Good morning from Wellington Municipal Croquet Club.

Cloudy at the moment but I dare say it will burn off.

The semi-finals will be on lawns 1 and 2. Riva played on lawn 2 on Wednesday, Bamford on lawn 1 on Thursday.
As far as the other semi goes, Mulliner had lawn 3 on Wednesday, Chapman hasn't played here since Sunday I think.
Maybe toss a coin for lawns?

The plate semis are double-banked on lawn 3.

All 4 players are here.

We are due to start at 9am. Best of 5, time limits 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.

No practising yet. The practice time has been extended from 5 to 10 minutes. This is a Bad Thing.

Everyone seems to be waiting for something. Aha an announcement...

Usual spiel. "Welcome to the best croquet club in the world." (Arguably true!) We now have the draw for lawns...

And Bamford v Riva will be on lawn 2 to my right.

Sorry already made an error. This claims to be the best little croquet club in the world.

I've remembered to order lunch today.

Still practising. It's after 9am but the delay is not the players' fault.

Riva tosses a coin.

Bamford v Riva Game 1

G1T1 Bamford Black 10y N of 4th corner

Jenny pushes button on timer.

G1T2 Riva Yellow Just S of 2nd corner.

The ROT and the deputy Mangler have already checked that the timer has been started.

G1T3 Bamford Blue hits Black from A-baulk.

G1T3 Bamford Blue takes off to Yellow, hits. Rolls Yellow to peg-high, a yard or 2 in from W bdry. Lags to 5' from Blue.

G1T4 Riva Red shooting from A-baulk. Hits Black.

The good news is that Jenny has remembered the nibbles. The bad news is that there is Bombay mix all over the floor.

G1T4 Riva Red rushes Blue to Yellow, Yellow to 2y S of hoop 1. Fair bit of wire as he runs hoop, but thru by 1 yard. Has first break.

How many hoops will Riva make here? Expert votes for 9.
Actually my usual experts are seated by Paul Skinley, on a bank about 20' above 3rd corner of lawn 2.

G1T4 Riva Red has reached hoop 5.

Riva has a 1-back pioneer. And Yellow is an early 2-back pioneer. Looking like 9 hoops.

I'm told I may have a number of Spanish readers. Since most English speakers would consider this gobbledygook, I'm not sure how much is getting across. Especially as Google translate renders "He is rushing to wired position" as "He is hurrying to the electrical cable".

So if I may drastically simplify what's happening. The match is best of 5 games. Each game is first to 26 points. However the point score doesn't always reflect who is winning. It may be helpful to regard each game as a best-of-5 in its own right. Let's call them "goals".

So after this first break, Riva is 9-0 ahead, or 1-0 up in "goals".

Bamford now has a shot. If he hits, Riva is still leading, maybe 60% to win the game.

But if Bamford misses, Riva has a big advantage, maybe 85%. Also, if he plays well, he can score the remaining 17 points (or 2 "goals") in one turn. This is called a Triple Peel.

G1T4 Riva having a fairly horizontal spread. Red clip is on 4-back.

"Hit in and go round." A maxim that Riva has followed. Good solid start to the match.

G1T5 Bamford lifts Blue from by the peg to A-baulk. 18-yarder at Red or Yellow. Hits hoop 4! Bounces off by 1 yard.

If text isn't doing it for you, J-P Moberly is video streaming Mulliner v Chapman. Link is in Jenny's commentary.

Bamford's shot had the worst possible outcome for him. If Riva makes hoop 1, he is favourite t finish.

G1T6 Riva Yellow makes 1 off Black. Red is hoop 2 pioneer.

G1T6 Riva Yellow takes off from Blue by 4 to Red at 2. Slightly overhit,so approaching from 8'. 2' hoop, runs it, but not cleanly. Had he run it to the boundary, he would have had nice rush on Red. Manages to cut Red to 7yW of 3rd corner. Croquet stroke is 3/4 roll rather than full roll. Red is 4y S of 4-back.

G1T6 Riva Yellow runs 3 to 5' beyond Red. Rush is cut when it should have been straight. Has 7' peel attempt. If he wants a rush on Black there'll be some pull.
Peel fails to 1' E of hoop. Yellow Christs off Black. Good roll follows - he could have played the peel straight!

