Good morning all. Our house was a little slow moving this morning, so just catching up. Many thanks to Nick for giving me something to do today. Last two worlds I was still playing at this stage - feeling a little lost!

Right:

3. Ed Wilson went to 4back third turn with red.
4. Jose shooting from the end of B Baulk at three ducks (three balls about max distance in from the west boundary. Misses badly to about 11 yards up the west boundary.

Check out #ACworlds for Nick Chapman's Instagram pics - including that lift shot

Ned puts blue to 3, hits red... takes off into black!!! - and it's a very long takeoff to hoop 1 - and very angled hoop 1.. and rejects to 5 yards south of hoop 1.

(error count: Ned 1, Jose 0)

6. Jose hits his 3 yarder.

puts red to hoop 2, rushes blue off in the middle of south boundary, that'll give him a nice line to get onto yellow

Pushes blue into the lawn and he has a rush on yellow to hoop 1. I wonder ifwe'll get a 1back leave and sxp/tpo consideration as yesterday against James Death.

Approaches hoop 1 to slightly angled, but he runs it nicely (1-0). Jose has a very tidy compact style, close standard grip. One of few non-casters progressing deep into this competition.

Aha - that explains how he was lining up yellow - has a go at the pop on yellow - complete rejection.

Red is at hoop 2, so the TPO is hugely unlikely here. I reckon 1back with a tea-lady and then we'll see what's up.

All quite leisurely today with not having a zillion games to follow, so questions, comments, trivia to [email protected].
Cans of coke zero or coffee appreciated too ;-)

Jose makes 2 (2-9 - that previous 1-0 was nonsense - Ned's on 4back!), and rushes red back down, stops it to south of hoop 5 and rushes yellow up the lawn - yellow sent to hoop 4

This is scruffy - yellow is north of hoop 5, and he's approaching 3 from 2 yards out. Plays a really nice hoop approach though, and confidently runs a slightly angled hoop

"Have the hoops been moved recently?"... "I believe that they were probably moved before the knockout". Hmmm...

Anyways, blue put as a south-west hoop 5 pioneer, yellow left in the middle of the lawn (I thought he might have sent that near 1 to have another go at the POP, but no, approaches 4 well, it's 4-9 and Jose is in control. Ned will rue that poor takeoff

Red goes to ... just a bit north of the peg (still an untidy break), yellow rushed towards hoop 1... doesn't get it in position for the peel. Yellow deliberately played towards hoop 4, and Jose rushes partner tight to hoop 5.

Nice to see some creativity here, not that I can work out what he's up to!
Shortbread crumbs filtering gently into my keyboard.

Nick Chapman instagramming away - I might get a lesson while we're here.

Jose cross-wiring around hoop 4 (well, it did seem obvious, just not something I'm a fan of - probs means it's a ladies leave though (black in jaws of 1back - but we'll ee)

Why is John Wall's shortbread so good? - well, it's hugely light and buttery and soft. And has a wee croquet hoop and ball indented into it as a decoration (indented doesn't do it justice, but I don't know the correct decorating term)

Jose through hoop 6 with a rush pointing at hoop 4. Rushes red (Simon's 4back ball) down to hoop 4 (6-9 the score, by the way), and rushes red on top of yellow. Not only cross wired, but again he's giving the hoop 1 ball the extra yards. He really is a lovely player to watch (and commentate on - he's quick, has beautiful touch, and does interesting stuff)

And it is a ladies leave... Blue very near the north boundary, directly north of hoop 2, black looks to be just in the front of the jaws of 1back and is very central.

7. Ned shooting at blue. Another 35-ish yard leave by Jose - nice job. Misses blue.

8. Jose will have a go at a sextuple, TPO to fall back on if things get bad fast. I'll try to follow this decently.

Croquets yellow out to ESE of hoop 2, rushes black to.. 4 yards NNE of hoop 1 - he's taking off to red... skims past hoop 5 - he played for that. Has a 2 yarder which needs only a little cut...

Lines things up very well, very consistent pre-shot routine.

Rushes red about a yard short of a perfect spot - he'll cope with this. Black won't peel (it's currently 7-9 to Jose)

Approaches hoop 1 to get a 2 foot 20 degree hoop. He ran 1 from around here first time.

Jose has a fantastic hoop shot - calmly runs 1, with a LOT of wire, but he can see both red and black. Gently roquets black from 3 yards. He'll have a go at peeling this (???) from about 6 yards and angled.

Yup, lining it up (score currently 8-9)

Plays the peeling stroke cently - black bounces off the hoop to 2 feet west - that was a very difficult peel attempt, but he has made sure it didn't wander away too far when it didn't go through

Rushes red off the middle of the west boundary.

Video of that peel on instagram #acworlds. Check that out - some really nice photos from Nick Chapman already.

Through hoop 2 with a rush back - cuts that off the middle of west boundary - didn't hit it ideally, but plays a lovely roll to get yellow 5 feet NE of hoop 1, and a rush on black to in front of 2back. (it's 9-9 by the way)

Takes off to red, rushes red to hoop 3 and another really good hoop approach from a little back and angled. Good position to run this getting a rush pointing at corner 1

Overhits it, and the rush is pointing at corner 2. He can cut this usefully, but will need another good croquet stroke. (it's 10-9 btw). Rushes red off the west boundary level with hoop 2. It must have been pointing further north than I thought, as he did seem to cut that a fair bit.

Not an ideal result, as black is further south than yellow, but he rolls red to north west of hoop 5, and will be peeling black with some angle coming across the face of hoop 1 to get a rush to hoop 4

Black in the jaws is the goal I think...

Plays the peeling stroke - he has a great rush to hoop 4, but black has bounced out again, and is now 6 inches WNW of hoop 1

Rushes yellow well north of hoop 4, but it's a good hoop approach and he has a 2.5 foot hoop 4, which is run off the south boundary.

It's good that Jose is such a quick player, as I was advised last night that game 1 is only 2.5 hours in duration!!!

Bit unfair on Ned if Jose takes all day over his turns now he has a lead, but both are beautifully fluent fast players.

The subsequent games will have a minimum time limit of 2 hours, and will accumulate any time left over.

Huge support again from Spain - over 300 people following a translation of the commentary!

And the sextuple is over!!!!

Jose croquets yellow to SW of hoop 3 - looks like he's planning a delayed TPO instead???. Goes to red, rushes that to the south boundary, and he'll be making hoop 5 off black. I wasn't expecting that, as it looked like he had an ok position to get the peel on black before hoop 5.

Red goes up to an indistinct position north and east of the peg, and he rushes black a bit long and angled from hoop 5. (score is 11-9, btw)

That's the first time we've seen weakness from Jose - approaches 5 badly - he has left this long, and angled.

Error #1 from Jose... Blue bounces back from hoop 5. Still a bit angled, and 2 feet back. Easily runnable, but Ned has a 6 yarder for a standard TP.

9. Ned (trailing 9-11) doesn't miss many 6 yarders, and he rushes red down to hoop 4. Red going to the middle of the lawn - he has a standard TP on his mallet now

Hits blue. croquets it up to hoop two and he has a rush to hoop 1 on black.

Andrea "Ned's Mum" Wilson suggests renaming croquetscores to croquet torture as young Ned is completely distracting her - wonderful to have that support, and he's looking very comfortable.

Ned approaches 1 nicely, runs it well. Puts black east of hoop 6 - I'd have liked it much closer to hoop 3, and a small exclamation suggests he would have too!

Hits partner, croquets it nicely to hoop 3 and has a rush to 2. This guy is fast

Through hoop 2 as I check the screes of work emails that are accumulating in my inbox. Blue sent south of hoop 4 - not ideal, but it's not too far south.

Black to hoop 3, peelee rushed to the hoop, seems to have been put a little angled, but he has managed to run hoop 3 to get a rush, and has a gentle roquet which straightens the peel

Time limit update from James Death.. 3,5,7,9,11. It's still awful after game 1, but at least there is time that can carry forward.

Peels red cleanly, as James arrives to give the time limit update, take a round of drinks orders, and Si's water bottle.

Ned has made hoop 4, rushed blue towards corner 3, and this break looks really nice. Just need to avoid errors. This guy could win the worlds!

Blue south of 6, red rushed towards the south boundary - much nicer putting it up to hoop 6 with a croquet stroke than rushing across and taking off - nice work Ned.

Ned's probably around 6 foot 2, very lanky, has a very long Pidcock mallet (I believe!), and plays with an upright Solomon grip. He has a fair bit of body movement, but is really fluent. Croquet strokes played with split Solomon grip

Black sent a bit south of hoop 2 that's not ideal, but by no means fatal.

Scores currently 15-11

There's a poor stroke - and again Ned talking to himself.. Doesn't a rush to 6 on the southerly peelee!! 0 approaches the hoop a bit short, sending peelee a couple of yards north, and runs the hoop nicely

peeling from 5 feet out... red bounces off, but keeps close to penult.

