2016 Golf Croquet World Team Championship Tier 1

Hello- Back from Lunch. Over lunch, John ran a very good hoop 13 from the boundary to win 7-6 in the 3rd game against Judith. (SA vs Wales Match Score -- SA 3- 4 Wales)

Meanwhile, Ian and William got straight back to playing after their first. Ian is currently leading 3-2, having been 2-1 down.

The second game of doubles is much closer--- Victor and Reg are currently 4-3 up having taken the first game

It looks like Bamford/Dladla will win the doubles, so will focus on Louw / Burridge again

Currently on hoop 6. 3 balls within 2 yards of Hoop 6.

Ian's blue shoots from hoop 5 area..... misses to offside position

Red lining up hoop

Through to North boundary- 3-3

Score update: second game

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 3 - 3 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Ian leads 1 game to nil

Internet causing headaches again- back on tethering

Ian fed 2 balls into position at 7. William put a ball in then cleared. Ian missed return clearance and William ran to halfway down lawn

Score update: second game

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 4 - 3 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Ian leads 1 game to nil

William took strong position at 8, cleared Ian north of 7. Ian misses clearance to South Boundary. William runs to south boundary

Score update: second game

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 5 - 3 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Ian leads 1 game to nil

Ian tries to take tight position at 9. It's a little short. Bit of an ambitious attempt to improve the position doesn't quite work. Black now just outside the jaws of 9, black dead in front

Red's clearance on black from east boundary bashes hoop. Black runs 9 to a couple of yards angled in front of 10

Score update: second game

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 5 - 4 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Ian leads 1 game to nil

yellow overcooks its approach ending up level with 10. Blue looks like it;s in front of 10. Red takes a pop at blue....

misses to north boundary

Blacks umming about whether to go hoop....

tries tight position wired from red, but forgets about the hill.... It's definitely runnable, but vulnerable to Red

yellow clears blue, which just comes back. Red aiming at black from boundary....

hits the wire and bounces to hoop 1

black runs hoop to north boundary.

Score update: second game

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 5 - 5 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Ian leads 1 game to nil

Doubles update- looks like 5-5, but SA are in control of 11

Ian's game---- yellow takes position at 11. Blue follows suit. Red, now at west penalty point, approaching hoop

blocks... bit daft of Ian putting the red at west penalty point; the approach was directly along the clearing line

not clear what black's options are here

having dug a hole for himself, gets himself out of it very neatly!! black runs 11 at medium pace! spits out a couple of yards SW of peg

massive hoop in context of match

Score update: second game

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 5 - 6 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Ian leads 1 game to nil

yellow takes posi, blue follows. Red runs onto blue and flicks off to interesting position... looks like yellows hoop is hampered....

not to worry- yellow gets cleared to corner 4, but can still see blue

shoots and misses to West of Hoop 2

meanwhile- SA sealed the doubles match. Looked like they won it at 11, so maybe it was 6-4.

Ian lining up 12- could mean the difference between Wales or South Africa being relegated

bit nervy. a flow of spectators walking along lawn caused ian to reject his shot.

gets rejected pretty full bloodedly few yards east of 12

William's red lining up the hoop after a bit of thought

rejected to 12 inches east of 12

great position by black. Yellow lags past hoop

Blue clears red to south boundary. Red has 11 yarder to keep SA's hopes alive

Quite a few spectators walking across aiming lines or right behind players at the moment....

William snicks black out of position. Red flicks off to North boundary. William looks a bit disappointed, but given the circumstances I'm sure he'll be a relieved with the outcome.

