Good morning from Hurlingham.

The Open Singles Final, Reg Bamford v Robert Fulford, is scheduled to start at 10am.
The sun is already shining, it's going to be a scorcher.

Neither player, nor many other chaps, are here yet.

Pete Trimmer asks about conditions. The front lawns are faster than some ears, were timed earlier at 13 seconds.
The hoops are well-enough set, but are not offering much resistance.

Bamford and Fulford now both here.

The Plate play-off is between Gabrielle Higgins and Robin Brown.
It'll be starting on lawn 3 at about 10.30. (late start at players' request). It is a best-of-3.

The main final is on lawn 4, best-of-5.

Various Z chaps practising on lawns 1 & 2. Jose Riva favourite for that event.
The Mangler's done well to find 8 players. Some have not yet played a Z game. Paucity of Z games is due to lack of lawn-space.

Fulford about to start practising.

My tactical insight doesn't really stretch to this exalted level. But..
Bamford will definitely be trying sextuples.
Fulford is more tactically diverse. Against Riva, with the first break he was making 8 hoops, POPping one ball to 3.
As to openings, the 2nd corner seems favourite this week for most players including Bamford, but Fulford played 2 Duffer tices yesterday.

Lifted from Statto's website:
Most titles

1 Robert Fulford 11
2 John Solomon 10
2 Reg Bamford 10
4 Nigel Aspinall 8
5 Humphrey Hicks 7
6 Cyril Corbally 5
7 Duff Mathews 4
7 Dorothy Steel 4
9 Ben Apps 3
9 Patrick Cotter 3
9 Stephen Mulliner 3
9 Leslie O'Callaghan 3
9 David Openshaw 3

On a quick count this is the 10th Bamford v Fulford final. I'm sure Clarke would point out that there might have been one more had they not been seeded in the same half in 2008. (there were 3 #1 seeds, Keith Aiton being the third.

And we're off.

Bamford Black to E bdry, 12y N of 4th corner.
Fulford Red 1y short of W bdry, maybe 1' in from N bdry.
Bamford Blue at Black from A-baulk. Hits.

Bamford takes off to Red, hits, rolls it to 13y S of 2nd corner (and in a bit). Lags back to give Black 4' rush.
T4 Fulford shooting from A-baulk. Hits Black.

Fulford rushes Blue to Red, Red to 1, and he's away. What's he got planned?

The Mangler is holding 3 Brown balls. One has wedged on lawn 1.

Fulford taking off to Red at hoop 3 from Black near hoop 1. POPping to be attempted.

Fulford POPs Black through 1 before 4.

After 4 Fulford rushes Blue West. Is he thinking of POPping Blue? Probably not. Blue is croqueted to 1-back.

Higgins has turned up, she and Robin start their practice on lawn 3.

Fulford making 6 off Black, other 2 balls near 1-back.

After 6, Fulford rushes Black to 2nd corner. Black is croqueted to 5y NNE of 4, so no second POP on Black. Ah, he's not going to make 1-back.

Blue is left a few inches SW of 2. Red is 11y S of 2nd corner. Yellow maybe 5' NNE of Red. A sort of reverse NSL.

I presume Fulford was hoping to POP Bamford to 2 & 2.

T5 Bamford lifts Black to end of B-baulk. Misses Yellow.

The table for the trophies has arrived.
Brown has first break in the Plate final.

Fulford Red hoping to peel Yellow through 1-back before 1. Does so.

Fulford Red makes 1 off Blue, takes off to Black. Black to 3, makes 2 off Yellow. Now hopes to rush Yellow in front of 2-back. Good rush. Has 5' peel of 2-back. It goes through.
Fulford has contrived to reduce the sextuple to a standard quadruple.

Re Plate, I spoke to soon. Brown had to approach 2 from 2nd corner. Now his clip is on 2, and Higgins does have a 4-ball break.

After 3 Fulford (Red) rushes Black to midWest boundary. Good croquet stroke puts Black to 5 getting rush on Yellow.to 3-back.
Might Bamford be ruing his choice of shot?

Fulford Red peels Yellow through 3-back after 4, by about 11 yards.

Fulford Red now rushes Blue near 4-back, takes off to Black, a little too strongly. After hoop cuts Black to the East. Two good shots here would yield normal delayed triple.

