he got pegged out and subsequently lost to Ian Lines. I've got an Evans v Lines plate final, which is a point of difference to the chaps who are generally picking Evans v Landrebe.

6. Maugham shoots at partner near corner 2. Misses, leaving a very long double for both of David's balls

So far in the house comp: Chris: 3, Jenny 4, Edmund and Felix on 5. Landrebe has been in a bit of trouble, and Chris is definitely waiter for the night if Pete goes out.

7. Maloof has a look around. Black is on the south boundary with a 17 yarder at partner or a very long narrow double. Blue is north of 4 with a nice double provided there isn't a hoop in the way. But black is on hoop 2, so Maloof will fancy completing the break with that ball.

Takes the shot with black at the long double... misses

8. Maugham plays yellow getting the cannon. Puts black 9 yards south of hoop 2 and near the west boundary and rushes red off the middle of the east boundary getting a nice line to take off to blue. Takes off, rushes blue to 1, but makes the hoop without a useful rush. Both black and red near their respective boundaries, so work to be done here still.

Stuart Lawrence has clarified things - blue did not have a shot at the balls in corner 2. Thanks Stuart - I was on the losing end of a guessing comp with Daniel Pailas about what shot Maloof would take.

Good ball to hoop 3, and Dave has to roll up to 2 ... plays it well, and he's off.

(Landrebe won, so Edmund is back in the tipping comp. I am not sure it's a good idea to have him fetching the beer anyway.)

Dave's hoop 4 pioneer isn't great, as he goes to red, but he does have all the balls now

Early hoop 6 pioneer again and it's all very tidy. Expecting another MSL here.

There might be a mid-match lunchbreak too

Makes 5 off partner, and partner to 2back. Maugham had a very nervy poke through hoop 3 which left a longish return roquet, but now looks to have settled.

MSL coming up with black (the hoop 2 ball) on hoop 2. Maugham on 1 and on the way to 4-back, and Maloof on 1 and 2

Bit of gardening around 3back, and it looks like blue is ENE of hoop 4 - it might be north enough, but Dave is rolling his balls off about a foot apart level with hoop 4.

Edmund wants the MSL explained for his mum... "Maugham Standard Leave". I think Aussies call it a 2-4 leave, but not sure if they also call a New Standard Leave also a 2-4 leave. Dave Maugham's leave has black south-west and close to the wire of hoop 2, with a shot available into corner 4, but not rushing to hoop1 or visible from B baulk. The blue ball is supposed to be in a mirror position near hoop 4, but rushable to hoop 1, and red and yellow should be on the east boundary, nearish to the maximum distance from both baulk lines, not leaving a double from anywhere, and cuttable to hoop 1. k

Having oppo nailed onto 2 is really handy - if you come up short you can hit it generally not rushing it away from the hoop. You also don't need to do the "Hogan Roll" - sending a ball to hoop 3 going to your hoop 2 pioneer to set up a standard TP - you can either roll two balls up from corner 4 to hoop 3 (which is much easier), or play more of a precision pick up like Dave did in game 1. Or you can do something a bit more aggressive that might involve a 6 yard pickoff of a ball in corner 4 after making hoop 4. I hate that shot, as it gets missed way too often, and you don't want to have to make a long roquet mid break.

Anyway, Blue looks like it's closish to being level with hoop 4, red and yellow on the east boundary. Maloof has a think, lifts black from hoop 2 and shoots from A baulk... misses.

Back to the Shield semi where Fletcher has had hoop+roquet after rover and misses the pegout, and narrowly misses the promotion attempt at pegging out. One ball off, Riva 1 and 3back, Fletcher peg alone. Riva has a 6 yarder...hits. Yellow is next to 3back, but about 5 yards to the side - can Riva get to the peg in this turn? - he's trying - rolling from near hoop 2 - big split sends black a couple of yards north of 3 and gets near yellow, will be rushing it closer to the east boundary though

10. Maugham rushes partner up a couple of yards, takes off rushing black towards the corner. Blue mustn't be that bad

Riva has stuck in 3back from some distance - Fletcher will have a safe shot into corner 1, and Riva no longer has a 3ball break

Dave pays a sharp stop shot sending black north of hoop 2, and rushes blue to 2.5 yards north of hoop 1. Should be away now.