Makes 1back. Black is short - only just south of the line of hoop 5.

Holds well on red though, and the "death roll" peel has red through to just south of the peg and a rush to 2back.

Chris has been really impressed with Ned’s hoop approaches during this trip to NZ, and this is another example - approaches 2back well with a deep ball - it's a bit too deep as he runs 2back, but has to play a big cut to get blue somewhere nice to go to peelee.

In the end it’s not that nice, and he croquets blue to 4back from east of red. Has a longish cut on red to rover “aah, come on” as red goes the wrong way, and he has sent it halfway between 3 and 4 going to that poor 3b pioneer.

Rushes black really nicely to 3back, and approaches the hoop well. It’ll be a straight rover peel, but so much to like from this turn

Croquets black to penult and rushes red in front of rover. Taking off to a good blue at 4back.

The brownie Chris bought me for lunch yesterday is going down a treat with a coke zero from James Death - thanks guys!

And many thanks to Robert Hurst, Felipe and many others who have sent their thanks for the commentary - it's really fun to do, but made all the nicer by your kind words.

Ned's through 4back. Puts blue 5 feet north of red at rover. Slightly carelessly rushes black into the back of penult ,but copes and organises hoop-and-roquet. Black as a deepish ball (it's just south of the line of 1 and 4 - remember that deepish-not-really-deep ball led to David Maloof's exit from the event yesterday!)

Blue as a sidish ball (wouldn't want to just wibble through as it's a bit south)

Argh!! - gentle peel attempt - why didn't he Irish this?? - red goes into the hoop - and flops back out again. Fortunately he has stayed far enough back to jump. Calmly jumps through rover. He'll need some good shots to promote red through and peg it out, as it really did fall out in a rather unfriendly way

Hits the 5 yarder, takes off to blue, has rushed it well , and plays a poor stroke - that's reminiscent of a British Open Final where Reg played this shot Why???

Bombards red through the hoop with blue, but makes absolutely no attempt to get south of red - he had lovely position and could really have had a go with a roll.

Anyway, he got red through, and hits his 3 yarder on red towards the middle of the south boundary.

But he can see the peg. The referee is on to watch - pegging out from mid south boundary.

(BTW - Reg missed the pegout in that match, and quite a few subsequent shots to lose the match)

Peeling hard. Very hard. "oof",as red tails past the peg off the middle of the north boundary and through onto Paddy's lawn.

He did hit that really hard, as yellow has finished a couple of yards north of the peg.

The score: Ned 24, Jose 11.

10. Jose has a lift. and all the balls. He's playig his hoop 5 ball, and remember he's 5 and 2back.

Ned's complaining about things hilling off, and also justifying his non-roll at rover that the ball had come back out of the hoop and he wanted to make sure of it. It is a tough balance between making sure of that peel, and avoiding getting a 17 yard pegout.

Doesn't change the fact he played beautifully, and that he'll get another shot

Jose somehow didn't get a hoop 6 pioneer when he started that turn, but makes 5 and now has a good rush to 6.

This will be a ball to the peg and a huge cross-fingers.

Rushes to 6, runs it off the boundary to red. 13-24 now.

Spoiler alert: John-Paul Moberly in the Z - has failed hoop 1. He's playing the lovely Ali Sharpe, who seems to have recovered well from being battered by a rising shot from James Death the other day.

Jose through 1back, has a poor 3b pioneer (it's halfway to hoop 5) but is sending yellow to replace it well.

Rushes to 2back and approaches it well. Runs 2back to... 3 inches north of the boundary. That's another 2ft and many inches onto his shot, and he has a 5 yard return

Misses!

Error count now 2-2

Ned has a 4 yarder for the game. Sorry Spain.

11. Not a 4 yarder... bounces onto the lawn, lifts red, and it's actually just a 2 yarder at blue which missed the return roquet to near the middle of the north boundary. Rushes blue to corner 1. takes off to black, rushes black to yellow, yellow to the peg, Ned Wilson wins game 1 26-15

It is a best of 5 folks, so there is plenty of time first, but first blood to the 19 year old Australian

Pegs out from 2 feet. I feel a bit exposed as the only person applauding, but there you go.

Game 2: Ned Wilson (Australia) leads Jose Riva (Spain), 1-0

Jose "my choice, huh". Choose to start. Ned sticks with red and yellow.

1. Jose plays black as a deep supershot ball.

Ned joins up with it. Both balls about 2 yards south of the peg, Black also a yard west of it, and yellow 2 yards east of that.

3. Jose shooting hard at yellow. Looks up... and he sinks to his knees as blue sails past yellow.

4. Ned has another easy start with blue on B baulk

This tournament is a bit of a triumph for grade-based seeders, with 7 of the top 8 seeds into the quarter finals. Toby Garrison of NZ was the only exception, as about 6th seed, however he hasn't played a lot of late, and Brian Cumming is a determined player. Ned Wilson is the 8th player, and at the moment he is causing our number 3 seed some problems.

Nick's off for a loo break - he's lovely company - Nick Chapman, instagramming on #acworlds, and doing commentary on Reg v Simon Hockey. Reg is on a break, so he's taking the opportunity for a quick loo break.

Ned rushes blue off the east boundary, croquets it back well to hoop 2 going to the two balls in the middle. I was distracted as he approaches 1 and makes it with a firm hoop and roquet, rushing it off the west boundary level with hoop 2. Another big flowing croquet stroke sends black well to 3 and gets him to yellow in the middle of the lawn. Punts that a bit closer to hoop 6 and takes off to get a good rush to hoop 2. This should be a ball around.

Yuss, made my first ever instagram post. Thanks Nick!

James D - Nick fancies a flat white from the coffee shop up the road. I'd be delighted wtih a cup of instant with quite a bit of milk and one sugar please. xx

Ned it through 4, still moving quickly. Blue to 6 going to his pivot. Blue is short, but that'll be ok

Ned in white shirt and yellow shorts. Amusing to think we were worried he wouldn't be allowed his shorts in the worlds since Aussie "uniform" appears to be those dark green shorts .Kiwi youngsters playing in blue tshirts. What's the world champs coming to??

Bit of a shame the internationals keep pointing out it's the kiwis flouting the clothing regs (not just the youngsters)

Alison Sharpe on lawn 2 looking immaculate as ever, fully clothed in white, including wide-brimmed hat, apart from smart blue sports shoes.

Ned through hoop 6. He's always pretty tidy too.. Greg and Paddy in black. Greg's white sleeveless top over his black playing shirt is older than a LOT of the competitors in this tournament

Ned rushes to 1back. Blue is slightly south of 2back, but nothing at all to worry about.

Runs 1back.. bu now much. Bounces a little on his heels as he contemplates this. Has a straightish shot at black, but i can't immediately see how he'll play it. Pleading for a ref as it looks like he'll play a sweep.

NZers like double-reffing sweeps, and Alister is on too. Easy to referee Ned's sweeps - he's all limbs and angles - easy to make sure nothing is resting on anything it shouldn't.

Makes it look easy.

On ya Dave Trimmer... Ned's mallet is a 2001 series Trimmer! He has made 5 of the mallets in the quarter finals.

What is happening on lawn 5???

It looks very much like Reg has placed the his blue clip to make a spot he wants to lay up on at the end of his break. He's standing on the north boundary staring at that wee blue clip.

He's walking over to the clip and pacing around.

He has now picked up his clip.

This is soooo illegal.

"He's using it to mark where he wants his ball to go out"

Law 50C Advice and Aids: "MARKERS No mark or marker may be made or placed inside or outside the court to assist the striker in gauging the strength or direction of a stroke or in placing a ball for a stroke, other than as follows:
* the striker's mallet or that of his partner in doubles play may be used as a marker before the stroke starts;
* the striker's partner in doubles play may act as a marker subject to Law 40(b); and
* ball markers used to mark the position of a ball that must be temporarily removed or may have to be replaced."

Bit disappointing Reg doesn't know the rules, and Si doesn't either sufficiently to forestall and tell him to pick up his toys!

Sorry - back to lawn 4... sorry Felipe and Andrea - here we go...

4. Ned Wilson has completed his break, has a fairly vertical diagonal spread. Yellow is south of hoop 4.

No, it's a B spread - Jose is shooting from near the peg at his partner ball near the west boundary. Clips the peg with his mallet on way through (after hitting the ball), and makes the roquet.

sorry ...

5. Jose its black from the peg to west boundary. This take-off sends black to hoop 2 going to red and yellow. Looks like he has just got away with it and has a rush on the boundary ball pointing at hoop 1.

Sorry - I know nothing! - lines blue back in - it want off. Ned has another chance for a standard triple.

6. Ned taps blue, knocks it into the lawn a bit, rushes red to 1, makes 1, red to north of hoop3, doesn't get a rush on blue, and his takeoff to hoop 2 is short - ideally he'd like a rush to hoop 2 to be able to rush out to the east boundary and tidy things up

Hits black gently, approaches 2 well, and running this to the boundary he'll be off.