The failure to get 4-back peel after 3 has turned a standard Triple Peel (TP) into a delayed one. Chances of finishing this turn significantly reduced.
The player is now voluntarily reducing his chance of scoring 1 "goal " this turn, in favour of increasing his chances of winning the game (with 2 "goals") this turn. Judging when to do this is a key part of top-level Association Croquet.

G1T6 Riva Yellow has made 5 with a forward rush.

G1T6 Riva Yellow lining up 4-back peel before 6. 4' he's playing it straight. Makes peel by not very much. Has 3-yard tonk to 6. Pretty good. The 1-back pioneer is 5y E of hoop.

Had Riva not got that peel, his chances of finishing would have diminished to the extent he may have given up trying to finish this turn. Now he will carry on with the Delayed TP.

G1T6 Riva Yellow makes 6 off Blue, rushes Blue to 3rd corner. Blue is croqueted 4y NE of 2-back. May be having cheeky penult peel attempt before 1-back. Red misses penult entirely.

G1T6 Riva Yellow makes 1-back off Black. Croquets it too far, maybe 4y S of 3-back. Rushes Red into peeling posi. Death roll coming up...

G1T6 Riva Yellow gets Red into the jaws of penult, is 3y shy of Blue. OK rush.

Riva is trying to make 12 hoops and 3 peels this turn. So far he has made 7 hoops and one and a half peels.

After 2-back, Riva Yellow rushes Blue near peg. Rolls Blue to 4-back, rushes Red thru penult to S bdry near Black. He now has a chance of getting the rover peel after 3-back.

After 3-back Riva Yellow rushes Red not close enough to rover for peel. Takes off to Black.
8 hoops, 2 peels.
Barring an unexpected error, this will boil down to a straight rover peel. There are eleven things that can go wrong with a straight rover peel.

The Black ball is 2y E of penult, Red 2y N of rover. After 4-back, Blue is rushed near the peg. Red's position is improved, take-off to Black. Thru penult with forward rush.
11 hoops, 2 peels.

G1T6 Riva Yellow croquets Black 6y past rover. Blue goes to 1y E of rover. Peeling from a foot....

Irish peel. Red goes thru to near Black, Yellow thru also.
12 hoops, 3 peels.
One last thing to do, which should be easy. Has to rush Red near the peg...

Red is 5' from peg.

Riva wins Game 1 +26tp

Never looked like breaking down. Solid game, great start.

Bamford v Riva Game 2

G2T1 Riva Black 5y W of peg.
G2T2 Bamford Yellow just S of peg-high on W bdry
G2T3 Riva Blue at Yellow from just W of 3rd corner. Close, but misses to just W of 4th corner.

Good to start with quick game, reduces chance of Time coming into play.

G2T4 Bamford Red at Yellow from A-baulk. Misses. Red is 1' N of Yellow.

G2T5 Riva Black shoots at Red, missing to his left (ie North).

First chance of break ("goal") for Bamford.

Blue is close to 4th corner, but not so close as to make a corner cannon available, I think.

G2T6 Bamford Red taps Black, rushes Yellow into Blue. Not a cannon now. Bamford asks the commentary panel where Blue went off (we are ~4y away!), so he's not getting cannon!
Stops Yellow 15" North, good rush of Blue to 1. His first hoop of the day, overruns Blue slightly, cuts Blue 2y W of 4th corner. Rushes Yellow 2y SE of Black. Yellow to 3, 2' rush on Black to 2...
Average rush. 7' from hoop 2. 15" hoop, slightly angled. Runs it to boundary. Has rush on Black.
Bamford has break.

The South boundary of lawn 2 is about 18" from the North boundary of lawn 1. There is plastic tubing acting as a ball-stop between the two lawns. Every so often the tubing has to be moved. Bamford has to do so when he was rushing Yellow to Black earlier this turn. A helpful referee replaced it.
At Kelburn there were no such ball-stops, and with some hard shooters (eg Wilson) balls occasionally flew across another lawn or two.
Ball-stops or not? I'm unsure.

G2T6 Bamford Red has just made 4 with all the balls.

Exciting experimentation currently on lawn 1.

How many hoops will Bamford make?
He refuses to have a 1-back pioneer. Bamford is only making 6 hoops!

