Wow - 35 readers in 2 seconds! - welcome back for the second semi final. The big South African champion Reg Bamford vs last event's silver medallist, Hamy Erian

Hamy is impressive in his ability to run controlled hoops, and play measured clearances. That said, you need to get a lot of distance against opposition of this quality

Felix is in the shelter on lawn 2 with a few of the kiwis - really really impressive and totally world class performance. So proud of what he has achieved - all in NZ croquet should be. The other kiwi youngsters have put in some excellent performances too. Great work in creating a community of very positive and supportive players by NZ's Croquet Development Officer Greg Bryant. He has worked incredibly hard to bring together and encourage and coach the players from across New Zealand. And it's really paying off

Right...

Game 1: Reg v Hamy

Reg wins the toss. Plays a poor blue in - at least it's too far rather than too short

Red in front and deepish - Reg has the power to clear this to the halfway line though

Black plays in - a bit short, but it's very runnable

Yellow taking good position - good shot - it's between black and the hoop!

Blue clearing red - even better than predicted - it's near the eastern half-way line on the south buondary

My wedges are coming soon, so they'll be some intermittent commentary soon

Hamy shooting - misses! - he'd better hope yellow is blocking

it wasn't. Reg runs hoop 1 up to about 5 yards south-west of hoop 2 Reg leads 1-0

The scoreboard has been relocated. Wedges...!!! JP is in charge...

Reg clears yellow to east boundary with his black, red in front of hoop 2 and blue SW of it

Hamy attempts clearance on blue, misses!

Blue clears red and rolls into the jaws of 2, great shot

Red plays back in 2 yards south of the hoop, black clears it to the west boundary

Yellow from west boundary attempts clearance of blue in the jaws, misses and blue hoops, it's 2-0 to Reg

Red plays great two yard straight position at hoop 3

Reg plays in his black but it's short, to the west of red. Yellowplays beyond red to the east

Blue shooting at red...hits his own black! Blue now in corner 3 and black almost on the east boundary. Hamy just rolls throguh hoop 3 to make it 1-2

Reg plays black to good 30 degree angled two yard position in front of 4

Hamy attaempts the promote on his red with yellow, yellow finsihing west of hoop 5. Reg plays in blue to good position.

Red clears black to the east boundary

Reg plays his black back in so both in front. Hamy shooting from 15 yards straight....outside wire!

Many thanks to JP for his stint on the commentary.

Blue runs hoop 4 Reg leads 3-1

Red takes good position. Yellow plays up to hoop 5 also - has he blocked himself???

Sorry, that was black - did black block?

Yellow plays in, blue has a go at the target - clears both, red not as far as black

Red clears black - red to c4, black to middle of the east boundary.

Black shooting - midpaced... hits yellow - that's now on the south boundary near hoop 1

Yellow plays in well, bit angled

blue plays in very straight. Reg was sitting there in teh last semi talking about his previous oppo not being able to get in front of hoop 5 (we're still on lawn 1 here). Cheeky bugger!

Red plays in - it's angled, not 100% runnable. Black clears yellow... Shooting... Hamy hasn't had a great start, and misses again

Reg Bamford leads game 1 4-1 - smashes through hoop 5 off the north boundary. I thought he could have made more effort to stop in front of hoop 6. Some effort, even

Red takes longish position. Might be wired from blue. However it's unclear that Hamy is hitting straight enough at this stage to threaten hoop 6

Black's in, yellow drifts by and is unrunnable - came from level with hoop 1 on the west boundary

Reg plays blue in from the north boundary - THROUGH hoop 6!

Looks like Blue wicked off a bit, and Hamy can see the hoop...

Hamy Erian runs hoop 6 nicely Reg leads 4-2

Don't know what people think about grade-based seeding, but we have the top 4 ranked players in the world who are at this tournament playing each other

This semi is 1 (Reg) v 2 (Hamy), The morning's semi was 4 (Ahmed) v 5 (Felix). Only the absent Robert Fulford between them.

So,after red ran hoop 6, black took position, yellow cleared it - but black on the north boundary still in front, blue got very right in front, red involved somehow, and yellow clears blue, going halfway between hoops 1 and 2.

Blue back in and red is shooting at hoop 7 - good idea with yellow on the way to 8. Bounces out to the west boundary. (apologies for any creative work there to explain those positions!)

Red plays black in, nudging blue to potentially hidden from yellow

Yep - yellow dribbles back just past the hoop - harmlessly past both blue and then black.

Reg runs blue with some control, though off the south boundary Reg leads 5-2

Red plays in, then black, and yellow. Blue shooting... clears red at a fairly gentle pace

Black is horribly angled, and red just comes back in front

Reg taking it on anyway... He'll hit this HARD

SMACK - onto the outside wire - that didn't look high percentage

Hamy taps yellow in front

it's a good ball - risk of rush-peeling if blue shoots at that. Not sure what he'll do here - red is all over black - but even if he hits red - red is all over black at this level

Taking on red

misses!