Hands on hips as he waits for Paddy to run 2back

Firm swing at hoop 2... sticks!!! - it can't have had much further to go, but the clip is on hoop 2!!!

Error count: 3-3

7. Jose shoots - hits his 5 yarder -but red is still in the jaws of hoop 2, and there is no guarantee he can make hoop 1, so he needs to clear it taking off to red at 3. Takes off well, yellow now 8 inches south of hoop 2. Has a good rush to blue just off the middle of the east boundary. Rushes it well. He should be away here.

I wonder if i mention Dave Trimmer and his mallets if I'll get a discount?

Jose is using one of Dave's mallets. I dont think Paddy is... yet. Greg Bryant isn't... yet. We had some issues with the early pidcock square mallets (mine needed a new head, and the world GC in NZ had a LOT of rattly mallets), but they are lovely things, and I have only heard good things about Dave (independent of any future orders I might contemplate) - they are clearly quality

Ned leads this current match 10-0.

Now it's 10-1 as Jose carefully runs hoop 1... he'll be hating that hoop - he's peg high and has his choice of long or long as his next roquet. Chooses to take the 10 yarder back at partner.

The hoops are somewhat wider than at the NZ Nationals, such that a very careful hoop stroke here can get zero wire and lead to something of a long return roquet.

Shoots.... hits about an eighth of blue - that's enough.

well, the morning tea scones came by ...but the person carrying them paused only to ask where Ned was sitting - unimpressed we didn't know - she walked on. I guess someone enjoyed them. (hmmph)

Really nice croquet stroke puts out a slightly south westerly 3 pioneer and gets tight position on that hoop 2 pioneer. Makes 2, rushes off the middle of the south boundary. Yellow to hoop 4, has a rush on red up the lawn.

Jose trails 2-10, but he can easily catch up here.

Haha - the scones went by again. Not sure what I've done wrong, but zero eye contact and they don't want my $5 for morning tea!

Jose through hoop 3 (3-10), and he's planning his next moves. Popping Ned to hoop 3 looks interesting as it would make it much harder for him to simply win in the next turn if he hits in. I think it'll be another 1back leave though, but maybe earlier commitment to TPOing?

Nick Parish reminds me that, as well as all of Spain, the English county of Middlesex is behind Jose too. Nick has settled into the pub for a burrito, some beer and a health dose of croquetscores

Oh dear - Jose has run another hoop by the extra 2 foot 6 inches, and has a long return roquet after hoop 4 from just inside the boundary. Hits!

4-10

Thanks heaps Gareth Denyer. To clarify - while picking on Reg a little here - he is a really nice chap and takes teasing completely and cheerfully in his stride. (well, I hope he will - he's bigger than me!)

lots of offers of coffee from overseas - thanks folks :)

Jose is closing the gap - 5-10 - and... he's putting partner to 2-back. This could just be an early 2-back pioneer.

Or we could be about to see another 1back leave. - I think he'll stop after 6 hoops.

He seems to be still deciding.

Having a ball around! - looks like he'll have a go at peeling hoop 2 after 1back after all.

Jose has the peel - Ned's yellow now on hoop 3. For those following who are not regular AC players, the reason for giving Edward an extra hoop is to make it much harder for him to win with a "triple peel" - where he causes his ball which has three hoops left to make to go through those hoops while making all the required hoops with his other ball.

So Ned now has 11 points, and Jose is rapidly catching him with already 8 of his own.

The only problem with peeling opponent is that getting a good leave can become a bit of a scramble.

Jose has a good 3back pioneer, has croquet blue to about 3 yards west of the peg, and rushes yellow north of 3back. He's approaching 3back from further than ideal, but plays a decent shot giving himself a 2.5 foot 10 deg hoop.

Runs it with a smooth stroke - to just under peg high!!! - good thing red and yellow are so far up. That hoop wasn't standing up to anything!

The leave will probably be a defensive OSL, though bit more dubious given yellow is for hoop 3 now.

Let's see...

Croquets red (Ned's 4back ball) to a yard ESE of the peg. Rushes yellow off the lawn level with hoop 4

Sitting next to Nick Chapman who is doing the commentary on Reg and Si's came. Nick is a pure Trimmer convert - absolutely loves his mallet.

Jose has done a nice job here - takes off and rushes partner to the west boundary wired from red by the peg. So it's a kind of reverse spread. He is on 4back. Has left himself a 2 yard rush across the lawn. That is really screaming for the 4back ball to play. Nice finish there, Jose trails 9-11

8. Ned lifts yellow, leaving red in teh middle of the lawn. Down to a yard west of corner 1 and he's shooting past us on the west boundary. I've mentioned in earlier commentaries the he has massive power.

Shots at blue... hits it about as his all reaches the lower area of drainage and yellow crunches into the middle of blue, then climbs up over it.

Great result for Ned, as that ditch saved him rushing blue into corner 2.

Blue to the middle of the lawn, black to 4, rushes red just short of 3. that'llbe no problem.

But wait.. Nick has just spotted Jose's mum and sister arriving, Pati with a large Spanish flag draped around here -fantastic!!

Ned runs 3 - has a chance of a long rushpeel of partner - that would be handy... no - has a go, but it bounces off the hoop.

Takes off to blue, leaving red for a delayed TP

About 50 spectators here now.

Ned runs 4, puts black as a good escape ball, and leaves red in front of 4 back.

Nick "ooo, that's dropped short, that's gonna wire on the hoop" - that's a very good, very early, call, but Ned just slips past and can see partner.

Another good hoop approach and he runs 5 easily with a rush north. Ned on a delayed TP for game 2.

Paul Rigge has send me an advertisement for lawn seed - that'd be handy on the west boundary of lawn 3 and the notorious east boundary of lawn 2, which is again playing long and skinny. Speaking of which, JP is on lawn 2, and has failed hoop 5.

Ned has red in the jaws of 4back, has run 6 hard, and has a 6 yarder back at black... which he smootly hits in the middle, rushing it back to 2 yards north of the peg.

Ned takes off to red. there's a big clatter as we're sorting through our emails, and Ned's yellow is off the north boundary and red unmoved.!!

Mallet in the air. Alison Robinson on to test the hoop I think

Aah - the ball's sitting in an old hoop hole. Requests a repair, and the clock is stopped.

Alison returning with a BIG bucket. Well, she's kinda wee, so the bucket might be reasonably sized in real life.

Score update: Jose on 9, Ned on 15 and favourite to finish in this turn.

Good grief - JP's oppo seems to have changed... Dwayne McCormick has tagged in for a Z game on lawn 2.

Refs talking sternly to the old hoop hole (in the middle of hoop 3???)

Right - back to the action - takes off from the north of red, so there is no 2back pioneer!!! -black is 2 yards SW of hoop 6, and red is in front of the jaws of 4back. This is dicey

Approaches hoop 2 and runs it too well, but hits blue in the middle.

Blue to north of hoop 4 as an average 3back pioneer. Has a long rush peel attempt on partner... plays it really nicely. Big shot here - has to get past hoop 6 from the middle of the north boundary to rush black to 2back from miles away

Red to just south of the peg... plays this really really well - just lovely shot. Has a straight rush to 2back. Rushes that nicely too.

Gets heaps of wire out of 2back and has no rush. Not the end of the world, but he'll be really disappointed to have not got past red

Black is out as an escape ball to peel penult before 4back, rushes red up the lawn - too far, but takes off back to get a really good rush on blue to 3back.

Blue is 8 yards north of penult and a couple of yards east.But rushes well to 3back and he'll be able to get full control up to red.

Another good hoop approach sending blue deep - slightly angled hoop... runs it only by 18 niches

"Live by the deep reception ball, die by the deep reception ball"

Lines up his roquet attempt at blue. Needs his mallet at a bit of an angle, but looks easy - just long. Calls the refs for the real attempt.

Playing this standard grip, right-handed I think, and once again I'm the only person to applaud. Hits it pretty firmly and it bounces a bit on its way to... centre ball blue!

Pass roll gets a rush to penult and a good side ball.

Peelee bounces slightly to the side, but has a good rush to 4back, which he hits fairly badly and has a backwards takeoff.

Looks at the repair in front of that hoop - and runs the hoop with a very smooth swing - no wire and off the boundary. He has a 5 yarder back

Hits about a fifth of black.

Rushes it near red and blue. Blue is just north-east of the hoop, but at this stage you'll go to it first. It's a straight double for Ned.

red 6 inches NE of hoop 6, blue 2 feet NE of that, black put towards the peg, but a yard off the middle line - nice place for it.

Drone buzzing overhead - probably not Sherif's though

Two Spanish flag-wearing ladies there now - they'll need to be lucky now!

Ned has an irish peel attempt at penult - slightly angled, but nicely in front.