Fulford lining up 5' peel of 4-back before 6. Peel bounces to side of hoop. Rush to 6 not great, 1 yard power hoop to boundary.

Higgins (playing Blue) will be conceding contact. Black is in 2nd corner.

So you whinge online about not being bought a drink, then someone in New Zealand emails husband to offer me a drink (now the bar's open). The wonders of technology!

Fulford's 2-back pioneer is at 4-back. From 3rd corner croquets Black to 3-back, but Red not ideal. 4', angled peel with pull. (Blue is 3y W of 4-back.

Fulford's 4-back peel finishes in front of hoop. It is rush-peelable.
Red was a bit short of ideal, so cut rush to 2-back. Copes, but intended hoop to boundary only goes through by 1 yard. Excellent roll from S of 2-back, Blue to 4-back, Red can and does rush-peel Yellow.

A while ago Alain brought a bacon sandwich to tent, leaving it on the table just behind me.
Turns out it was for Higgins, who made 9 hoops. She just started tucking in when Brown's first croquet stroke goes off lawn.

Fulford has squarish split shot to try the penult peel before 4-back. Peelee goes through by 2".

Fulford Red runs 4-back, roqueting Blue in hoop stroke. Rolls Blue 2y N of peg. Rushes Yellow East. Stop-shots it to 4 or 5' in front of rover.

After penult, Fulford croquets Blue as a deep ball (3y off end of A-baulk). Black is beside rover. One foot irish peel. Yellow goes through to near Blue, Red stops in jaws. Runs hoop, taps Black, just the rush to the peg now...

Fulford wins the first game with a sixth turn sextuple.

Higgins picked up break, but put it down at 3. If Robin can roll up to 1 from 4 yards West, he has break. Fails 1.

Game 2
Fulford Red going for supershot. SuperAdvanced, so has to hit hoop. Does hit hoop 5, bounces 1y E of hoop.

Bamford Blue shooting at Red from 1st corner. Misses to near middle of East boundary.
Fulford Yellow shooting at Blue from 3rd corner. Misses to 2' W of 4th corner.
Bamford looking from 1st corner. No he's shooting from near end of B-baulk, at Blue. Hits.

Plate final is degenerating somewhat. Brown fails another hoop, then Higgins fails hoop 2. Oppo generously if illegally reminds her that her clip is on 3. Brown has break.

Bamford croquets Blue to 2, finishing 4y shy of Red. Rush goes 4y N of 1. Fails hoop 1 into jaws.
Fulford calling for umpire. Mangler appears. This is 4 or 5 y, not sure how far Black is through hoop. Hits.

Fulford Red has 3-ball break. Yellow still near 4th corner. Making 2 off Blue.

Brown's clips now 2 and 1-back. Has spread, but ball at peg won't rush to 1-back.
Z KO: Grimsley beats Polhill 20tp

Fulford has made 4 off Blue, Yellow as yet unmoved.

Higgins shoots at ball by peg from A-baulk. Brown can rush peg ball to this other ball. Rush to 1-back short, copes.

Fulford finally uses Yellow, but not in time to do any POPs (assuming he's making 6 hoops).

Fulford cross-pegs Blue and Black, makes 6 off Yellow. Rushes Yellow to W bdry. Leaves rush for Yellow to peg, from about 11y S of 2nd corner.

T6 Bamford lifts Blue to end of A-baulk, shootingg at Black (E of peg). Hits, rushing it 4y E of hoop 3.

Brown's clips 2 and 4-back. Spread (good one this time). Higgins misses to 4th corner.

Bamford runs his first hoop (not counting the POP in game 1).

Brown fails 2, Higgins hits.

Bamford has all the balls, now for hoop 3.

Sam Murray cleaning the Z trophy, which he is not defending.
Brown makes long roquet.

Bamford making 4 off Yellow, hoping to rush it into position to be POPped through 1. Rush not good enough.

Bamford will be making 6 off Yellow. Mops his brow, it's getting pretty hot out there.

Higgins now hits long roquet.

Bamford Blue has made 6 hoops Yellow croqueted nr W bdry, maybe 3y N of peg-high. Red at peg. Leaves rush for Black on E bdry, close to max distance point.