Red has a 2 yarder to clear black towards corner 3

Nope - red was in front - runs hoop 8 Reg Bamford leads game 1 5-3

Reg plays over - ends up about level with hoop 9!! - JP reckons it hilled a bit there1

The refs are making themselves a bit more scarce. We have the boss ref in charge now - I believe he does know what the plasticy things in his pocket are for!

Right - enough of that.

Yellow takes position, blue drifts past

Will Reg go for a double clearance - I couldn't see with bodies in the way but... he misses a 3 yarder!!

Hamy runs hoop 9 towards corner 3 - really nice hoop Reg leads 5-4

Blue plays up - that's open on yellow. red comes up, and so does black - but too far again - Reg wipes his hand on the ground - he seems to do that after a bad hoop approach, so not sure if it's about grip, or wiping that bad shot away

Hamy clearing... yellow hits blue... which nails red off corner 1

Big big hoop - Reg runs hoop 10, Reg leads 6-4 - very unlucky for Hamy

Speaking of luck - how much misfortune did Felix have?? - really - just the whole match - if something unlucky could happen, it happened to Felix

Red plays in front of 11, black just creeps far enough past. Hamy clears with yellow

Reg needs to hit this red - though it is fairly long. He missed two of these against me in game 2 of the block - AFTER rushpeeling me through 10 - bless him

Blue plays in to put some pressure on - Hamy taking on the hoop - hits the centre of the near wire

Black takes position. Blue is next to the hoop, but all over red - which is blocking yellow from clearing blue. Hamy shooting at something from north of hoop 2

Misses everything

Refs must have been fed, they are starting to congregate again. Jim in the middle of north boundary, a lady hovering near corner 2, and someone else viewing from on lawn 2, mid west boundary. Oh, and there's another one in corner 1. If they attack, the players will have no chance!

Meanwhile, Reg clears red - red shoots back from corner 2 - nails black! Red spins and ends up 6 yards SE of hoop 6

Black to angled position - not sure if red or yellow can see that. Yellow is shooting - must be blocked from red. Shooting yellow at red looked interesting there. Misses black anyway

Blue rolls in front from the north boundary

Yes, red is blocked - dribbles it in, but it's long. This should be game 1 after that unlucky clearance at hoop 10 by Hamy.

Reg runs hoop 11 and wins game 1 7-4

Stay tuned - questions, comments and feedback to [email protected]. No chocolate for now thanks - the wedges here are lovely and I'm full!

The hoops were left as is - we're off again in record time!!

Hamy plays red in - it's too far (a repeat of Reg's shot in the first game)

Black comes in deep but straight, Yellow rolls in between black and the hoop (though remember I'm sitting level with the inside of corner 4)

Blue plays in .It looks like there is a huge area to clear black to that is wired from yellow by blue

The plate semis are under way on an outside lawn - it's kiwi v kiwi (Dennis and George), and Aussie v Canadian (Geoff Jamieson v John Richardson). I loved playing Geoff - really nice chap and he played at a very comfortably quick pace.

Anyways, red clears black, but black can see yellow and clears that.

Hamy places his ball slightly inside the line - and is pounced on by a referee! Rolls the ball back a couple of inches onto the line

Hamy plays yellow in between yellow and the hoop - doesn't get the block, and Reg runs hoop 1 up to 5 yards north east of hoop 2! Reg leads 1-0

All balls play up to hoop 2, and Reg is clearing - hits red pretty centrally! - and richocets gently off onto partner.

Red tries to roll in as a block on black, and goes too far. It's very angled, and there's a large yellow referee in my way!

Black shoots - bounces back - first rejection for Reg (I think)

The ref is leaving the court! - but only to get a hammer. Hamy has a longish hoop 2 and wants the hoop firmed in

Hamy runs hoop2 1-1, and the JP has tempted me - he has a wonderful looking chocolate muffin. He's sent off to get me one, and a coke zero. He stayed with us at the U21 worlds in NZ, and is just as lovely still.

Meanwhile, back on court 2... blue drifts past to poor position (though Reg is taking on some very aggressive hoops), red is deep, but fairly straight, and black takes excellent position. Yellow plays in

Reg clears yellow with blue - he is now all over hoop 2, and Hamy is forced to take on the 7 yard hoop.

Runs it beautifully. speaking of beautiful - my muffin is here - Either that or JP is beautiful - can't decide at the moment as the sugar hits

Hamy Erian leads 2-1
Black, then yellow, then blue

all play in. red shooting - rushes black 3/4 the way up the east boundary

black comes back. yellow clearing blue - hits the hoop! Looks like yellow was trying for the in-off - nearly got blue through though!