That was careless!!!! - peelee goes through with no wire - but hits his escape ball!!! -and cannons out to 5 yards WNW of rover. He'll need to be tidy now.

Puts the obligatory deepish escape ball - a yard south of the line of 1 and 5. Black to overly deep not- side ball position. Smashes red well past rover... takes off - has a long angled rover - runs it well.

Jose has 9 hoops, Ned has 23

Blue near mid west boundary, black to mid east boundary

Red and yellow join up in corner 4 with a rush north

No TP, but a very nice turn still. Not an error

While we were chatting with Graeme Roberts about a laws question from the ref's exam, we've had some more activity... Andrea and Claire Wilson no doubt have no finger nails left!

9? Jose lifts blue. from east boundary... shoots... misses

10. Ned taps blue, rushes yellow to black, stops yellow into the lawn a bit. Rushes black to well north of rover (didn't get a good rush).

Approaches rover sending black deep - its a long, but straight, hoop.

He's through!!

And has a rush back to yellow - tidy stuff - Edward Wilson wins game 2 26-9 and takes a 2-0 lead in the match

Jose has to play the lunch card now and slow down Ned's momentum.

Big thumbs up from Ned as he wanders past.

back after lunch!

Game 3: Ned Wilson (Australia) leads Jose Riva (Spain) 2-0

1. Ned blue supershot with blue

2. Jose evidently has taken the winning balls, and plays red to maximum distance position

3. Ned shoots from the end of A baulk with black... misses!

4. Jose turns down his 12 yarder at the shortish supershot ball and instead takes on the very long double on the east boundary. ...hits!!!

Rushes black inlawn, croquets it to just west of hoop 6, and has a rush to 1.

Makes 1, rushes blue off the south boundary, and croquets it well to hoop 3 (bit north-east, but still good)

Has a 5 yarder at red (partner) on the east boundary

Still a wee bit of work to do, wth that wayward hoop 2 pioneer.

Main job done - hits yellow

Chris reckons this is a great chance for the first time of the top 4 seeds in the semis. We are sadly missing Robbie and Mal Fletcher here, but the standard of play is improving here and some very good players in action. Jose does need to overcome this 2-0 deficit for that seeding to come through though.

Takes off and rushes well to hoop 2 - Jose runs another hoop with no wire, but in full control.

Rushes black back to the east boundary, and this will be a break to 4back.

Toby Garrison has joined me and Chris on the west boundary of lawn 4 for a natter. Lovely to see him back playing a bit.

Jose approaching hoop 3. It's from further than ideal, but no concerns.

Jose it through hoop 5 on the first break. He has put partner as an early pioneer at 2back, and although he has a short hoop 6 pioneer, all is under control. Good start after lunch here.

While Jose is pottering around looking downright slow compared to Ned,...

It has been lovely chatting online with Ned's mum and his grandmother, Claire. Claire introduced wee Ned to croquet, and has been on tenterhooks through both the NZ Open (which Ned won), and as he has progressed through the World Championships.

So, the worlds have 8 quarter finalists. Let's look at how our quarter finalists finished in their blocks. We know grade-based is working well - 7 of the top 8 ranked players are through...

Reg won his block
Simon won his block
Paddy won his block
Samir also won his block

Greg was second in his block.

Stephen was 4th equal and got through on a playoff
Ned was third equal with 3 and got through on a playoff
Jose was 4th equal and got through in a playoff.

Jose through 2back - no wire again. He mentioned that shot that missed after running 2back into the drainage channel in the previous game jumped when he hit it - he was playing it out of a nasty spot just north of the boundary line
.

Hoops are set to "as best we can to .6 of a mm" - which is 1.5 64th of an inch. "these two lawns seem to be widening up a bit" - referring to lawns 4 and 5.

"When these hoops were put in, there's an old hoop hole, sometimes dead in the middle, and sometimes just off to the side of these new hoops, so a ball can fall in... and it doesn't look good" - not ideal choices of positions really.

Looks like Jose misapproached 3back a little - while we were talking to the ref he ran 3b with a very firm hoop sound, but no problem - rushes blue off the south boundary and croquets it to 6 yards south south west of hoop 2. Comes up a bit far from black, which he wants to put close to hoop 4, and rushes partner to the east boundary first.

Takes off - hits black - still needs to adjust it, so plays a little stop shot and we'll have a dribble back to partner.

Jose completes his 4th turn break, leads 9-0, Must have left black open on yellow, as in his last shot he clips black about eighth ball, sending it into the jaws of hoop 4, leaving red a couple of yards in from the east boundary, and 4 yards north of the south boundary.

5. Ned's on - lifts black from the jaws of hoop 4, and will take the short shot at red. - it's about 13 yards.

Massive backswing on that and hits it hard... misses.

Great chance for Jose to claw things back.

6. Jose hits black with yellow, stops it into the lawn, has a rush on partner which he'll need to cut a bit to hoop 1 - and plays a poor rush to get red about 3.5 yards south of hoop 5. Needs a good hoop approach.

Rolls red to hoop 1 getting a good position to rush blue to hoop 1. Nice shot that.

Bit of a lineup on lawn 4's west boundary now... Ned joins us, John-Paul Moberly taking coke orders (zero, normal and diet variously requested), me, Chris Clarke, Nick Chapman doing Reg's commentary, Dwayne McCormick who we think had just beaten up JP who is very much regretting playing Z games today after being duffed up by two Australians and Christian Carter from England

Jose rushes well to hoop 1, approaches, and rushes back to the south boundary. Puts blue south of hoop 3 and he has a good rush on black to his partner ball at hoop 2 - should be able to arrange to have a go at a standard TP - just needs a good rush out of hoop 2. Can he rely on taking no wire again?

Rushes black near hoop 2 - croqueting it to hoop 3 (well, north of hoop 6, as he didn't have a lot of space), and rushes well to hoop 2- plenty of opportunities to get red in peeling position for after hoop 3

Current scores: Ned Wilson 0, Jose Riva 11

Makes 2, will croquet peelee to position going to black north of hoop 6...

Puts red 4 feet south of hoop 3, runs the hoop past it and can tape red closer to the hoop. looks like quite an angle for the peel.

Peelee bounces off the west of the wire to about 4-5 yards west - has a rush south on blue though - will need to be a delayed TP, and he needs to go back and tidy that after hoop 4.

Hoop 4 pioneer is a bit north, but he rushes it close and runs the hoop off teh boundary.

Chris is here, hopefully for a while now (JP has gone for coke zero, so he should stay at least until that arrives!)

Mentioned "I haven't seen that many delayed TPs done here" - if Jose can get one out he's well back in this match, having sat Ned down since lunchtime.

Rushes black back to 4back after making hoop 4 (Jose leads 13-0), and he has to take off across red - it's easy enough, just a bit messy.

Seems to be playing it as a pass roll to get black up a bit further as an escape ball to peel 4back and rush black to 6

Plays a full roll sending black quite wide. It did look uncomfortably near the line of 3 and 4.

Rushes red in front of 4back, and has the balls tidy now to have a go at a standard TP.

Jose takes off from red back to blue at hoop 5. Really nice shot, and he'll have full control at hoop 5

Blue as a very south easterly 1back pioneer, has a go at the peel and it appears to have bounced back slightly east of the hoop - abuot 20 deg off centre. Doesn't rush anywhere near hoop 6, but he has played a really nice takeoff, and runs hoop 6 smoothly.

Jose leads 15-0

Rushes black towards corner 3, he'll put this as a 2back pioneer and it looks like an easy rushpeel.

Plays a poor croquet stroke - black is only just south of the line of hoop 5, and he's adjacent to red -can't peel this. That's a ball to 4back.

"Another three points off my fantasy team" complains Chris, as the TP looks unlikely

But Jose nibbles red to keep it in front of 4back, and peels it in the take off to geta good rush to 1back.

Inquiry time!!!- is Jose miked up to hear what Chris is saying here??!

Rushes blue next to 1back, and approaches the hoop well.

Makes 1back, rushes just south of corner 3 - blue croqueted towards 3back, but north of hoop 5 still. Rushes red across... doesn't get it in front of penult. Chris wants him to just tidy things up and have a delayed double. Death rolls were named for a reason...

Takes off to black improving the position of red a bit - it's too far...

Will be approaching 2back from around 3 yards to the north-east. Shouldn't be a problem, but we do like to keep things simple

Sends black 4 yards past the hoop and he has a 2.5 foot hoop at a slight angle...

Runs it very cleanly off the south boundary. Snicked a bit of outside wire on the way.

Jose leads 18-0. 8 to go!

At least this time he gets to line his ball in beyond the drainage ditch. Hits the middle of black, rushing it towards the north boundary.

Jose puts red nicely in front of penult, black as a good escape ball to peel penult (hoop 11) getting a rush to 4back (hoop 10), and he has good control at 3back.

Runs the hoop too hard and now needs a decent roll up.