Greg's shooting at yellow... looks like he got close to red in the jaws, but missed everything.

Dave through 1. Has a standard TP in front of him.

(Dave Maugham, that is)

First peel done after hoop 3. everything in order.

Black left at hoop 4, and Dave takes off up to rescue yellow - he must have rushed it into hoop 4 ??? - sorry - was watching Riva take wired position from Fletcher leaving him an utterly free shot at the peg. Spectators confirm he didn't get a rush on black after 4, so just took off to tidy up. We haven't seen any big croquet strokes from Maugham that I can remember.

Yellow sails past 6 a couple of yards towards 1-back. Makes 5, rushes blue to the east boundary and the standard TP is back under way

Riva is duely punished for not guarding the shot at the peg - he should have been in corner 2 threatening to take his backward ball around if Fletcher shot. Greg smashes his shot at the peg - and hits a good chunk of it. Lunch and 1-1 in the match

Maugham makes 6 off partner. All balls looking in good position. Lunch in approximately 15 minutes.

Thanks Jeremy for the question as we watch Dave Maugham on an easy finish... "My question is why the governing bodies don't introduce super advanced rules for the world championship. Which countries would be against it and why?"

Very easy answer here - all the governing bodies apart from the CA (croquet association of Great Britain or thereabouts) would be opposed to it. Super-advanced rules are only widely used in the UK. I don't know of more than a couple of games ever having been played in NZ, and the Aussies also don't. So we're not using the Brit's rules here - totally different tactics.

A really good reason to use super-advanced rules is the easiness of standard hoops, and lawns with modern watering systems - particularly council-run facilities where there is an obsession to have lush green lawns, rather than having a few days of a brown crew-cut. Rolling lawns certainly helps too - Roehampton did that, and they have done this here, but the sand-based courts here mean even superhoops are easy to run.

NZ? - we have fast lawns and very challenging Atkins Quadway hoops. That also stops pedestrian triples :), and the tripling percentages of kiwi players, and all but the best Aussies means there's no desperate need to change the rules - better to give it a few more seasons for the current and upcoming players to become more proficient at tripling, as the TPO is a huge element of the super-advanced game.

Take the 2016 NZ open champs for example:
only 12 triples in 105 games. 4 of them by top NZ-based kiwi Greg Bryant, and another 2 by British visitor Stephen Mulliner.
The knockout had 54 games - and Greg did the only triple.
There were no TPs in the plate. So in 257 games there were only 13 TPs. Fast lawns, hills, quadway hoops, wind. No need for new rules.

Anyways, back to the action - Dave got the peelee into the jaws of rover before 3back, makes 3back, takes off back to rushpeel rover, and rolls partner to penult going to his 4back pioneer (according to my co-commentator - I was off counting triples).
Maugham has now made 4back, rushed back down the lawn, croqueted black well to rover and is rushing blue to partner at penult - it will be 2-1 to Maugham at lunch.

2015 Australian Open:
They used a Burridge Swiss (for the first time?), and had a third of the games finish with TPs, including triples by a lot of the lesser players.

Is this a Maugham error? - he has massively misapproached penult! Very close, very angled. A spectator suggests this is tight enough to need watching. Plays it firmly... rejection backwards by about 8 yards - we're still going!!

11. Maloof has a lift, blue and yellow about 2 feet apart south of hoop 6, and a 4 yarder pointing at hoop 2. Lifts black from hoop 5, hits red. Croquets red to three and has a rush on partner to 2. He'll be going around, probably another spread and crossing his fingers.