Ian tries a speculative jaws. Kinda works, but with yellow feet away, yellow easily digs black out the jaws, and is now 1 yard west of 12

blue lags to postion, 1 yard south of peg

red returns from north boundary to ~2 yards in front

black's shooting... not sure what at

nice--- he clears red to Corner 4, with black ending up near eastern penalty point.

yellow takes very nice blocking position 6-12 inches in front of 12

clips are coming off!! is this a jump?

clips are back on...

clips are back off!

lining up the jump........

big swing.....

plenty of height- misses hoop though

south boundary

still here. William's still planning his shot

red's gone 1.5 yards west of 12. Black's clearance on yellow crashes into black

*crashes into red sorry

yellow's now run 12. blue approaching from middle of South Boundary. Black on south boundary in front of H1, Red level with hoop1 on west boundary

Score update: second game

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 6 - 6 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Ian leads 1 game to nil

Ian's first approach hilled and is west of 13... Cracking position by red from a big distance, but is too close to blue

black just short. yellows position also good... looks like William has the edge at this hoop

big effort at the double clearance. Just misses. Red sent out in C3, blue richochets off on N boundary in front

red lags back in. Decisions for black now......

ooooooooooh..... black's clearing red

yellow has a shot at the hoop. I reckon William will get this...

yep

William runs.

Score update: second game
Overall match score South Africa 4- 4 Wales

William Louw (R+Y) (SA) 7-6 Ian Burridge (B+B) (Wal)

Match now tied at one game all

presentation for tier 3 happening right now

no Egypt games have started yet. not clear whether the last 4 games are being synced

So, change in plans

Egypt NZ final games are now starting. They're warming up on lawns 1-4. Burridge and Louw have stopped for lunch, and will resume later on lawn 5 (having been on lawn 3 previously)

Line up is:
C Clarke v Mo Karem
P Drew v H. Erian
D Dixon v A Nasr,
J Clarke v M Nasr

I'll be mainly following Clarke vs Karem and Drew vs Erian, focusing more on Drew / Erian. Hopefully my elves will keep me updated on the other matches. Once I need to charge the battery, I'll shift to watching the Nasr brothers

Phil wins the toss. Feeds blue just past running position. Black is short. Red takes angled hoop running position, about 4 yards away. Yellow dead in front and gets cleared by blue

red lining up hoop

good effort, but just doesn't catch the hoop right, and gets reject 12 inches west of H1

black does a neat promotion on blue, putting it a couple of feet in front

yellow shooting from middle of S boundary

nice controlled clearance

blue comes back, blocking red's shot on black (which is about 2 yards in front). Looks like a simple double takeout, but red opts for block

tight block, nice shot

.....jumping

very nice jump

black goes through hoop, ends up ~5 yards in front of 2

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:
Drew (NZ) 1 - 0 Erian (Egy)

yellow gets nice posi. Despite being blocked by the hoop, blue and red get decent positions. black clears yellow, which comes back

Phil shoots at hoop with blue. Rejected to west boundary. other balls roll in closer

Clarke has taken the first hoop against Karem, but cleared the wrong ball at 2 to allow Karem a shot at 2---- 1-1

Meanwhile- Phil's shot at red with blue fails to clear red. Nicks off yellow and ends up in front of 3! Hamy declines hoop shot.

black comes in, is cleared under control by yellow. Phil misses red

a hampered hoop shot by red seems to put it into the jaws. Black has a clearing shot from north of 2, possibility of a double clearance

doesn't catch it full enough. Red moved a foot out of the jaws only for yellow to run. Black east of Hoop 4

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:
Drew (NZ) 1 - 1 Erian (Egy)

Nice position by blue. About 1.5 yards in front of 3

Over approach by red. perhaps just runnable, but he won't be pleased

A. Nasr leading Duncan 2-0

wow--- very nice clearance by hamy. blue's taken to east boundary, yellow stops just east of Hoop 3

blue clearing red...

yep- red cleared to west boundary under control. Blue remains within 4 yards of hoop

Black runs to south boundary

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 2 - 1 Erian (Egy)

yellow takes deep position at 4 (not sure if wired). Blue takes similar depth position. Red over runs, and rolls past the hoop

black lags up, but don't think he's got the block on yellow's hoop shot

lining up the hoop.....

another good effort gets rejected

Clarke leading 2-1 against Karem

nice shot by Phil sees blue run the hoop to the boundary

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 3 - 1 Erian (Egy)