"That was a shocking effort. Absolute shocker"

Doesn't get a good ratio, has a 4.5 yard dribble at partner - hits - rushing it 3 yards from the hoop

Will have a go at the angled peel sending yellow across the face of penult to rush to 4back.

hits the outside of the west wire, but has an ok position to cut rush black to 4back -plays that one well

So.. Jose will need a straight double peel - promoting red through each of its last two hoops in the strokes immediately before making the hoop himself.

Approaches 4b well and runs it to.. about 4 inches in from the boundary!

Well, maybe he went off an lined it in - who knows... but he hits the return anyway.

Black to the middle of the lawn, going to blue

Has a good rush on blue to red. "We've had a few straight doubles today" - indeed we have Chris.

Well, straight double attempts. I'm not sure how many have succeeded!

The two Spanish flags are adorning the fence just down from the clubhouse. Lawn 4 is quite a way from the clubhouse, but there's very little spectator space out of the sun down here. I don't usually park this close to the lawn, but Nick got here first ,and he's lovely company

Jose lining up his peelee carefully - it's about 1.5 feet back and 15 degrees angle.

Not the most comfortable shot to be playing an irish peel from

Id be playing this fairly sharply - to give the peelee plenty of time to get through before the striker's ball arrives at the hoop. Chris would just play a drive. He's always right.

Jose plays a drive. Doesn't hit it hard enough, but yellow is through by 5 feet, and the peelee is a yard past the peg - nice shot overall. 8/10.

Two more hoops for Jose

Puts out another nowhere-near-deep ball. That's north of the line of 1 and 4. Chris: "That's nowhere"

Rushes black on top of red. There won't be a side ball (and there's not really a deep ball!)

Takes off from black, leaving black at the peg

Absolutely clubs the rush to rover - like Greg did yesterday to not finish his TP and eventually lose game 1 to Christian, and like Christian did to not finish his break and eventually lose game 3 to Greg.

Takes off to 1 yard position. Christian will be hating watching this.

These hoops look massive - runs rover with no wire at all - and he has a 7 yarder. David Maloof won't like this either. (I snicked mine against Stephen Morgan. I'm feeling moderately more comfy watching this)

Hits the middle of blue, and looks like he can get a spread with soem good shots.

Jose is on peg and rover - so has one more hoop point to make and then just has to peg out. Ned hasn't yet troubled the scorers

Sends blue to north of the peg - that's awful.

Rushes blue off the lawn level with hoop 2 ,and he'll rush off into corner 4 giving Ned a 13 yarder to try to get back into this.

"a 13 yarder from that position is just so disappointing"

Joins 2 yards apart just north of corner 4 and north of that.

Ned bouncing across the lawn - very Tigger-like. Picks up black. Blue's by the peg - he's choosing options that give him the best chance if he hits. Any miss should be fatal at this stage.

Shoots... hits red.

genteel "shot" from Dwayne McCormick, huge "Come on" from Ned

Poor first croquet stroke puts yellow just left of hoop 6 and he has a sideways rush! Cuts it fairly well, but can only get it to just north of corner 1

Puts blue up to yellow (!!!) - and has a 2 yard hoop 1 - runs it really firmly - heaps of wire, and he has a 6 yarder - hits it.

Another poorish croquet stroke puts out a short 3 pioneer, I was distracted and can't see where he rushed to. Has a longish and only slightly angled hoop 2. Waits for Samir (check out the commentary - that game has got interesting, but not as interesting as it was looking to get!)

Runs hoop 2 really nicely. Remember Jose is rover and peg, Edward is 1 and on hoop 3 on a break

Approaching hoop 3 with some loose balls down the lawn - he should be around here.

They started at 9am today .Best of 5 games. Time limits 3,5,7,9,11 hours. Chris unhappy to learn this, as it means they can't finish today if things go to time. Ned and Jose definitely not going to time!

Ned through hoop 4.

Thank you to JP Moberly who returns with coke "no sugar" for me and Chris, and Vanilla coke for himself and Ned

Ned's through 5, early 2back pioneer.

Just seen Chris's post on the Notts list whinging about me not playig in the Bowl - I did check his position on the Fantasy scoreboard first! Sorry to everyone who picked me - blame the managemetn for putting the consolation events a zillion miles away!

Ned through 1back. If I had a greyhouse I'd name it Ned - he's quick!

Croquets red towards the west boundary, has a tight wee rush on yellow... hoop 2 was clearly impacting the next stroke - if he had a big backswing, he'd have clipped the hoop - but he doesn't play a big backswing - though he does bevel the stroke - and misses his 3 footer by over a foot!

That should be game 3 done and dusted - Jose has a 4 yarder at partner - hits, takes off to blue and black (black went towards corner 1, but stayed usefully inlawn)

Black sent as a deep ball for those no-wire hoop stroke, blue rushes towarsd - short of! - rover. It's another backward takeoff

2 foot rover to win game 3

Chris wants a few quick areas

Quick areas? - quick patches of ground to make things more interesting when hoops are not rushed to well.

Jose runs rover firmly off the south boundary

Hits his 4 yarder on black and shuffles balls around to arrange a rush to the peg.

Jose Riva wins game 3 26-7

Bah - Josh Smith has pointed out I might have typed greyhouse - I was distracted by that unexpected error at 1back. I'd name my greyhound Ned (you know, I had to correct another greyhouse typo there too!!)

And it would be a sleek, incredibly fast greyhound.

Chris a little grumpy - his discussion about how a full backswing would lead to hitting the hoop establishes the shot did need some care - and Ned wanders past and says "did you like my hampered shot there". "no" - I like to be honest. He tried to play it with a twisty backswing (I often do that - or "always" according to the increasingly cheeky John-Paul Moberly!). So... it was hampered. And he bevelled it. ... it was a fault. "Would you like the balls back oppo". Chris grumpy as he wants people to know the Laws.

The incident with Reg and the laws... The referee said of Reg's clip placed on east boundary "he's just looking at where he's going to hit it off". She followed it up with "it's just like putting your mallet there". Not for the ref to question... until Simon questions the legality... and gets a bad decision from the referee. He should have appealed. Although there was some defence from the tournament ref "well, it's a silly distinction" - that exactly the sort of comment I'd expect from Chris when he makes up his own interpretation of the laws!

All's fair in love and war - he calls people who know, and like using, the real laws "gnomes". He calls me a gnome. Hmmph.

Game 4: Ned Wilson (Australia) leads Jose Riva (Spain) 2-1

1. Jose to east boundary - no supershots in game 4!

2. Ned shoots at this from the end of A baulk with red. Misses. He might regret that!

3. Jose takes on the long double with black from B baulk - hits!!!

Croquets red in lawn a few yards and rushes - nowhere much. Approaches hoop 1 well putting blue peg high 1-0

Plays a firm hoop stroke. The hoop moved almost as far as black - that hoop has given up for the day!!!

Has a slightly hampered shot at blue...misses into corner 2

4. Ned shooting from A baulk at partner - he has moved a few yards west of the end of baulk to join up if he misses red. ... misses red.

5. Ned is joined about 5 yards apart - on the east boundary and inlawn and south of it, and Jose thought about shooting at that - he's shooting at partner in corner 2 instead.

Misses.

The error count is now 4 to Ned, 3 to Jose. Though Chris would like to credit a bunch of additional errors for tactics and failure to finish breaks properly

Ned takes off to blue and black - he's 10 yards short!!!

No double... shoots... hits blue

Ned approchaes black - mutters unhappily as he has an angled hoop - clatters through and clips are strewn about the place as they leap out of the way. That hoop is about to pack up its parsnips and go home.

Ned has a 6 yarder - rushes it to hoop 3, takes off to get a lovely rush on partner to corner 2.

Paddy's hoop 1 is here to play, but Ned's hoop 1 has just had enough. It has been in and out of the ground a few times too - so it's three days into play, but they've been up and down lots for resetting, so they're pretty old hoops really now.

Ned's through 2, hits partner (he'd swapped balls around a bit), black is north-east of hoop 3, but he has all the balls - this is a break to 4back.

Gorgeous stopshot sends out a good hoop 4 pioneer and doesn't actually get past blue - has to cut it a bit to get it off the east boundary level with hoop 3 - it's all under control now.

Oh dear - 20% battery - hopefully we'll last until the end of this game - Chris's keyboard is funny.

Ned through hoop 3. Ned's family don't mind the greyhound analogy - phew!

It would definitely have a bright yellow coat too (colour of Ned's shorts)

Ned's not too angled or long at hoop 4, but he absolutely smashes through the hoop well off the south boundary of lawn 5!

Hoop 4 is still in the game, but no match for that hoop stroke.

Bounces after his ball, retrieves it - hits yellow

Puts yellow to the middle of the lawn - I guess he's looking at partner early to 2back again. Blue to hoop 6 - that's short too

Nice to see Aaron Westerby back again. In black NZ 2010 MacRob playing shirt I believe.He captained the kiwis to 2nd in the Mac in England, before a victorious return in New Zealand 3.5 years later.