So why is Bamford only scoring 6 rather than 9?
Because it dramatically lengthens Riva's shot. If Bamford had made 9, Riva would have at most a 19-yarder. A good shot on a good day might hit that 50% of the time.
But by only making 6, Bamford can make Riva have a 33-yarder. This is a 10-20% shot. Incidentally this shot is known as a tea-lady.
However, if Riva does miss, Bamford has to do 6 peels while making 12 hoops (a sextuple peel). This is many times more difficult than a Triple Peel. Where peeling prizes are awarded, traditionally a Triple scores 4 points, a sextuple scores 25 points.

G2T7 Riva Blue misses 33-yarder.

Bamford is yet to make a sextuple in the tournament. But this is probably the most conducive lawn on which to do so.

G2T8 Bamford Yellow taps Blue, croquets it to 3. Rushes Red to 5' in front of 1-back. His hoop 1 pioneer is 2y SE of hoop. Peels Red to within 5 y of 1!

The requirement here is 12 hoops, 6 peels.
So far 0 hoops, 1 peel.

G2T8 Bamford Yellow makes 1, taps Red. 5y angled peel of 2-back... Gently into near wire, with good rush on Black to 2. He'll be happy with that.

1 hoop, 1 peel.

Normally when playing a break, you arrange for a pioneer to be waiting at your next hoop. When doing a sextuple, you often have to have your pioneer maybe 20 yards from the hoop in order to facilitate the peels.

G2T8 Bamford Yellow rush-peels 2-back after 2. Sorry didn't look to be possible from my vantage point. Please delete the previous comment "He'll be happy with that" in favour of "He'll be delighted with that".

After hoop 3 Bamford Yellow rushes Blue closer to Red than he would have liked. Blue is croqueted to 2y E of 5. Rolls Red 4' SSE of 3-back. Make 4 off Black. Rushes Black to 4th corner. Bamford removes tubing, 2 flags and a peg. Again helpful onlooker replaces them. Black is croqueted to 2y SSE of 6. Turn is going well so player can afford to have pioneers at hoop. Attempts 3-back peel going to Blue nr 5. Peel is jawsed.

Hoops 4 Peels 2.5

G2T8 Bamford Yellow makes 5 off Blue. Got more wire than wanted, so his rush is pointing just N of due East. (north by east is the term I believe.) Gently rushes Blue maybe 3y SE of peg. Good take-off to Red. Some thought required: Blue is not where he'd like. Rush-peels Red to 8y S of 4-back. Croquets Red 4y NNE of 6. Makes 6 off Black. Can he rush Red to posi at 4-back...?

Hoops 6 peels 3

G2T8 Bamford Yellow rushes Red to 2 or 3' in front of 4-back. Take-off peel to Black. Peelee hits both wires. May be rush-peelable(?)
Yellow rushes Black 4yS of Blue. Stops Black between hoops 3 and 6. Rushes Blue to 1-back, maybe 7' E of hoop. Takes off to hoop, runs it gently.
Black is the 2-back pioneer, some 20 yards from hoop as I suggested might happen.

Hoops 7 peels 3.
(12, 6 required)

G2T8 Bamford Yellow croquets Blue 2y E of 6. Rush-peels Red. Croquets it to penult getting rush to 2-back. Black is rushed 4y shy of hoop. 1y hoop. Runs it hard to boundary: ball-stop does its job.

Hoops 8, Peels 4

After 2-back Bamford Yellow rushes Black 6y SSW of 4-back, takes off to Red. Take-off peel is close to being thru or is just thru. Rushes Blue to 1y N of 3-back (but not due North, fortunately. Makes 3-back, cut rushes Blue 3y N of rover. Rolling Blue 1y NE of penult. Roquets Red - it was probably thru already, definitely is now.

Hoops 9 Peels 5.

So now it will be Bamford's turn to tackle the straight rover peel. Superb turn so far. Getting the 1-back peel before 1 is useful.

G2T8 Bamford Yellow makes penult off Blue. Red is waiting 1' in front of rover. Black is by the peg.

Hoops 11, Peels 5

G2T8 Bamford Yellow chooses not to have a deep ball behind rover. Irish peel from 7". Both balls through.

Hoops 12, Peels 6

Rush to the peg from 11 yards....

.. is good.

Bamford wins Game 2 +26sxp

Referee is on control to stop and adjust time. Two games in 2 hrs 30 approx. Time should be irrelevant.

Looks like we may be lunching.