Looks like Burridge Louw is resuming. 5 min warmup due to lawn change

good posi by red in front of 5. Black looks like it's just failed to get block. Hami does another full face clearance sending black toward hoop 2

great shot by Blue clears red

balls get fed back in. Phil clears yellow allowing a speculative hoop shot by Red

good effort gets rejected to inches in front of 5, which is nicely stopped by black

black dead in front, yellow comes a yard in front

blue sneaks past yellow

red digs black out the hoop, clearing black just in front of hoop 1

clearing....

another good clearance. Yellow cleared to east boundary

yellow shooting at blue

misses....

Drew has blue a few feet in front to take a 4-1 lead

taken a bit firmly. Runs to the north boundary

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 4 - 1 Erian (Egy)

Clarke leads Karem 3-2

Nasr leads Dixon 3-1 and is in control of 5

looks like Jenny + M Nasr are hoop 11, but no data on score

Drew Erian game-- Red gets nice position in front. Black and Yellow's positions are a little wayward. Blue shoots at red from North boudnary.....

misses to S boundary

Hamy runs to North Boundary

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 4-2 Erian (Egy)

Looks like Jenny's take the first 7-4

Phil's first approach to 7 is overcooked and ends up angled. Yellow takes close position near black. Blue goes off north boundary

another great clearance by Hamy takes Phil to the West Boundary

Hamy lining up the hoop

runs to peg high

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 4-3 Erian (Egy)

Blue takes posi 3 yards north of 8. Red takes similar position. Black blocks Blues hoop.....

yellow shoots and misses.

Phil's controlled takeout on red glues blue to the back of black

red fails to get in front

black blocks

yellow attempts a block on hoop- fails

Phil gets rejected from the hoop

neat shot by hami cuts black toward blocked spot

doesn't get it though, and yellow is nudged past the hoop

yellow takes blue to the boundary

A Nasr leads Dixon 5-3, with first approach to 9

Looks like it's evens in the Clarke Karem match

Drew Erian Game-

yellow clearing blue. No balls in hoop running position at the moment, with red and black near corner 1

blue gets fed into neat hoop running position

red takes posi. Black attempts speculative 9 yarder clearance on yellow

snicks it, but doesn't do much. Black disappears to N boundary. Yellow clears blue to south boundary

bit of a lower bevel on return clearance. Blue sails northward. Red has a shot at the hoop here

bad hoop effort by hami. Gets rejected to a few yards out of C1

black very close to hoop8- don't know if it runs, but wired from red and yellow removes it

blue fed back in

couple of nervy shots have resulted in Hamy taking control of 8

rain and wind begin to pick up.

Hami runs 8

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 4-4 Erian (Egy)

neat position by black dead in front of 9

yellow misses by a foot from 10 yards

looks like Clarke and Karem are 5-5

blue takes posit

red shoots and misses

Phil takes alot of wire, and only ends up running through about 6 inches

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 5-4 Erian (Egy)

Yellow takes very close position, but looks like it's rolled a bit too far to be easy to run

blue lags up, but ends up a bit too near yellow I think

red comes into near hoop running posi. Black attempting approach from hampered spot

gently nudges yellow, and almost jaws!

yellow can still see blue. Black could be hampered on its approach to 11 if red runs

good clearance by hami puts phil on the south boundary in front of 9

probably has a double here....

misses by a foot on the left

Chris has taken the first game against Mo Karem 7-5

Hami runs

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 5-5 Erian (Egy)

deep position by black. Yellow takes close position

blue takes posi inches in front of 11, but not blocking yellow

red clears black to west boundary, level with H2

might have been wired, as phil plays halfway

yellow playing for the hooop........

runs it, but only by a few yards. Blue's not got a good approach here

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 5-6 Erian (Egy)

red and black takes good position at 13. Yellow tries a clearance or hoop run, but takes out red instead

blue comes into nice position

Ahmed has taken the first against Duncan 7-4

good controlled take out by red has gotten hamy back into this hoop. Black cleared to hoop 2, red ended up near peg

yellow clearing blue for a potential hoop shot with red.....

good clearance. Not the cleanest contact between yellow and blue, and yellow drifts 12 yards away

blue tries a block. Red takes a pop at the hoop

fails. Black takes very tight posi

Yellow concedes the hoop- basically taps it back onside....

phil a bit perplexed. wondering whether running it now is actually his best option

jaws

red is shooting.....

centres black. not sure what Hamy is trying here....

black comes back. Hamy shot at the jawsed ball... rush peels!