The approach to penult was slightly west, but not more than 2 feet - just over hit it - stood there a while discussing it with himself.
Maugham on penult (red) and peg (yellow). Maloof on 1 (blue) and in a break with black approaching hoop 3.

On the subject of super-advanced. There's also not a lot of third turn breaks played in NZ. And very few sextuples. Although the richness of the tactics superadvanced brings is very interesting. Paddy is doing very well playing superadvanced from his UK base. There just aren't that many really strong players currently based in NZ with Chris's retirement from singles play, and Greg now living on the West Coast and doing an incredibly number of road trips and hours coaching has seen him play fewer tournaments. Toby and Aaron haven't been seen a lot recently either, though it was great to have them both playing with very promising youngsters in the NZ Open doubles this year.

Maloof has made 4 and is on a very tidy break. He has a really good pace of play. Some chap on a phone is preventing me from confirming with Mika that David is a former tennis pro. Ban mobile phones from court-side, I say.

It'll be another spread. Red is at the peg (that looks like the wrong way around!!)

That said, it's going to be a spread - there's no parity at all there. Much better to have something like NSL or MSL with the peg ball on hoop 4. Still, if he gets a tidier spread than last time, at least distance will be on his side.

Red is quite close to the peg, approaching 3back. He's a bit long, so not expecting a rush here. Eek... runs it gently. Very gently. ... another entirely sensible shot - makes the roquet, through the hoop at centre ball, without mucking around getting a ref.

Another poor croquet stroke putting yellow out - pokes it - lucky to not have cross-pegged himself again. Needs to be standing up for that stroke and to go south-east of red. This is exactly the same croquet stroke as messed up his previous spread - you just can't go on the other side of the peg to red. (that said, I'm hopeless at spreads after 3back!)

Stops red towards the peg - probably lucky to have the balls that way around!

Yellow (Maugham's peg ball) is near the west boundary. Red (for penult) at the peg, and he's looking at the line from A baulk, and previously checked the shot from the peg, so it looks like everything is in order.

Finishes his spread. How about a lunch break guys?? (Black's now on 4back, blue still on hoop 1).

Nope - Maloof's off the lawn, Dave's on the lawn. It's late enough that either player can force a lunch break at the start of their turn (Sam did that in our match - sensible chap - and the break was useful as I had a long shot to hit straight after lunch - fortified by the fantastic spread provided daily here I hit :) )

Dave lifts red (no surprise there, it's the penult ball), taking the long lift. I don't fancy Maloof completing a delayed TP here, but he has done a couple I believe.

Shoots - interested, steering... straight through the middle. Was a nice smooth shot there. Lunch?

Maloof returns to the lawn. Big turn here in game 3.

12. Dave Maugham missed the long lift.

13. Maloof rushes black across the lawn. Should start ok.

While Maloof is starting his second break, let's take a look at some more stats.

We've had best-of-fives from the last 16 of the main knockout. There has been some muttering about best of 5s not being needed - best of three being sufficient. Not here, and Michael Wright suggests in such easy conditions that the extra length of these matches is more important.

16 had 8 best-of-five matches.

Three of the second round matches were won 3-0, two more were won 4-1, so best-of-three a decent predictor there.

(oops - 3-1 in 4 games, I meant!!)

Of the remaining three, 1 was won by the player who got 2-1 down.
In the quarter finals, there was a 3-0, a 3-1, and the other two were won by the player who was 2-1 down after three

Maugham came back from 2-0 down to beat Samir Patel. Stephen Mulliner was only 2-1 down.

Back to the semi: Maloof v Maugham, game 3, game-all at present

Maloof approaches 1 to quite long and angled, runs the hoop - referee is on, but he has a fair bit of room, and copes just fine. He has not made 2, and is putting partner to 4 going to a decent SW hoop 3 pioneer. This hoop 4 pioneer needs to err on being deep, as he'll want to dig red out of the corner. It's short. So is blue, and he has a backward takeoff to make the hoop, but not from far. He'll need to play a decent shot out of corner 4

Makes 3, hits partner. Looong take off ("hardest shot in the game" we hear from time-to-time from Chris Clarke)

Takes off - has a 4-5 yarder at the ball I can't see in the corner, casting - looks happy. Very solid-looking player on his single-ball strokes. Will have been disappointed by missing after 1, but he might get away with it.