Maybe only a 15-minute break. The catering is still in the Morning Tea phase (elevenses with cake). Let's hope lunch is still available after Game 3.

Experts were not expecting Bamford to be sextupling today, but conditions are easier than at Kelburn. If you get the first 2 peels as early as Bamford did, a sextuple is reduced to a standard quadruple.

Bamford v Riva Game 3 (Match score 1-1)

G3T1 Bamford Black 11y N of 4th corner.

Ref in full control of timer. Just over 4.5 hours for this game.

G3T2 Riva Red just S of 2nd corner
G3T3 Bamford Blue at Black from A-baulk. Centre ball.

J-P frantically stopping spectators blocking camera's view of lawn 1. They are now blocking my view of lawn 2 instead.

G3T3 Bamford Blue hits Red,rolls it N of peg-high nr W bdry, lags to 7' of Black.
G3T4 Riva Yellow from A-baulk. Hits Black.

G3T4 Riva Yellow rushes Blue to Red, Red to 1 well enough. 2' hoop. Makes it.
First break to Riva.

Sorry for lack of comments but lawn 1 is v exciting right now.

G3T4 Riva Yellow has reached 3 on 4-ball break.

There are more Spanish flags around than any other. Many "Vamos" from the clubhouse yesterday, plus other words I shouldn't translate.

Bamford did a sextuple v Maugham in last game of block. Thanks to Statto for pointing out my error.

G3T4 Riva Yellow has just made hoop 5. Pretty sure he will be going for 9 hoops here.

Bamford's block sextuple was at Paraparaumu.

Riva's mother tells me I have 100 followers in Madrid.

G3T4 Riva Yellow has made 9 hoops.

Riva 9 Bamford 0 (or 1 "goal" to 0)

G3T4 Riva Yellow is not making the standard spread. Instead of a ball being near W bdry, it is 4 yards from peg. Still all the wiring is fine, so Bamford will have an 18-yarder.
Key shot coming up....

G3T5 Bamford lifts Blue (the ball 4y from peg) to 3rd corner. About a 19-yarder. Preparing himself. Here we go... Misses! Blue is 9" W of 4th corner.

So Riva has a potential finishing turn. It will be more difficult than in Game 1 as it will be a while before he can extract Blue from 4th corner.

G3T6 Riva Red rushes Yellow, croquets it to 2, rushes Black 3y SSE of 1. 4' hoop. Makes it. Might be able to cut Black near Blue if he fancies it...

G3T6 After 1, Riva Red rushes Black 1' N of 4th corner. Stops Black in lawn a few feet. Cut-rushes Blue 6y N of Yellow at 2.
So Riva has a break. Can he construct another TP? (One "goal" or two according to my neologism).

G3T6 After 2 Riva Red croquets Yellow to 4. Black is not good enough pioneer for standard TP, so it will be a delayed triple.

Slight misapproach of hoop 3 from Riva. Short angled hoop. Makes it but mallet is straight up as he's hampered. Two refs on. May be a sweep shot. Blue is at most 2 yards away. Gets it. Spain can breathe again.

G3T6 after 3, Riva Red rolls Blue 3y beyond 5 going to Yellow. Runs 4, to boundary. Has 5-yarder at Black, hits. Now has all 4 balls.

G3T6 Riva Red is intending to peel 4-back before 6. Croqueting Yellow there now, albeit from about 30 yards. Pretty good shot.

So the desired outcome this turn is hoops 12, peels 3.
So far it's hoops 4, peels 0.

We now have video on this lawn also. Christian Carter is doing it. Look for the link on his Facebook page.

G3T6 After 5 Riva Red has nice rush on Blue. Now has 8' straight peel attempt. Peel fails. I'm guessing not rush-peelable but I'be been wrong before.

Blue, the 1-back pioneer, is 4y E of hoop.
G3T6 After 6, Riva Red rushes Black off N bdry 7y W of 3rd corner. Black is reasonable 2-back pioneer, 3y NNE of hoop. Red taps Yellow into front of hoop. Tries take-off peel going to Blue. Yellow is in middle of hoop.
Hoops 6, peels 0.5

G3T6 Riva Red makes 1-back off Blue. Tonks it off near end of B-baulk. Underhits croquet stroke. Blue is 5y NNW of 3-back. More importantly, Red is 2y WSW of peelee. Umpire on. Cut rushes Yellow thru by a few feet. Good and necessary shot.