Phil sticks a ball into nice position at 13....

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 6-6 Erian (Egy)

red shoots and misses

black takes good position, but double clearance a possibility

yellow misses badly to C3

Phil runs 13. I think he's still wondering how he even had a sniff at hoop 13

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 1:

Drew (NZ) 7-6 Erian (Egy)

I'm going in search of some power cable now. Not sure what I'll be able to see from a charging point

Back.

Phil is leading the second game 2-1. and is lining up hoop 4 from 2 yards

runs

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 3-1 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

Burridge Louw has resumed. Burridge is leading 5-4, but a good clearance by William has given him control of 10

Clarke is leading Karem 3-2 and is in control of 6

Jenny was up in the second having taken the first

Ahmed is leading Duncan 3-2 having taken the first game, but looks like he'll lose H6

so looks good for NZ

Hamy dribbles at H5, and ends up very angled, but just about runnable. Black has played in deep. Yellow is clearing a deep blue

blue cleared to west boundary, but there's a chance of an in off from the return clearance. Phil might even settle for jumping position here though

nope- cracking clearance, too centre ball for in off

Phil's really been shooting straight here. Hamy too- I feel it's been the hoop running that's been the difference so far in this match, as well as the rush peel at 12 in game one

My elves are telling me Jenny is leading 6-2 in the second having taken the first game

Hamy has run hoop 5

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 3-2 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

good positions at 6. Red clears black to south boundary

Black misses return clearance

yellow runs 6 to even things up

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 3-3 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

Jenny's finished on her lawn-- a jump at hoop 10 to finish

OVERALL TEST STATUS:

NEW ZEALAND 6-4 EGYPT

New Zealand need one more match.

Drew game-
Blue took nice position. Red takes position. Black Takes position- probably blocking Blue because....

yellow runs hoop 7 from middle of north boundary. Very very good shot

Clarke leading Karem 4-3 it seems

Ahmed leading Duncan 4-3

Drew game-
Blue and black taken up very very tight position. Red is halfway between H1 and west boundary

yellow lags up to angled position. Blue takes speculative attempt at jaws.

fails. Red clearing

works OK. Both balls scatter, but the hoop is still pretty even

Burridge and Louw at hoop 11 in the big crunch game. I believe it's 5-5 (Burridge was 5-4 up)

yep- 5-5, with William looking like he's in control of 11. But from this angle it's difficult to tell

Hamy is lining up a shot at hoop 8....

runs

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 3-5 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

Ahmed now leads Duncan 5-3 in the second, having taken the first

Clarke looks like he's ahead vs Karem

Phil gets nice position dead in front of 9. Hamy shoots from near East penalty point. Misses to boundary in front of 9

blue gets nice position couple of yards in front. Doesn't look like it's blocking anything though.

Good clearance by Hamy. Not hard, but centre ball. Clears black to the East boundary. Red follows most of the way, and is about 5 yards east of 9

Phil clears red with black, and black richochets off the boundary in fronty of 9

yellow going for the hoop.....

left hand wire. Bounces off a couple of yards east of 9

Phil runs without very much wire, off the north boundary

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 4-5 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

red takes quite deep (~5 yards) not wired

Karem runs 9 to take the Clarke Karem game to 5-4

Drew Game-
Phil put black a couple yards in front of 10. Yellow lags to close but angled posi. Blue comes to position....

looks like red's lining up the hoop....

yep-- but gets rejected to a few inches west of the hoop

phil lining up black.....

yep--- nice hoop. Runs to north boundary

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 5-5 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

Ahmed leads Duncan 6-4 and has first approach to 11

Karem shooting at 10- this could be very important

ooooh.... gets rejected. Seemed like it hit the right spot in the hoop, but doesn't go through

Meanwhile---
Phil ran 11 from north boundary in front of 3!