Ned through 6 off blue, yellow is the pivot - no idea what he was up to there. Blue to 2back

it's a yard south - getting messy

Approaching 1back - remember black is on 2 after running 1 and missing a long forward roquet.

This is still 6th turn. Old-fashioned error count is 4 to Ned, 3 to Jose.

Rushes off the south boundary to tidy up at 2back, but where's that 3back pioneer - it's miles away!

Approaches 2back to close. the hoop leaps out of the way and doesn't touch red as it goes through

Blue and yellow tidily near the peg, and he has rushed tell to 3back - but it hits the wire, but he aproaches ok, and runs the slightly-firm hoop well. Will croquet black from just north west of 3back to standard spread position towards the west boundary going to blue. Rushes it to a good spot.

after 6th turn, Ed Wilson leads 9-1, with red on 4back, black on 2 and yellow and blue on hoop 1

Good spread with blue at the peg, and black on the line between 1 and 2 and wired from each other by the peg.

Clip on. Ned Wilson maybe one turn away from a WCF medal!

Jose lifts his hoop 2 ball from near the west boundary. Taking the long shot... misses into corner 4. Game on Ned!

8. Ned Wilson has disappeared. It's his turn though
.

Ned is back. Cap on. Rushes short of the ball at the peg. Croquets it to hoop 2, rushes to 2. Another approach sending reception ball deep - runs 1 well. Up to 2 - runs that nicely too and rushes back.. almost creams into a peelee at 4back on lawn 5! misses. It'll be a big roll for Ned, as he takes croquet from red in the middle of the south boundary and is hitting black in corner 4.

Croquets red north of hoop 4 - chooses not to play the big roll from corner 4 - instead plays an absolutely horrible takeoff which leaves him a 7 yarder pointing nowhere near hoop 3. He'll be approaching hoop 3 from the middle of the north boundary. Not ideal.

Sends blue down to 2 feet from red approaching 3 - has a 3 yard angled hoop 3. Hits it very hard with a big of jump - his usual technique for that sort of shot. Gives it a good chance, but it's not through - hit really high on the hoop.
Yellow clip on hoop 3, yellow ball stalled in hoop 3

9. Jose has the innings. Not easy to do anything, but the innings is useful. Ned 3 and 4back. he's back here and saying he shouldn't have even tried to rush into corner 4 - probably reasonable, but he has a lot power there and is very good at rushing. Still, I thought he'd play the huge roll if he did do that - although that's cos he has 10x more power than me!

Chris has gone to get another computer. Mine's at 13% and is very hot. I hope I don' thave to take UC a melted hp next week!

Jose croquets red towards hoop 2 going to partner near corner 4... it's rolling - it is perfect... no.. it's just off the lawn.

10.Can Ned run hoop? - looks like there's a ref.... no - he's shooting with red - Jose informs us it's unrunnable - parked on the wire of hoop 3 actually.

Ref watching - ned shoots... misses.

Ned reports it's not tidily parked - reckons he could hit red on the east boundary - about 6 yards south of corner 3

11. Jose plays black, taps blue, takes off to red. Hits it... he's playing his hoop 2 ball, but Ned reckons yellow doesn't rush to hoop2

He's short - this is not easy ... rushes it about 7 yards north of penult. "that's not bad" says someone. Looks like a difficult takeoff and hoop and then roquet or Ned has something hitable

Nops - rolls them in - yellow towards corner 2, black is in front...

Running hoop 2 - lots and lots of wire, and now he has a 7 yarder at yellow near corner 2 - hits!

I'm back - as Chris set up his laptop, mine fell asleep. And it's still exciting here!

Jose approaches hoop 3, yellow is poor - it's near hoop 5. But he's in front of three - looks like he's taking this hard... smashes through to the south boundary and has enough wire to get a rush on blue to the middle of the east boundary - great shot, great wick

Rushes to hoop 4, it's angled, and a firm hoop, but should be fine - runs it off the boundary

Gregs doing something very exciting on lawn 1. Dave Trimmer should be excited - this might be another sale for him!

Looks like the mallet has survived. And Greg's body

Meanwhile Jose is on his levelling break.

Ned is on 3 and 4back - 11 hoops, Jose on 1 and in a break just through hoop 6 - 6 hoops

Jose at 2back. that hoop is poised to leap out of the way again, and it doesn't resist Jose running through off the boundary . He made sure he didn't stop in the drainage ditch.

And Jose is now on 4back with a good diagonal spread. Yellow, for hoop 3, is towards the west boundary, red, for 4back, it at the peg, and Jose is for 1 and 4back. Making a strong comeback here.

Ned's going to lift his hoop 3 ball - he's looking at it, but there's no parity here.

Shooting down the long boundary - no - he has left yellow behind... no - he has grabbed his yellow

Shoo
ting down the long boundary

Shooting down the long boundary

Huge backswing - misses outside blue. I think he over swung on this a bit.

Error count is Ned 5, Jose 3 Ned hasn't hit enough to overcome that, but it's still all on - Ned is 3 and 4back, Jose is in play with his hoop 1 ball and is on 4back with a delayed TP in front of him

Jose has got black to WSW of hoop 6 - a poor 2 pioneer, but rushes to 1 which he approaches scarily close (and straight, fortunately). Clips some wire running the hoop - hoop reminding us it is not a hologram - still, seems to be barely there.

Red to three, rushes black well to hoop 2 - let's see what Jose can do here. This is turn 13 The scores are level - 11 all

Rushes badly to hoop 3, takes off from south-east of the hoop - hits the hoop!!! - bounces into very good hoop running position - very lucky there!!

It is getting a bit quick up at 4back/hoop 3 - that and rover are the two difficult approaches according to my expert assistant

Black is very well short of hoop 4 - it's level with hoop 5 - so he's rolling down after 3 - and he's rolling from north-east of hoop 3 - needs a decent shot..

Red goes a yard NE of hoop 5, and he has a cut to hoop 4. He'll make 4, rush into the lawn, and will take off to corner 4, I reckon. Red is a bit north of hoop 5, but hardly a concern

Nope - he has made hoop 4, rushed partner north a bit, and croquets it to hoop 6 - that's a ball to the peg, and yellow remains cowering in corner 4

If anyone's out there - that'll be [email protected] with any comments/ideas/etc, and the middle of the west boundary of lawn 4 with a cup of coffee with milk and one sugar thanks :-)

After 5 Jose has rushed red back, croquets it to east of hoop 4, and goes to yellow in the corner- decent croquet stroke and he now has a break with black at 2back, he's through 6 and rushing to 1back, and red it east of hoop 4

Runs 1back carefully to have a rush down the lawn. Settling nicely now.

Ned 11, Jose 16

Nice to hear from John Grieve. A very long day for the Aussies supporting Ned and Simon Hockey.

Makes 2back. Croquets black up to 4back .getting closer... really good shot - would be a handy peel to get (black is Jose's 4back ball)

John did a really good job of running the Australian Open last year. He's new to the role (was assistant manager in 2016) - as a former school Principal, he has some authority! ;-)

Jose in front of 3back.. runs it pretty smoothly - up to yellow (his pivot) - he'll be hitting yellow (1 yard) rather than his reception ball red (8 yards)

Ignores red and rushes yellow to a good position. Chris wants him to rush black int
o the jaws of 4back.

No brain failures here - yellow is sent to penult - but he runs onto black!!! "poor stroke". No cheeky peels for Jose -he'll end this turn 4b and peg.

hoop 3 is standing up for itself also, but Jose runs it nicely, rushes black east of the hoop and is putting partner to rover going to yellow. apart from making rover off partner he has done well - it's a really nie croquet stroke

Approaches penult well. All eyes at the club are on lawn 1 right now, but we'll keep going here.

Plays an awkward-looking croquet stroke sending yellow to spread position between 1 and 2 and getting a longish roquet on red - which he just snicks!

That's all over hoop 4, but he has space to roll up sending res south of rover. Chris: "That's just dreadful - red should be at the peg". Takes a bit to convince him red wasn't going anywhere near the peg from whwere the croquet stroke was played.

Angled!!! - that rover looks very failable.....

Jose plays a very good hoop stroke - He won't get much of a leave, but he's on 4back and peg vs 3 and 4back in game 4.

Rolls red 4 yards south-west of hoop 4, and he has a looong roquet to rush yellow to the peg. Hits it well - has he rushed it to wired from red?? can't be...

Takes off to black - it's going to be another OSL - not polarised, any ball, but any miss loses the game.

Rover is in the way of rushing black to corner 4 as well, so he's rolling towards corner 4 from 11 yards up the boundary

Joins up level with hoop 4 and a bit north of that.

Jose reckons the lawn is getting tricky. It's a really nice colour, but needs a haircut.

Yellow shooting from where it lies at red - hits.. to applause. Sounds like he said "punished"... surely not?