Everyone else is having lunch (!!) - might need to do something about that. Ian Plummer's excellent http://www.oxfordcroquet.com site is under discussion at the moment. I learned to play there while visiting a particle physics facility in Hamburg - before I'd had any lessons in Oxford. Used coins for hoops, used other coins for balls, learned the patterns. (it was that or watch German TV when I don't speak any German...)

Maloof has done well - rushes back after hoop 4 and he has jawsed partner - always good to get that one done. Rushes yellow south of hoop 5. Needs again to get that pioneer deep enough - otherwise the roll after rush-peeling 4back is more difficult.

yellow 2 yards south of 6. Will look to get a rush out of 5. Pokes it through to level with red. Rushes it off the east boundary peg high.

Fletcher approaching 3b with partner clip on 4b in the Shield. Riva on 1 and 1

Croquets red to 1back getting a 2-3 yard rushpeel. Bit unlucky as it goes well east. He's putting this miles north of hoop 6. It's good to give distance in case it doesn't go straight in front, but the lawns are easy, and black is about 4 yards north of penult! Might be able to run through and rush it back

Doesn't get the peel, and doesn't leave himself enough room to get a decent 2back pioneer out, AND has a 3 yarder on 1b pioneer. An unconvincing rush leaves an angled approach to 1back, and a slightly angled hoop, but he has a very solid hoop stroke. Yellow's still about peg high (2-back pioneer)

Red's now north of the level of hoop 5 as a poor 3-back pioneer, and he's having a death roll from just over a foot. Needs to keep good control of blue.. lovely shot - 5 foot rush to 2back and black's by the peg. Rushes well

Makes 2back, hits his 3-4 yarder, plays a slightly wimpy croquet stroke sending yellow well short of 4back - that tentative croquet stroke is the only real weakness I've seen in Maloof so far.

*(oops... Greg Fletcher was actually at hoop 4 - he's having a delayed TP)

Maloof leaves black across to try for a peel after 3back, rushes to 3back, approaches it to miles away sending red across. Runs it by quite a long way, but middles a gentle shot at black - all back under control. Playing another bending-over croquet stroke, and again gets the ratio wrong - black is left next to rover - he could easily have got that another yard or two and been better. Rushes up past yellow - and has to play another croquet stroke sending red short of penult and getting a rush to 4back.

(I'm only whinging here as this is what I do when under pressure - too far down the mallet, trying to get the right ratio with a pokey croquet stroke, and consequently getting the back ball too far or the front ball too short. It's adding a bit of challenge for Maloof where he should otherwise be cruising around at the moment)

Rushes yellow down after 4back, puts it 2 yards north of rover, rushes black nearly in front, and takes off well to get a rush to penult. Needs a cut, and is approaching from over a yard away. Angled 14 inch hoop... no problem - runs it just short of red and cuts it level with the peg. All on the straight rover peel now - he does need to rush it a couple of inches, but these hoops are very very easy to irish peel. Reg said he'll be Irishing from up to 6 feet away, but at Cheltenham he usually stopshots from around 2 feet back. Paddy irishes from almost anywhere. Added interest in the irish peel here is that these hoops are really hard to jump.

Brief outage negotiated. He has successfully Irish peeled, rushed to 2 yards from the peg... David Maloof wins game 2 26TP-22, Leads the match 2-1

I'm lunching now - back in about 20 mins

Game 4, Maloof leads Maugham 2-1

Sorry for the interruption. We went for lunch, Apparently David Maloof just munches bananas and granola bars during his matches, so we've brought some nanas back.