T7 Fulford lifts Yellow to B-baulk. Hits Black.

Now most mortals would be croqueting Blue to hoop 2. But Fulford places it as his reception ball after 1, rushes Red well South of 1, stoppo approach, and now Red is his hoop 2 pioneer, and he can and does get the 1-back peel after 2.

Fulford Yellow peels Red through 2-back from 8'. Rushes Black to 4.

Higgins has break, in fact I think she's done first peel of delayed TP.

Fulford positions Black (hoop 6 pioneer) 5y NW of 4, so that he can peel 3-back before 6.

Fulford croquets Blue (1-back pioneer) ~5y E of 1-back. 3-back peel goes through by 3 yards. After 6, has Black (2-back pioneer) at 4-back.

Higgins has penult peel before 4-back.

Fulford has 7' backward take-off approach to 1-back. Copes. Having Blue (3-back pioneer) at a congested 4-back.

Z KO Riva bt Taylor +15 (failed sextuple).

Fulford fails 4-back peel before 4-back, good rush to 2-back. Peelee is in front of jaws, rush-peelably.

Sorry, internet dropped out there. For some reason Fulford is approaching 3-back from the middle of the East boundary. Fails long hoop, bouncing off West.

So Fulford's run of 4 consecutive sextuples comes to an end.
Bamford hits 6-yarder with hoop 1 ball.

Higgins made the straight rover peel, but then failed hoop. Brown now has standard tp ahead.

With all the balls in the lawn, Bamford's pick-up was pretty straightforward. Though his hoop 3 pioneer is 10y SSW of hoop 3.
Going for 1-back peel after 2. 2y peel. Goes through by 3 yards.

Z KO Mark Ormerod beat Alison Jones to set up 6th game of the week v Riva.

Bamford's hoop 4 pioneer is at 2-back. As is his hoop 5 pioneer. Rush on peelee 4y shy of 2-back. Manages to jaws the 2-back peel.

Z KO Lawrence beat Cumming.

Bamford dissatisfied with rush after 4. Red is croqueted 5y SW of peg. Peelee wasn't as well in the jaws as it looked, is peeled before 5.

After 5 Bamford rushes Yellow near end of A-baulk. Croquets it 2y S of 1-back. Rushes Blue in NW direction, in order to croquet it to 3-back getting rush on Red to 6. Blue 2y short of 3-back, good rush on Red.

Brown doesn't understand the game. Having peeled Higgins through rover at the start of his turn, he could have had +1tp with all the clips.
Brown wins game 1 of Plate final 2tp.

Bamford plays excellent roll to peel 3-back going to Yellow at 1-back. Bizarrely the 2-back pioneer is vaguely near 2-back. He'll be going for 4-back peel before 3-back.

Bamford's peelee is currently 5y from 4-back, so needs nice little rush here. Leaves 4' peel with pull. Peelee is jawsed. Good enough rush to 3-back

Bamford's 4-back pioneer is 2y E of penult (hoping that 4-back peel had gone through) Yellow nr penult, rush-peels 4-back, good roll over to penult. Straight double peel needed to finish.

Bamford lining up 1' irish peel of penult. Other balls well placed. Both balls through but peelee hits peg, bouncing off about 4' SE of peg.

After penult Bamford croquets Yellow to beside rover, but is short on Red. Undercuts rush and he's 8 yards or so from Blue. Reasonable croquet stroke puts Red as deep ball. Rushes peelee 8' more or less in front. Lining up...

Peel is jawsed, Black is close to hoop. Mallet goes straight up, Aiton on lawn as ref. Not sure what's going on. Blue is wedged! Replay, players agreeing where shot was played from. Mangler onto lawn with bucket.

Ian Vincent is the ROT and is assisting the Mangler. Apparently Blue could be wedged off the ground.
OK take 2. Balls look to be in right spot, ie 8' more or less in front.
Blue is onto right-hand wire. Black 2' in front.

Bamford jumps clean over Blue to South bdry.
Black rushes Red near Yellow. I can't envisage a finish from here, though that might be my lack of imagination.
.