Hoops 7, Peels 1

G3T6 Riva Red takes off from Yellow by 3 to Black at 2-back. Good shot. Makes hoop, rushes Black back near end of B-baulk. He will now be hoping to peel Yellow thru penult before 4-back. Black is croqueted 2y E of penult. Red's gone a little too far. Cuts Yellow 3y NE of penult. Remember Blue isn't a great pioneer. Takes off 3y shy. Overcuts, Blue is 4' NE of hoop. Take-off approach. 2' hoop. Makes it, but no useful rush.

Hoops 9, Peels 1

G3T6 Riva Red has played a good roll after 3-back. Now attempting penult peel. Needs a rush on Black so unable to play a straight croquet stroke. Peel fails. Approach to 4-back yields angled hoop. Gets it.

Hoops 10, Peels 1
Straight double peel required. Peelee is 1y W of penult.

G3T6 Riva Red is lining up penult peel from 1' in front. Irish peel. Goes well! Yellow about 2y NNW of rover.

Hoops 11 Peels 2

G3T6 Riva Red has little rush on Yellow to peeling posi. Maybe a yard in front. No deep ball. Stroke is played. Yellow is in middle of hoop. Red is 1' in front. Tries to (half-)jump. Fails. Red bounces back on to his foot or mallet. This is a fault. For some reason Bamford wants them replaced. Is he under misapprehansion that Yellow would score hoop if he played them as they lie? Well, he didn't know the Laws yesterday.

Nick says Riva's last stroke is on Instagram.

Clips: Bamford 1 & 1, Riva rover and rover.

Hoops 22-0 but I think Bamford is slight favourite for the game. Very unlikely Riva can finish in one turn from here, so I think it's only one "goal" to nil. Bamford will pick up a break, and score as many hoops as he wishes. I'm betting he'll go for another sextuple.

G3T7 Bamford Black has a 4-ball break.

More croquet jargon:
"Straight" peel unfortunately has 3 meanings:
1. The peelee is straight in front of hoop (as opposed to angled).
2. The croquet stroke is played straight (as opposed to a split shot, which has "pull")
3. The striker's ball is for the same hoop as peelee. So a straight triple peel means finishing from 4-back and 4-back. (as opposed to "standard" [3 and 4-back] or delayed [6 and 4-back].

G3T7 Bamford Black has reached hoop 5.

G3T7 Bamford Black having another 1-back leave. ie He chooses to make just 6 hoops. For reasons behind this, new readers please see my comment stamped 10:53am (local time).

Red and Yellow are cross-wired at hoop 1, Blue and Black are near 3rd corner.

G3T8 Riva Yellow shoots (30+ yards). Hits hoop 3, bounces off 1 yard to the East.

Riva leads the hoop-count 22-6, but Bamford is favourite.

Wilson has just turned up after drowning his sorrows last night. Losing from 2-0 up must be hard to take.

G3T9 Bamford croquets Black 3y E of 1-back. It could be argued that Riva hitting the hoop was advantageous, as Bamford cannot attempt 1-back peel before 1, as he did in Game 2 today.
Now making 1 off Red. Gets more wire than desired, so can't play forward rush.

G3T9 Bamford Blue plays good roll, putting Red to 3. Now going for 1-back peel before 2. Peelee thru by 9 yards.

The requirement is again 12 hoops, 6 peels.
Currently Hoops 1, Peels 1

G3T9 Bamford Blue makes 2 off Yellow. Croquets it 4' NE of 2-back. This will be his hoop 4 pioneer. Black is now 1' in front of 2-back. Good take-off to Red. Makes 3 with good rush.

Hoops 3 Peels 1

If confused by some of my jargon, check out https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tech/other/jargon
You may be surprised to learn that "Christing off" is not blasphemous.

It is now drizzling.

G3T9 Bamford Blue has Red 5y E of 2-back. Tries 2-back peel before 4, Black stops in front of hoop. Makes 4 off Yellow. Rushes West, croquets Yellow 1y SE of hoop. Rush-peels Black thru 2-back, croquets it 1y ESE of 3-back. Makes 5 with rush toward 3rd corner.

Hoops 5, Peels 2

Christian has plugged his iphone (with which he is videoing this game) into my USB thingy. Is this how I catch a virus?