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 6-5 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

but phil's approach to 12 is short.... Phil now shooting at yellow, which is a yard in front of 12

Crack! Centre balled from a good distance away to east of hoop 3

I think Chris has just been similarly cleared by Mo Karem

hamy's return position was overcooked, and ran past hoop running position. A controlled clearance by Phil has given Phil control at 12

Red returns to hoop running position only to be cleared by Phil

very solid play here from Phil.

Hamy tries a clearance on blue, but only half balls it, with yellow disappearing north of 3

Mo has taken hoop 10 to level things off at 5-5

Ahmed having first approach to 13 against Duncan

looks good

meanwhile, Phil has wrestled total control of 12 through some very nice clearances. Hamy's clearances have been good too, but not as centre ball at this hoop

big shot here for Hamy. Clearing black

great shot. Clears to possible wired position with yellow in front of 12. Blue is in an unrunnable position.

wow... Phil's hit about 10 shots in a row now, all very centre ball

he's cleared yellow to the east penalty point, but black has disappeared north

Chris has run 11 by a yard to go 6-5

Duncan cleared at 13, but a counter clear by Ahmed has given Ahmed control again

Difficult decisions for Hamy. Wired from Blue, yellow opts for a block on red rather than clearing black.

black clears red, but ricochets onto blue...

sorry- other way round. Blue cleared red but ricochets onto Black

red lags back in. Black clears yellow

Hamy shoooting at blue it seems.

misses

enormous cheers from SA Wales match

hoop thirteen it seems. Looks like Louw clinched it, but isn't clear

Ahmed beats Duncan 7-6 in the second

OVERALL TEST STATUS:

NEW ZEALAND 6-5 EGYPT

New Zealand need one more match.

Drew game--
Phil got himself into a bit of hot water. Black cleared to Corner 1, with yellow having a possible hoop running position. Blue is in decent hoop running position if yellow misses

black clearing....

misses to C3

yellow declines hoop to perform great stop shot

blue takes extremely deep position, red comes in

black shooting from C3....

misses yellow to C1

yellow has a 1 yarder at 12

....he's thinking about it!

Wow- Karem Clarke game. Karem declines a simple hoop in favour of a clearance on chris's ball. Beautifully executed and gets a flick off to the boundary in front of 13!

Hamy seems to like that idea- he's just done the same thing

but red has a very very tricky hoop run at 12....

Karem only just gets through 12!

Wow--- Hamy ran red. Incredible shot; pretty ballsy to bet on running that one!

Drew (B+B) vs Erian (R+Y) Game 2:

Drew (NZ) 6-6 Erian (Egy)

Drew leads by a game to nil

Incredibly, both games now seem identical. Both egyptians have flicked off to the boundary in front of thirteen. Both Kiwis have taken decent position but not blocking

Karem clangs the hoop. With his other ball stuck in 12, it's probably curtains

Hamy also misses the seven yarder

Clarke sticks in 13 after Karem went to the middle of the North boundary

Hamy misses clearance

Phil lining up 13

Runs it!

Great match.

NEW ZEALAND WINS GC WTC!

CURRENT MATCH SCORE 7-5

erm.... not sure what's happened in the Clarke Karem game. It looks like they've finished, but I don't think the hoop's been run

Ah OK--- Chris was cleared out the back of the hoop, but after Phil took the other match to seal the test, both players agreed not to play out the rest of the match

Kiwis pretty happy with themselves and deservedly so. Great performance. Egyptians understandably disappointed, but have still been formidable all week

Confirmation that South Africa have dodged relegation. William took hoop 13 game 3.

Last post done. I'm heading off now.