Bamford hasn't given up just yet. Trying to promote Blue with Red from 3y. Blue may now be in front, red adjacent. Tries to promote Blue through with Yellow, but just gets it into jaws. Black is South of hoop having hoped for rush to peg. Crowd suggests bashing into crown to land on far side of Blue to peel it. I knew I lacked imagination.

Bamford Black rushes Blue hard, bombarding Red 2y S of 2nd corner. Yellow is 3y S of 5. Taking croquet about 8y S of hoop 3. Stops Blue towards E boundary. Thinking...

Clips Red penult, Yellow 3-back, Blue rover, Black peg.

Bamford plays Black 3y E of 2nd corner.
Fulford lifts Yellow into contact with Red.

Crowd of experts astounded at Bamford's choice of last stroke. 8y N of 1st corner may have been best option.

Fulford's croquet stroke doesn't leave ideal rush on Black, cuts it 3y S of 3rd corner. Croquets Black near penult hoping for peel before 4-back. Rushes to 3-back.

Fulford doesn't get rush after 3-back, poor roll means he will need straight double peel to finish.

Fulford's little rush is quarter-ball short of ideal, but good Irish. Peelee flicks off peg to 5y N of rover.

Fulford peeling rover from one yard (2'6" maybe), with deep ball and shallow ball. Is he going to Irish it? No. Peelee goes 1 yard through. Little flip hoop stroke just clears peelee,goes off S bdry. Hits 4-yarder.

Fulford wins game 2 +3, to lead match 2-0.

In game 2 of the Plate final, Brown has had 1st break, stopping at 3-back.

Final is lunching, and so am I.

Final Game 3

Bamford Black 11y N of 4th corner.
Fulford Red yard or 2 shy of W bdry, just in from N bdry
Bamford Blue at Black from A-baulk, missing to 1' N.

During lunch the Blue ball has been changed, the hoops checked, and a couple reset.

T4 Fulford Yellow hits Red.

Fulford takes-off, hits Black (5y). Rushes Blue a bit too hard, makes 1, rushes East. Rushes Black off behind 2, takes off for rush on Red. Runs 2, has break.

Now I've finished my burger (there is a new permanent barbeque ~40y South of lawn 3), I can update you on the Plate final.
You'll remember that Brown went to 3-back. Higgins then gets in and makes 6 hoops.
Brown hits lift (probably) and embarks on quad. Breaks down at 3-back and penult.
Higgins takes forward ball to 4-back. Brown misses into 4th corner.
Higgins making 2 on 3-ball beak.

Late doubles result: Cordingley and Death beat Farthing and Patmore. At darts.

Fulford Yellow has not got ideal posi for POP on Black before 4. Takes off to Red at 4. Blue at 5

Higgins' clip is on 3, Brown making 3-back.

Fulford Yellow POPs Black thru 1 before 5. After 5 Blue croqueted to 1-back. Or rather 2, if it's going to be same leave as Game 1.

Was Fulford trying a cheeky rush-POP of Black in making leave?
Anyway, not sure he wants Black there. Very close to left wire of 2, may even be able to run hoop.
Blue is 2y S and 6y E of peg.
Red has 4' rush on Yellow to Blue.
Fulford places Black clip on 2, wanders off, then returns to put Red clip on 1-back.

Bamford lifts Black to end of A-baulk, Hits Blue.

Brown got to rover and peg, Higgins missed, Brown finished to win the Association Plate.

Bamford Black takes off from Blue, which is near middle of East boundary, hits Red, makes 2 off Yellow.

Fulford was not trying the rush-POP.

Z KO final is in play on lawn 2 Riva v Lawrence

Doing what croquet players never do i.e. reading the Mangler's noticeboard, I note that this is the 150th anniversary of the 1st Open Championship. Or sesquicentenary if you will. Somewhere near Evesham? Must re-read Prichard.

Sorry made a commentary error a few comments back. It's the Yellow clip on 1-back.

Bamford has made 4 off Yellow. Red at 5, Blue between 5 and 1.

Pete Trimmer asks
[After the Blue wedging]
"I'm slightly surprised that he (Bamford) wants it back, rather than jumping it and bombarding to finish..?"
Well Pete, the experts are divided. Am afraid I don't know exactly how close Black was to Blue.

Bamford makes 5 hoops (ie clip on 1-back). Didn't manage a POP.
Leaves Spread: Yellow (for 1-back) 3y in from Wbdry, Red (for 1) at peg, rush for Blue into lawn from 12y N of 4th corner.