G3T9 Bamford Blue croquets Red to 8' SSW of 6. Now lining up 15" peel of 3-back going to Yellow. Peel goes thru to 3y SSE of 4-back. Blue makes 6 off Yellow.

Hoops 6 Peels 3.

G3T9 After 6, Bamford Blue croquets Yellow 1y WSW of 4-back. This will be his 2-back pioneer. Rushes Black beyond Red, croquets it 4y SW of 4-back. Tight rush to 1-back, makes it off Red.

Hoops 7, Peels 3

G3T9 After 1-back, Bamford Blue croquets Red 3y W of 4-back. This will be his 3-back pioneer. Now has 1y peel that is not straight in any sense. 15 deg., and he needs rush on Yellow to 2-back.
Peel fails, again may or may not be rush-peelable. Rush to 2-back finishes 5y N of hoop. 2' hoop. Runs to boundary.

Hoops 8, Peels 3 (3.5?)

G3T9 After 2-back, Bamford Blue rushes Yellow 3y NNE of penult. Trevor Bassett doing good job replacing the tubing. Yellow is croqueted 2y ESE of penult. Black is rush-peeled, croqueted to penult. Red is rushed 4y ENE of hoop. Take-off a bit short. Copes.

Hoops 9 Peels 4.

Ironic comment from Phil Cordingley "So he's making 3-back this time".
Referring to infamous occasion at British Opens when Bamford made 11 hoops, 6 peels v Phil and claimed the game! Phil hadn't been watching so result stands.

G3T9 Bamford Blue now has roll from E of 3-back. Red is now 4y E of penult. Black is peeled thru penult to 1' W of peg. Makes 4-back off Yellow.

Hoops 10, Peels 5

G3T9 After 4-back, Bamford Blue rushes Yellow to 2y SW of peg. Then rushes Red 5y E of Black. Croquets Black shy of where he wants - 4y NNE of rover. Makes penult off Red.

Hoops 11, Peels 5
All 4 balls are for rover!

Here comes the dolly rush to peeling posi. 15", very slightly angled (straight in the other 2 senses!)

G3T9 Bamford Blue doesn't irish peel. Black goes 2y thru. Blue stops 2" in front. Runs hoop by 1'. Can just see Red 3y away. Hits

Hoops 12, Peels 6.

G3T9 Bamford Blue takes off from Red to Yellow, short (wanted to be North). Now taking off for rush to peg. 2' away. Clubs it. 8' peg-out...

Bamford wins game 3 +4sxp

With foresight have arranged for lunch to be brought. Thanks to Jenny for waitressing. I'm on the end of the commentary bench, boxed in by J-P, Jenny et al.

Bamford v Riva game 4. (Bamford leads match 2-1)

G4T1 Riva Black 4y NW of 5
G4T2 Bamford Yellow 19y S of 4th corner.
G4T3 Riva Blue at Yellow from 3rd corner. Hits!

Lost connection for a bit there. May be pause in video streaming.

Apparently you now can watch Christian's streaming even if you're not his friend.

G4T3 Riva Blue has cut Yellow nr hoop 4. Approaching 1 off Black from 4y away. Makes it! Has 3-ball break.

Spain ... use this link to watch Pepe v Reg... https://www.facebook.com/christian.l.carter/videos/10100972558014965/

For those who are not cognoscenti, Riva may score an early "goal" here. But it is more difficult to score with just 3 balls.

G4T3 Riva Blue has struggled thru 3, we think. Ref is on, hoop has been run, hits hampered 5-yarder. The break continues.

G4T3 Riva Blue has made 7 of his intended 9 hoops.

G4T3 Riva Blue duff rush to 3-back, approaching from 2y to the W. Copes.

Riva leads 9-0 (1-0 in "goals")

Good viewing spots limited, especially if you don't want to block the camera. If you want to see a picture of the lovely Annabel, check out J-P's video!

G4T3 Riva Blue leaves Black with a 4' rush on Yellow from 19y S of 3rd corner, to Blue near W bdry. (One expert thinks Blue should be on boundary.)

G4T4 Bamford Red shoots at Black from 3rd corner. Hits!

Experts discussing Bamford's options. He doesn't tend to do TPOs. Another 1-back leave is the consensus.