Chris hates the shot choice - short shot at black is about the same distance and gives a standard TP.

Takes off short and he has a 6 yarder at black - which he hits well.

Stops black up to hoop 4, cuts blue too hard to hoop 3 - it has gone to into the north yardline... and yellow clatters off black scattering it towards hoop 5 - that's the hoop 4 pioneer messy.

Approaches hoop 3 with another big drive - blue sent to a yard from hoop 4 - rather joined with black.. and he's overrun hoop 3 - smashes back at partner, but misses.

Jose has a 5 yarder - for the game, with Ned a yard apart - hits. "
Just the wrong choice of lift shot"

Jose playing the big roll from the boundary level with hoop 4 to the boundary south of level with hoop 2.

Has a 6 or 7 yarder - takes the shorter shot at a ball in lawn - hits

Blue is a decent penult pioneer from that big croquet stroke, and he has a rush on yellow to... hoop 4?? - Plays a big cut "no... that's rubbish" - the spectators are quite harsh critics

Cuts yellow to in front of penult. Has to play a 7 yard approach from side on, in the area that is getting faster

Rolls across - yellow close to corner 3 - it's excellent! - runs a good hoop off the boundary from 4 feet and 5 degrees

Hits yellow. He should finish this now.

Jose has played a decent croquet stroke getting a rush to penult and a good rover pioneer.

Through penult, has a 2.5 yarder back at partner.. all good.. rolling down to a good rover ball... has a rush closer to rover...

Fortunately tomorrow we are at Wellington, so I might actually get a cup of coffee for 8 hours solid typing!

Makes Rover, takes off - it's 2-2!!

Jose wins 26-11

Jose disappearing for 5 mins, we'll take a break. Ned quite keen to continue. Maybe only a 2 min break

I can't find a hash key to make a larger heading - funny keyboard I have, so...

Game 5: Ned Wilson (Australia), Jose Riva (Spain) in the decider, currently 2-2

Game 5 - we will have a wee break first

And we are off again. Watching Samir taking a critical shot - Aiken walks through the back of it and Samir has to wait. I think the shoe was on the other foot yesterday and Aiken was incredibly unhappy.

Game 1...

1. Ned black as a supershot

2. Jose to maximum distance spot on the east boundary with red

3. Ned shoots down the line - misses into corner 4 with blue

4. Jose misses partner from A baulk

5. Ned shooting back up the lawn... hits red - rushes it off the middle of the north boundary

This takeoff sending red near hoop 2 and has a 1 yarder on yellow in the middle of the east boundary. Takes off to get a long cut to hoop 1 on partner. Hits it really well.

Approaching hoop 1 - bit longer than he wants, and gets a bit of wire - has an easy shot at partner to rush it north? - no - hampered. Referee is on the lawn. It looks very hittable though

6 yarder though... Hits down on it with a bit of a jump. No idea how the referee could spot any bevel standing behind the striker there - surely you need to be side on and a few yards back- the most likely fault there was a bottom bevel, with a double hit next - sidey please ref.

Really good croquet stroke, and he's under way.

Wellington 9 Feb.. sunset at 8.33pm, dusk at 9.03pm. Chris thinks "dusk" is far later than he can play croquet - it is rather dark about 8.45.

Starting at 9am, with 11 hours on the clock, and everyone having a break at some point for lunch, and comfort stops - we could finish a little late...

Not Ned - he's rushing to hoop 4 - his hoop 4 pioneer was a bit too far north, but he has coped. This is first break.

Bit angled, 18 inches.. runs it with his really nice gentle hoop stroke. He must be getting tired by now - not sure how many best-of-fives he has played

Ned through hoop 5 with no wire. No early pioneers here.

Ned through 1back. yellow going nicely to 3back. I think we'll have another spread

Slightly angled on 2back... absolutely no resistance - but it was a good hoop stroke too.

Hits his 3 yard return. Red to the peg, I really should have started a new thread for game 5. Ho hum

Red sent to nowhere near the peg - this is instead going to be a rough old spread.

Black up the lawn to somewhere SE of the peg.

Makes 3back, needs an immaculate croquet stroke to get a spread out...

"another completely rubbish leave - this match has been pathetic for being able to make a leave" - doesn't get a rush on red to the peg, and it's a rough Old Standard Leave.

Red and yellow approximately cross pegged, yellow between 1 and 2, red between 3 and 4 and further south than the peg, blue and black will be tight in corner 4, not leaving a double

Rolls black to a yard north of corner 4, blue played to give a single ball rush at red.

Ned has red on 4back, all other clips on hoop 1. 9-0 to red

We're not sure that Ned has ever played an AC best of 5 before. He's showing great composure, and is still his bouncy self. Slightly wilted bounce at times, but I think that's just fatigue. Very cheerful positive chap

Jose lefts yellow from between 1 and 2, taking the short shot from the end of A baulk at black near corner 4..

6. Jose misses black on the left.

Can Ned finish???

He certainly deserves a WCF medal if he can - and if he wins this match he's guaranteed one - it'll be a matter of which colour!

7. Ned taps yellow into corner 1, stops it out to hoop 4 and rushes blue up the east boundary to level with red. He has a nice stop shot and should be able to get a ball to hoop 2.

Croquets blue next to hoop 6 and rushes to hoop 1. He's very angled at 1.. but it's hoop 1...

He has clearly forgotten it's hoop 1, and he runs it hard - smashing through to the north boundary! -well, at least he'll get partner to hoop 3 if he hits this!

Hits blue in the middle - really good shot, rushing it off the south boundary just about behind hoop 1 - lovely rush

Plays a nice croquet stroke sending blue south of hoop 3 and getting a rush on red to hoop 2 - seems to be going pretty quickly.. but no - it's absolutely perfect. He should finish this.

Runs a very gentle, slightly angled hoop 2 - impressive stuff here. He'll leave yellow as a easterly hoop 4 pioneer and has a standard TP in front of him.

Rushes blue to 3 - it's worse-than-death?!!! - takes off - he's jumping!!! - ... THUD - fails hoop 3.

Michael Wright arrives with a mighty "hola!"

"yet another match-winning opportunity squandered"

Sorry folks in South Australia - Ned's clip is on hoop 3, and Jose is on the lawn. Celebrations in Spain though - I bet a bunch of Spaniards are up now for the exciting finale. For you guys Ned leads 11-0, but Jose has a great chance to get 9

Jose rushes to nearish hoop 1, plays a decent croquet stroke. Has a 2 foot slightly angled hoop - I hope he doesn't hit this too hard...

Has a 5 yard return roquet - hoop 1 leapt up and ran away again, and red has sailed through

Hits nicely, gets a rush on blue to hoop 3, has a slightly ugly takeoff to get a rush to hoop 2 - TPO on the cards? Noone has be
en desperately convincing TPing here

My spy tells me Jose's mum is in the clubhouse getting very stressed, saying stuff in Spanish all the time and then apologising ruefully

Takes off to rush black to 3.. almost gets a massively horrible wire in his backswing, but he has coped. Rushes to 2, approaches.. all good

Slightly disappointing local wireless kicks me out again, and I'm back on my own data again.

OK, Jose has made 2, has an excellent hoop 4 pioneer, but has put yellow a bit deep - I don't think he's TPOing.

Yup - it's just a ball around

Jose through hoop 4

Good hoop 6 pioneer. Michael predicts a proper leave this time.

It's Michael Wright vs David Wise and John Arney - checking each other out from West boundary of lawn 4 to east boundary of lawn 2.

Jose through 5, good early pioneer at 2back (not partner though), and rushes partner north - he'll make 1back off that

Making 1back off yellow. Through

Ned still on 11 - 3 and 4-back, and Jose is on 2back (7 hoops) and 1

It'll be a spread... but he doesn't have a rush out of 3back.. it'll be a B spread, or an OSL

Might have stopped blue (for 4back) to wired position from where he was, but he's rolling them off the lawn.

It's an Old Standard Leave.

Rolling off from north of the peg.

Yellow (for 1) is about 5 yards north of corner 4
and red is level with hoop 5 and also off the north boundary)

Tigger back on the lawn - lifts his hoop 3 ball and he's shooting at yellow from the end of A baulk

9. Ned h
its the middle of yellow!!!

Croquets yellow out to hoop 4, rushes red to blue... really really really unlucky... Rushes red to position A directly in line from blue to the hoop. There will be no standard TP after overhitting that rush, and he has to rush to 3 - cuts it pretty well, but it's short.

Michael "did you see Greg's jump shot? ... every tournament needs one of those!". Nice call. There should be videos around Instagram or elsewhere of that shot.

My golf coach advocates for a much slower backswing.

Makes 3, rolls blue well to hoop 5, hits pivot. This will be a safe, tidy, break to the peg.