We rejoin the action with a dark clip on hoop 2. Maloof having had a ball around and a leave and Maugham having missed the lift.

Maloof is making 2 off partner, has blue and black near hoop 3, and he gets a decent rush over - should have a standard TP to get into the gold medal match from here.

From Danny Palais:

1. Maugham to east boundary
2. Maloof to south of corner 2
3. Maugham misses partner
4. Maloof misses the double from B baulk

trying to reconstruct the turns... it is extremely hot out there.

5. Maugham rushes to 1, fails hoop 2.
6. Maloof probably went around. They're all croqueted out here!

Assuming this is turn 8, we'll continue

Maloof's croquet stroke sending out a hoop 4 pioneer was again poor - it got about peg high and he gave himself a cut rush to get to 3. Bit of a backward takeoff, makes the hoop, and the peel, and gets a decent rush to near hoop 4. Approach has a slightly angled hoop, which he manages, and now he's rushing to 5 with black south-east of 6 and red a yard through 4back

Let's see if he can get a rush out of 5. ... Approaches it well, but has a bit of an angle... it's a good shot - can he cut this to near corner 3? - no - Willocks (rushes) out a 1back pioneer. That'll do fine. Taking off to his peelee

Peelee is in place before six...

problem...he has run the hoop too far and rushed partner back to somewhere horrible and short and angled, and his escape ball is very tight there too

pops red into the jaws, rushes black towards hoop three. sends out another short 2b pioneer, but keeps control at 1back

rushes back to the north boundary.

poor croquet stroke, blue is quite near rover and he has a 4-5 yarder on peelee in the jaws. Hits (again), croquets it to 3back (2 yards from it). Sensible - you want pioneers as you try to finish the break to reach your first World Championship final

Runs 2b, hits black, Finally plays a good croquet stroke getting a 4b pioneer. He'll have a go at peeling rover after 3back.

Blue is near rover as a nice escape ball , rushes nicely to 3b. needs a rush out to get the peel now - nervy one to go for here...

Approaches the hoop, runs it to no rush, but that's ok - straight rover peel left to do. Should make sure he gets red north of rover this time though

He's reasonably straightish south of rover, and has is lying down to check is line - it's good! - about 4 feet north of rover and he has a rush forwards which he hits nicely

Looks nerveless, but it's incredibly hot out there, and sweat was streaming off him in the break after game 3. When offered supplied from the supermarket, his request: ..."valium!", with a chuckle.

Through 4back, has given himself another 3-4 yarder. Hits it comfortably. Croqueting black to between penult and the peg. Noone here is watching this game now as Stephen is doing exciting things on lawn 7, so they'll have to read this to find out what happened!

Maloof runs penult, hits blue, should be able to get it down as a sidey ball, but he'll be irishing, so no worries there

Blue is a side ball, and he has a rush on black which he hits well. Red needs a little straightening and a little shortening - don't want a rush of blood at this point!

Black to 3 yards south of rover

Rushes red really nicely in front. Lining up the rover peel.

Nice peel - both balls through and hits blue easily to get it out of the way. Takes off to black. Rushes very close to red. Taking off...

Has a 14 inch rush to the peg... Needs to avoid back-of-rover disaster.... rushes it 3 yards east of the peg - made sure he stayed away from danger

ing up the pegout - his hands must be shaking now!!

stupid update... lining up...

maybe 2 yards

It's over!!

David Maloof wins the first semi final 3-1 over David Maugham.

Maloof will play the winner of Mulliner and Bamford - which we is entering its decider. Very impressive play today

*Meanwhile, Greg Fletcher is penult and peg v Jose Riva on 1 and 4back. Shooting with his penult ball at red - red and yellow joined up near hoop 2, blue mid west boundary - hard work, but Jose could finish from here if Greg misses. Waits for huge noise as Maloof wins and Mulliner equalises.

I'll leave you now with Sam Murray and the decider.