T6 Fulford lifts Red to B-baulk. Misses to 4th corner.

T7 is yet to start. Here he comes...

Riva has won the Z.

T7 Bamford Blue rushes Black into peg. Black croqueted 2yN of 2., fair rush to 1.

Bamford Blue makes 1 off Yellow, rushes Yellow into 4th corner we think. Ref called on. Mangler emerges. Bamford decides he's OK.
That was a good rush. about 4', and a cut was required.
Corner cannon: Yellow croqueted to hoop 3, Red rushed to er... hoop 1. MAybe he should make it again!

Bamford Blue takes off from Red to Black, finishes West of it. Take-off approach. (Red is now 3y W of 1). Blue takes more wire than expected, but he's OK.
Red's not the ideal escape ball, but he's going for peel. Peel goes through by a yard, Blue good.

Bamford Blue taking off from Red at 2-back to Yellow at 3. Taking his time, peg may be in play. Quite thick take-off moves Red 4y toward 4. Makes 3 off Yellow, rushes it to end of B-baulk. Yellow croqueted to 2y NE of peg. Rush on Black undercut, so no peel before 4.

After 4, Bamford Blue rushes Red near Black and Yellow. Croquets Red maybe 5y W of peg. 2-back peel only jawsed before 5.

After 5, Bamford Blue rushes Yellow South, then croquets it 3y S of 1-back. Rush-peels Black thru 2-back. Good croquet stroke: Black 1y E of 3-back, good rush on Red.

Just in case people are confused, I use ' for feet and " for inches. Sorry if you prefer metric.

After 6 Bamford Blue rushes Red off E bdry 8yN of 4th corner.

BTW when I say corner, I mean corner-spot not corner-flag. Though as i say, all distances are guesstimates.

Red is croqueted 2y N of 5. Now going for big roll peeling 3-back going to Yellow Norh of 1-back. Peel goes through by 12 yards, Blue is pretty good.

After 1-back, Bamford Blue rushes Yellow to 4-back. Finishes 1' NW of hoop, by which he seems disappointed. Take off sends Yellow 2y East. Croqueting Black from 5y S of 4. Pretty good.

Difficult to count the crowd as most are sheltering in the shade. Maybe 50, 60?

After 2-back, Bamford Blue rushes Red N of penult. Rolls Red 4y SE of penult. Rushes Black to 1y in front of hoop. Peelee stops in front of jaws. Blue close to Yellow, needs a cut rush. Overcuts it. Blue ricochets Black out of the jaws (in the wrong direction). Faced with 8y take -off to 3-back. 1y hoop, runs it too cleanly. Has 7-yarder at Yellow, centre-ball.

Straight triple peel required.

From 13y N of 4th corner, Bamford Blue rolls Yellow to penult, aiming for rush-peel on Black! Black is 3" in front of hoop, Bamford is 4 feet away. Gets it, to applause.
The next croquet stroke also garners applause: pass-roll putting peelee to penult getting rush on Red.

Bamford Black Irishes Blue through penult. Black misses peg nicely to rover. Blue is 3" through hoop. Can he hit Yellow?? He's squinting. Hits it easily Toying with us, he was.

Bamford now Irishing rover. Peelee well through, has Blue run the hoop? It's close, Mangler on as referee. Squinting from both sides. With and without sunglasses. If it is through, Bamford is in trouble.

Mangler has come back for the Laws book. It is really close. Ref think it's plum on the line.. Ref has decided not through.

Bamford wins game 3 with a sextuple, trails Fulford 1-2.

Game 4 opening

Fulford Red attempting supershot flicks off 5 to 5y W of peg.
Bamford Blue to 15y N of 4th corner
Fulford Yellow shooting from 2y W of 3rd corner. Hits.

Apparently the ref did the sheet of paper test at rover to show that Bamford had not run it.

Fulford croquets Blue near 2, longish rush on Red, rushes to 4y W of 1, approaches to 4 or 5 feet, bounces off.

T4 Bamford Black shooting from A-baulk. Yellow is 6y away. Is Bamford trying to make a target? Hope it's not a Hogan double! Black hits Yellow.