Blue tight in front - yellow tight behind

Red going for the 6 yard 45 deg hoop. Tony is unhappy with it

Blue and black lined up north of the hop, yellow south of the hoop

Nails teh near wire and bounces back

Black is blocked from the hoop by partner, but he is fantastic at jumping, and hops over this 2-2

Reg plays blue in - audience unclear if he has blocked himself - looks dead to me

Red plays in, careful to not disturb anything

Reg jumping - going for the bounce, needs to clear blue and land on yellow - bit offline - I fancied the attempted double clearance there - teeny percentage of rush-peeling partner too

Hamy runs hoop 5 up to hoop 6 - we didn't see that sort of control from Ahmed

Hamy leads 3-2

Yellow up to hoop 6, and blue takes gorgeous tight position in line with yellow

red plays up

Mohamed Nasr wanders past - impressive power to lift his brother in victory after that first semi final - really impressive match by Ahmed Nasr. There will be lots of talk about Felix's excellence, but Ahmed had touch and power, and used both well in that match

Somehow yellow has dug blue out of the hoop, but can't get it very far, and yellow clears blue to corner 4

sorry - blue cleared red to corner 4!

red shoots... looking at it... flicks black on teh way to the north boundary. Consolation for Hamy is that both red and yellow are very close to hoop 7 now

Reg runs hoop 6 with black by 3 yards 3-3 in game 2

Yellow takes position, blue clears

oh dear - we've lost track discussion my round 2 match with Stephen!

Lots of fiddling around - black is on north boundary, red in front. yellow tries to block. Blue clears anyway - yellow the only ball not on the north boundary

Red plays in - Reg will likely have a shot at an open hoop if he has one

shoots with black.. bounces out - had a bit of the near wire

yellow wants the hoop down. Important hoop 7...

George Coulter wins game 1 of his semi, and John Richardson game 1 of the other one - Ian Burridge will be pleased to see Richardson doing well - he said Richardson had some good stuff in him in their match. (might be related to the closeness of that match!)

Hamy runs hoop 7 to the south boundary

Blue plays in - it's too long and too west.

Red takes good position

Black is very angled, but it's the range Reg has been taking on

Yellow clearing from the south boundary.. edges blue and disappears up to the middle of the west boundary.

Bye bye red - corner 3...

Blue is now in front, but deep, black has that angled slightly long position, Hamy playing back in - I definitely agree with that

(not that my opinion is to be valued above theirs, but it's the priviledge a commentator gets!

Red in front, but quite deep - black plays in... jawses it!!

Not that much Hamy can do - you don't really want to take on a 3 yard jump at hoop 8 when you're 3-2 up

Yellow shoots at blue - misses

Reg going for the rushpeel - we thought he'd stun red to the side, but instead peels partner. Doesn't get a useful wick, but does get the point 3-3 in game 2

Hamy plays red across to hoop 9... bit long, slightly angled, very runnable - until Reg nails it off the east boundary with black!

Yellow plays a good ball in front. Black is a yard north of corner 4, and red about 12 yards north of fourth corner

Blue plays in

Red shooting at that...

Hits it - rushing it to the south boundary, and red is a long way west on that boundary too

Reg shooting - Didn't look like a great contact between mallet and ball - and he misses!

It might have been in a teeny divot, or just caught it badly. Easy hoop for Hamy

Runs the hoop with control, but too much wire. Hamy Erian leads 4-3

Hamy Erian leads 5-4

Doh

Yellow through by 7 yards. Blue plays up to deepish position, and red drifts by badly to about 2 yards right of hoop 10

Black is in, yellow lining up a clearance on blue

Hits it mid pace, and both balls are off the north boundary

Yellow clears blue. Red isn't in front - must have been cleared by something while we checked inon the world rankings yet again.

http://rank.worldcroquet.org/gcrank/rank.php

Blue comes back. Red stuns black away holding a really nice position in front of hoop 10

Yellow has a 10 yarder on blue...

restalking - that ref is next to him!

Shooting - at black (!) - misses

blue clearing red gently - red was blocking. He probably has the wire.

red dribbles back, and Reg has a hampered stance to run the hoop.

Apparently Stephen Mulliner was proud of a shot against Hemi where he couldn't clear or shoot at the hoop, so put his ball where he knew Hemi's foot would be - hampered his stance and Hemi missed. Chris then suggested he too studies opponents' stances. There's a subject for a squad discussion!

Meanwhile, Reg runs hoop 10 5-5

Hamy plays yellow in - it's not in front!

Blue in front, red tight in front, black in front

Yellow clears blue to north of hoop 3

Blue shooting ... misses!

red has an easy hoop, can get down to hoop 12. Tony has returned to us from a power nap

Hamy runs hoop 11 - too far, and it's a yard off the south boundary Hamy Erian leads game 2 6-5

Black to good position, yellow playing down. Decent shot, but it would be a longish hoop

Blue playing in from the middle of the west boundary

Chris being a bit harsh about the speed of the Ripon Spa lawns - 7 seconds.. however that weekend the lawn mower was broken, to be fair

Blue runs too far. Red clearing black... centres it at controlled pace, but it hits the wire of hoop 6 and stops there

Chatting about Yorkshire International Open at Ripon Spa - this is a popular event with the Egyptian players, who are hosted very well by Fergus and Samantha.

Khaled Younis also runs coaching clinics there from time to time. Really lovely hotel and grounds.

OK, so Reg shoots from hoop 6 to save game 2 - misses! - wipes his hand across his forehead and shakes that miss out of his memory.

Hamy runs hoop 12 with a good stroke to win game 2 7-5

I'm going to start a new commentary on a new thread now, as this is also a little long. The hoops are being left alone it seems, and one of the refs has a stick with a nail sticking out, so there will be no pitch invasions here!!