G4T4 After some average (for him!) shots, Bamford Red approaching 1 from 2y N . 18" hoop. Runs it with enough wire to get a nice rush. Has 4-ball break.

Oops forgot the sound was on, made uncharacteristically lewd comment.

Blue is at 3 if Bamford does want a TPO...

Thanks to waitress Phil for coffee, other commentators on beer.

Bamford refuses chance of TPO.

G4T4 Bamford Red has made 6 hoops, and has all 4 balls near hoop 1 making his leave.

Riva leads Bamford 9-6, one "goal" each.
Riva will have a 30+-yarder, if he misses it may be his last shot.

G4T4 The Blue ball is 4' ENE of hoop 1, Black is 5y WSW of hoop. Bamford squinting to check the wiring. Yellow is rushed off 5y W of 3rd corner. Yellow rolled 1' W of 3rd corner. Red 7' WSW of Yellow.

Clips; Bamford Red 1-back, Yellow 1; Riva Black 1, Blue 4-back.

G4T5 Riva Black at Yellow 35y. Hits!!

This roquet appears to be quite popular with the crowd.
As it happens, Riva made the least popular roquet of 2017. British Opens, Z, Hurlingham lawn 4. James Death sets up for a ladies' dectuple (oppo cross-wired at 4, ball in 3, ball N of 3). Riva hit. Not often a 20-yarder gets booed.

Riva will expect to get into posi for standard TP. [Or score 2 "goals" this turn]

Riva has not yet achieved full control. 4y return roquet after 1 is hit. Red isn't especially near 2. Big half-roll needed. He hasn't got required rush on Red. He'll be rolling to 2 from 5 yards...

Riva has 1y hoop 2, runs it to boundary. Balls now more or less where you'd want them.

I have Bamford & Chapman in my fantasy team. Carter has Riva & Mulliner.

G4T5 Riva Black is trying to peel Blue thru 4-back after 3. 2' peel, angled, wants rush on Red. Peel goes 4' thru.

So this turn's aim is 12 hoops, 3 peels.
So far 3 hoops, 1 peel.

G4T5 Riva Black has a 4y return roquet after 4. I routinely miss these, top guys treat them as rushes.
In that context, this is a poor rush, but Riva plays a good roll to recover good position.

G4T5 Riva Black making 6 off Yellow. Poor hoop stroke but it's thru. Trivial to hit Blue. 2' penult peel. Rejects to side.

Hoops 6, peels 1.

G4T5 Riva Black makes 1-back off Red. Red is croqueted 7' WNW of 3-back. Black a bit short on Blue. Tries to bounce Blue off wire into peeling posi. Blue rebounds the wrong way and into Black again. Awkward position. Play irish peel (?!). Blue goes thru, but Black is by peg. Has 10-yarder at 2-back pioneer. Misses!

Clips; Bamford Red 1-back, Yellow 1; Riva Black 2-back, Blue rover.

Riva is 18-6 up but Bamford may win this turn.

G4T6 Bamford Yellow hits 6-yarder. Now making 1 off Blue, with Black ball by peg, Red 10y SSE of 2. After 1, Blue rolled to 3, Yellow near Black.

If the sextuple doesn't work out, Bamford might fall back on peeling Blue thru rover and pegging it out.

Allegedly some spectators are here, but watching the video.

G4T6 Bamford Yellow approaching 2 with Red. Makes it, now trying 1-back peel. Peelee goes thru to 4y N of 2-back.

So if Bamford can make 12 hoops and 6 peels (and peg out), this match is over.
Hoops 2, Peels 1

Gabrielle and Mr. Gabrielle are sitting on the floor.

G4T6 Bamford Yellow trying to peel Red thru 2-back before 4, from about 5'. Peel doesn't get as much pull as expected, ball falls to 1' W of hoop. Makes 4 off Black.

Hoops 4, Peels 1

G4T6 Bamford Yellow has hoop 5 pioneer (Blue) 2y E of 2-back, so he can have another go at the peel. Black is now 2y SE of 5, presumably that will be his hoop 6 pioneer.
Peelee goes 3y through. Bamford makes 5 off Blue.

Hoops 5, Peels 2.

Cakes and tea being distributed.