Bamford Black has Blue and Yellow at 2, taking off to Red which is 8y N of 1. Take-off a bit shy, but OK rush. Through 1 for break.

Bamford Black making 5 off Blue. No POPs.

Bamford Black has made 6 hoops, and is having diagonal spread.

T5 Fulford lifts Yellow. (Red is at peg.) Shoots from B-baulk. Misses to 1' W of 4th corner.

Bamford has chance of another sextuple. May deploy a Hogan roll to set it up.

Bamford Blue makes 1 off Red. Rushes back to S bdry, Croquets Red 3y NW of 4. Here's the big roll. Black is (deliberately) 4y SE of 2. Good shot has Yellow 4'N of 3, Blue 2y away from Black. Again Red isn't the ideal escape ball....

Bamford Blue peels Black through by 13y, ending up just NW of Red. Takes off from Red to Yellow. After 3 rushes Yellow West, say 7y S of 2. Croquets Yellow 6y S of 5, so thatit's out of way of peel going to 4. Red is 3y W of 4. 2-back peel is jawsed before 4.

Trophies are all set out behind me.

Bamford Blue rush-peels Black through 2-back before 5. Red is 3y NNW of peg. Black croqueted to 3-back. Makes 5 off Yellow.

After 5 Bamford Blue rushes Yellow off 5y W of 4th corner. Yellow croqueted to 2y SE of peg. Lining up peel of 3-back going to Red. Peel goes through by a yard Blue is good enough.

Not entirely sure all the crowd is awake. It's been a long hot week.

After 6 Bamford Blue rushes Red to 4y N of 4th corner. Red is croqueted 7' S of 4-back. Now taking croquet off Black near 4. 4' rush on Yellow to 1-back. Miscuts it, Yellow is on N bdry, maybe 4, 5y W of end of B-baulk. Good approach recovers situation.

No rush after 1-back, so Bamford rolls Yellow to 4-back, where Black and Red are waiting. Yellow is 1y NW of 4-back. Longish (8'?) but straight peel at 4-back, can play it without pull. Peel goes 8' through. Cut rush required, peg slightly in play. Rushes red 10' N of 2-back. Red is deep. Runs hoop to boundary.

After 2-back Bamford Blue rushes Red 7y N of 4th corner. Rolls red 3y ESE of penult. Hits black, croquets it to penult. Pretty good rush to 3-back.

The first sextuple Phil Cordingley saw was by Eric Solomon, final of the Hurlingham Cup, 1980.

Bamford Blue peels Black through penult by 11y, before 4-back. This looks all over, heading for decider.

Bamford doesn't have a deep ball at rover. Rushes Black very close to hoop. Irishes, Blue definitely not through.

Bamford completes second sextuple to tie the match 2-2. We have a decider!

Game 5 opening.
Bamford Black 12y N of 4th corner.
Fulford Red 11y off end of B-baulk, just in from N Bdry
Bamford Blue shooting at Red from B-baulk (change of plan from Games 1 & 3). Misses on right.
Fulford Yellow has target ("Not getting through middle of that", says my runner). Hits Red.

I am told, possibly unreliably, that this replicates the opening of the deciding game of the 1971 final, when Keith Wylie did the first sextuple in the northern hemisphere v Nigel Aspinall.

Fulford Yellow rushes Blue 3y N of Black. Makes 1 off Black. Croquets Black 5y E of 3. Nice cut rush of Blue to near Red.

Crowd thinks lawn is slowing up. Or should I say slowing down? Crowd thinks either is acceptable..

Fulford Yellow through 2 with a break.

Fulford Yellow POPs Black through 1 before 5. Making 5 off Red.

Fulford got the balls the wrong way round in his leave in Game 3, let's see if he gets it right this time...

Fulford Yellow makes 6 off Black. Blue waiting near 2. Black is croqueted 7y N of 4. Blue to inches WSW of 2. Rushes Red off W bdry. Red is 11y S of 2nd corner. Yellow 4'N of Red, in a bit.

So in Game 1 in this position, Bamford lifted Black to B-baulk and missed Red or Yellow. Fulford then quickly reduced the sextuple to a standard quadruple.

Bamford lifts Black to A-baulk, shoots at Red / Yellow. Snicks Red, then knocks Yellow into 2nd corner.