Jose 9, Ned 12

Through 4, yup, it's a hoop 6 pioneer. Going to the peg, and cross fingers. He needs to at least get this leave right. A spread is much easier to make when you're making rover, but it does let Jose play either ball

Blue to 1back - it's 4 yards past the hoop - should all be fine, but it's nice to have total control this late.

I should mention, another perfect sunny day, Cicadas going nuts, not much breeze (unlike Monday's gales!!!) - the last few weeks have been so lovely

Through 6, his 2back pioneer is well short, but rushes off the north boundary. gets a good rush to 1back, partner going to 3back? - it's his forward ball

Blue north west of 3back, rushes red towards yellow and we'll sort out that wayward 2back pioneer first.

Bit worried my neck is completely sunburnt - was a lot more careful on playing days. Nose burnt to a crisp yesterday. The sacrifices for remote readers ;-)

It's slowing down a bit, and Ned's 4back pioneer is a little short now - it's about 9 yards short and west of 4back. It would be short if it was a penult pioneer.

Maybe he's just running lower on oomph

Through 3back, puts blue too far to penult - gave that some more. it's about 5 yards north of penult. All under control though

Sends red to give it some company, but has to cut this long rush to 4back. Can't afford to blink now

About 4.20am in the UK - they probably aren't waking up yet!!

Rushes well to 4back approaches... but he's angled!!!

Runs the hoop firmly - to within 2 inches of the north boundary. Green there, but doesn't look like it's in a ditch like the south boundary.

Calmly strokes his retur
n roquet - he's definitely playing more slowly now

Yellow to a very tight rover pioneer - nice to see. Hits partner, blue to the peg, will rush red, that replacement penult pioneer, to penult. Taking croquet 6 inches in front of penult. He has pulled this back together nicely

Jose on 1 and 4back, Ned about to be on 4back and peg in this decider in the World Championship quarter final

Red to SE of the peg, blue up as an escape ball - needs to move red a bit.

Approaches rover putting yellow east - decent shot - he'll have good control here

Through rover, has a rush north - he really should get this leave sorted now

Rocks back on his heels and through onto his toes as he croquets yellow towards the west boundary.

He has overrun red!! - puts red into position, a little out from the peg, but it looks ok, and he has rushed partner off the lawn

Looks like a tidy spread. Totally unpolarised - Jose can lift his hoop 1 ball (which, to be fair, is the westerly one), but has a maximum length shot to stay in the game

And Ned's clip is going onto the peg.Ned on peg and 4back, Jose on 4back and hoop 1

One spectator claps that. Me. C'mon people - find a pulse.

Big fist from Ned as he plays his last stroke with black - really good turn.

Jose is up quickly. Lifts his hoop 1 ball, and will be shooting from the end of A baulk at Ned's blue on the boundary. This is called the "short shot", but the shortest shot here is yellow at red at the peg - this is a really nice leave.

He's ready.. shooting - hits the middle of blue with a shout!

Game on on lawn 4!!

Stops blue in a bit, rushes black shot of red, croquets it to hoop 2 (short), and gets a nice rush to hoop 1.

Makes hoop 1 - remembers it's not fighting back, and doesn't hit it too hard - has a rush pointing back at the end of A baulk

Croquets red up to hoop 3 - nearly peels it!! - sails past hoop 3 to within 2 yards of the north boundary though

Rushes blue up a bit, taking off to a wayward black, and red is even more wayward at hoop 3.

James Temlett pleading for someone to video some action and post it on youtube - he doesn't facebook Instagram, snapchat, etc.

Jose makes 2, puts a ball to short of 4, rushes past red... he has a standard TP...

Approaches 3 sending red south a bit. It was a really nice turn ty Ned, but he didn't get any peels

Through 3 - but no wire.. can he hit a 4 yarder at dead weight?

No - has a go at rush peeling - misses.

Sorry - misses the rushpeel - hits red!

Red going back for a delayed TP attempt, gets a longish rush on blue down the lawn. Black is north of hoop 5, so a little rough there

Approaches 4 well, through 4. The first hint of the day cooling - bye bye sun

Rushes black back up the lawn.

reminder: Ned is 4back and peg - that's 21 points, Jose is 4back and in a break, up to hoop 5 - that's 13 points

Rushes black into position, takes off to red, taps red... takes off to blue at hoop 5... it has gone miles!!! - nearly goes off the south boundary

Snicks a 9 yard return dribble - huge roar from the clubhouse - we think that's Christian Carter. Lots of nerves around the world now!

A handy wee snick, as it left his pioneer there.

Angled hoop 5 - runs it past blue - plays a really good croquet stroke to get up to peelee

Ned's mum asks if he'll get another shot - well, 50-50 I think. Noone has made delayed triples look easy, so Jose has a big turn to try to win

Peeling red from a yard, with a good escape ball to rush to hoop 6. Good 1back pioneer 5 feet SSE of hoop 2

Makes sure of the peel!! - but he has a long cut rush to hoop 6 - lines it up to get the line for the cut

Hits it very nicely - slides across the back of hoop 6, but it has gone far enough to be ok

Approaches hoop 6, it'll be a delayed double for Jose

No wire through 6, and it's about a 4 yarder back. Not ideal when you're getting fatigued

Maybe 4.5 yards... hits it nicely

Croquets blue NW of 3back, rushing black past red at 2back... smashes black into the peg - that's not very helpful!

Rolls black towards the peg getting a nice rush to 2back. He can make 2b with control and might even get the peel if he rushes back well

Hoop1 has gone home and left a hologram of itself there - so Jose hits nothing as he plays past red. Gently hits red, croqueting it to penult going to black at the peg. Red to 2 yards past penult and he has a rush on black south. He'll put that up as an escape ball to peel red through penult (hoop 10) and rush to 4back (hoop 9)

Threading black between blue and hoop 4.

Puts out a really good black and is approaching 3back from a wee bit of distance. Not sure I'd want to wibble through this 2 foot hoop

maybe 3 feet

Runs 3back to some applause. No rush, but he's through it

*Scores if you're reading from Spain: Ned 21, Jose 19

Big roll - gets some pass this time, but doesn't have a rush on red. Ian Lines thinks Jose is in doubt to finish in this turn!

Hits red, has to peel from about 7 feet and 15 degrees going across the hoop to black

He is very very pleased with that - peels red by a foot and has a longish cut rush to 4back

Hits it fairly gently "fantastic shot" says my expert co-commentator, as Jose gently rushes black to 4back

Bit of a wimpy approach and he has a longer-than-comfortable and angled 4back. Which he runs well to yet again into the yardline area

4-5 yarder... hits

Black 5 feet SE of the peg, bit soft on putting peelee to rover and it's still 3 yards from rover and a bit west - rushing blue to penult.

Has he just rushed this to worse-than-death behind penult???

Yes, it's where Ned broke down from earlier - it's in "position A" - almost impossible to take off back to make penult. Almost tempting to peel them both through - he does have two balls south of the peg, and the hoops are very friendly

Looks like he's going to do that. There's another old hoop hole in the middle of hoop 6??!!!

Jim Wardle is on gardening - this is a bit awkward. Ian Lines "It's quite nice being at a venue with people!"

Jose back on - plays the roll back through the hoop - it's a good shot and he has a 1 foot straight hoop, with blue well out of the way. Black is a coupel fo yard south of the peg, and he runs the hoop to it - avoiding pinning it on the peg!

Jose now rover and rover - has to organise a straight rover peel to finish

Black sent as a slightly northerly "side" ball - no deep ball in attendance - he needs to try to rush this close

Don't like this - it's just over a yard, and he has no deep ball. Still - there has been a lot of rushing peelee well past the hoop

Ian "too far to do it Irish"

I kinda agree. These hoops have given up - so a sharp wee stop shot sounds the order of the day.

Lining it up...

Plays a sharp wee stopshot... *
aargh!! - it's 6 inches back and 45 degrees - jumping... through!!!*

Has an 8 yard return roquet - he got some wire to lengthen this shot a bit. Lines fancies cutting it towards the peg...

Hits. Gently. Cutting it to give himself an 8 yard pegout for the quarter final.

Refs tag-teaming, and this time it's diminutive Alison Robinson on to watch the pegout...

.... Casting... Grounds his mallet - shooting... hits!!!!! - raises his hands in triumph

Has a 1 footer to finish this off... gets around to that. Very very well done Jose.

Jose Riva wins the match of the tournament (so far) 26TP-21

There'll be some tears of Joy in Spain.

Fabulous match from Ned Wilson too - really unlucky to not get further in this tournament - he's an excellent player.

"Why didn't Debbie (Lines) come to NZ for the worlds". ..Ian: "Well, it's Valentines Day on the 14th".

(She's Head of Operations for InterFlora ...so that's pretty reasonable really!)

Jose reported that that last lift shot was the only shot he'd hit in the match - other turns were the result of getting in due to errors (and hitting a double in the opening JR!)

That's all from me for today. Going to try to get a beer from somewhere - it has been a relatively long day. Congratulations to Jose, many commiserations to Edward Wilson.