G4T6 After 5, Bamford Yellow rushes Blue to end of A-baulk. Blue is croqueted 1y W of 1-back. (Sometimes you do have pioneers at the hoop!) Yellow rushes Red shy of peeling posi at 3-back. Takes off to Black. Good rush to 6. After 6 rushes Black 2y NNW of Red. Black stopped 8y E of 2-back. This is harder than the usual death roll - trying to peel Red thru 3-back from 1' , going to Blue. Peel sails thru to 3yN of 4-back (yes, North). Yellow pretty good on Blue. Fails 1-back from nowhere! Ref is on.

Bamford claiming a wedge, we presume.
Wedge declined.

Bamford's first error of the day. Riva has had 2 errors.

G4T7 Riva Blue hits Yellow out of 1-back (Northwards). Black is near rover should he want to make it. Plays croquet stroke sending Yellow 7y N of 4, short on Red. Rushes Red off 5y S of 3rd corner. Overhits take-off 4y beyond Black. Hits, approaches from 4y(?) away, makes hoop. Hits Black. Leaves Black 8' ESE of 2-back. Takes off to Yellow, rushes near Red. Yellow is maybe 1y SW of 3rd corner. Red is left 5y W of 1-back. Blue lags to 5' NW of Black.

Clips; Bamford Red 4-back, Yellow 1-back; Riva Black 2-back, Blue peg.

Experts divided on quality of Riva's leave.

G4T8 Bamford Yellow hits Red (24y).

G4T8 Bamford Yellow takes off from Red to Black. Now rushing Blue to 1-back. Short backward take-off required. Makes sure of hoop.

G4T8 After 1-back Bamford Yellow rushes Blue into 2. Takes off, putting Blue 2y N of Blue. Red is croqueted to 3-back. Straight Triple Peel unlikely.

One rogue expert suggests that this is equivalent to a straight quad, which a regular sextupler should cope with.

G4T8 After 2-back, Bamford Yellow rushes Black off 5y E of 2nd corner. Black to 8' SW of 4-back. Blue is rushed off near end of A-baulk. Blue is croqueted between 3-back and 4-back. Red rushed to 1'in front of 3-back
Is Bamford thinking of the irish non-peel?!
No, he won't be finishing this turn.
Will he be pegging out Blue?

G4T8 Bamford Yellow has made penult off Blue. Black is at rover, Red by the peg.

Blue is very close to the peg, but is this for a Riggall or a leave?
G4T8 Bamford Yellow makes rover off Black.

G4T8 Bamford Yellow pegs out Blue.

Clips; Bamford Red 4-back, Yellow peg; Riva Black 2-back, Blue box.

Lift leave: Red just E of 2nd corner. Yellow 6y N of 4th corner. (Black near peg.)

Points: Bamford 21, Riva 20. But Riva has only one ball, usually a disadvantage, though less so at this level.

G4T9 Riva lifts Black to A-baulk. Misses Yellow just to his right. Comes on 9"N of Yellow.

Patel is watching in the Skinley box. Seems worried he might fall off on to lawn and / or player.

G4T10 Bamford Yellow rushes Black to a point yet to be determined. He did get as far as Yellow from his hut by B-baulk, but then wandered back to see whither he wishes to rush.

G4T10 Bamford Yellow rushes Black near end of B-baulk. Black is croqueted 5' NNW of 2-back. May be able to run hoop! Bamford wanted that much deeper.
Yellow taps Red. Rolling toward 3rd corner. Red is 5yW of 3rd corner. Mallet is down. Yellow is 4' E of Red.

G4T11 Riva Black shoots at Yellow. Misses. Could and should be last shot.

Expert would have taken on 2-back.

G4T12 Bamford Red taps Yellow, little take-off to Black. Rushes 5' E of hoop. Stoppo approach. Runs 4-back to boundary.

Bamford and Riva are set to be a partnership in the British Open Doubles, I am told.

G4T12 Bamford Red has made penult off Black with a rush to Yellow at rover. Sorry Spain, your son will be a runner-up today, but he played well.

Bamford wins Game 4 +6, and the match 3-1

Two out of three sextuples and just one error, Bamford played well today. Will he be trying sextuples in the tougher conditions at Kelburn tomorrow. Not if the wind blows!

Bamford and Riva still chatting on the lawn.

Tournament dinner this evening, so long trousers for first time since I arrived. Presumably final will start at 9am tomorrow Sunday.

Bye for now, Andrew