Mangler reports that Bamford has won the Solomon peeling prize. Fulford 2nd, Riva 3rd (Riva had 3 SXPs, 1 QP and 8 TPs)

The crowd now trying to guess the 9 players (out of 40) who didn't get at least 1 TP. I shall spare their blushes.

Bamford has break. Definitely will be trying to POP Red here.

Bamford Black POPs Red through 1 before 4.

Email from Roger Wood
"Greetings! Interesting to note that after Wylie's 1971 SXP in an Opens final we had to wait 30 years for the next (Bamford 2001) since when we have had 15 more.
Also salutary to realise that since 1990 on only 4 occasions has a final not featured either Robert or Reg!"

Bamford has to ask whether he's made a roquet. Fulford, now in Mangler's tent, is paying attention.
Bamford has Yellow (for 1-back) glued on peg. Red (for 2) near W bdry. Blue with rush on Black to peg, from E bdry, 3y S of peg-high.

Fulford lifts Yellow to B-baulk. Shoots at Blue. Misses into 4th corner.

Bamford has match-winning turn ahead.

T7 Bamford Blue rushes Black across, flicks Red on way, that doesn't matter. Blue rushes Red to 1. Makes 1 with rush pointing NE.

After 1 Bamford Blue rushes Red 3y N of 5. Takes off to Yellow. Big shot coming up. Black is 8' SE of 2. Yellow is croqueted to 5y N of 3, Blue also not ideal.

Bamford Blue runs 2, rushes Black into 1' peeling posi, but angled (Black NNE of hoop). He stares accusingly at yellow. Black peeled to S of peg-high, Blue has rush on Red NNW, rushes it off 5yE of 2nd corner. Red is going to 2-back, nicely. Blue is close to yellow, rolling up to 3 from 5 yards. Approaches to 1' in front.

Email from DKO (David Openshaw)

"Hi Andrew I'm now at home.
You can certainly mention that I am one of the players with no triples.
Pleased to be in both your lists.
Winners of Opens three or more times and no triples this year."

Bamford Blue peels 2-back by 1 yard before 4. Rush to 4 not as close to hoop as usual, had to avoid Yellow. Runs 4 to boundary.
Yellow ball is 4y SW of 5.

After 4, Bamford croquets Red 2y NNE of peg, christs off Black. Croquets Black well to 3-back, makes 5, rushes Yellow off S bdry. Croquets Yellow 4'N of peg (not far from Red, but not interfering).
Peels Black through 3-back, Black passes 4-back, finishes 4' in from N yardline. Blue is good, making 6 off Red.

After 6 Bamford Blue rushes Red off beyond Black. Red (2-back pioneer) is at 4-back. Makes 1-back off Yellow.

After 1-back Bamford Blue rolls Yellow to 4-back. Peels Black through 4-back by a yard. But Blue is short - almost due E of Red, and partially hampered by Black. Calls ref on. Rushes Rd to 4y Nw of peg. Red deep, on yardline. Has ten foot hoop. Runs it to boundary.

Bamford Blue is E of Red. Rushes it N of 1st corner. Coming to inspect Black and Yellow. Rolls Red 4y SSW of 4-back, going to Black. Good shot, deserving applause. Black croqueted in front of penult.
Good rush to 3-back.

Bamford Blue peels Black through penult before 4-back. Black goes couple of yards past peg. Blue makes 4-back off Red.

After 4-back, Red is near peg, Blue rushes Black 4' N of rover. Takes off to Yellow. Makes penult.

In case you've not been fully following, Bamford now needs to negotiate a straight rover peel to become Open Champion.

After penult, Bamford croquets Yellow just beyond rover, a yard to side. Red goes 3y S of rover. Peeling from less than a foot. Irish peel. Black goes within 2y of boundary, Blue well through.

After rover, Bamford Blue taps Yellow, takes off to Red, rushes to Black. 2' rush to peg. Rushes to 7 or 8 feet.

Reg Bamford completes three consecutive sextuples to become Open Champion.

One can only admire and say Well Done Reg.

Fulford and Bamford now 1st= with 11 Open titles each.

Thanks to the Hurlingham wifi for keeping me connected, bye for now, Andrew