Morning all. It's a bright sunny day here in Napier/Hastings/Hawke's Bay (erm, somewhere up here - Heretaunga croquet club). My phone tells me it's 21 degrees-C now, and will get to 24. Light breeze and we're settled into the shade in one of the few available chairs. Beautiful day for croquet.

The final will start in about 20 mins, but I needed to send a link to this thread to Egypt, so here we are.

For those of you interested in the consolation events, I lost 2-0 to Eman. She played pretty well there.
My mallet is now having a possibility between leaving this world, or heading to England for a refurbishment - the repairs to endfaces over the last two years have been pretty unsuccessful, and all being well I'll be entering the intercounties showing off a brand new Dave Trimmer mallet!!

In another event (the Shield final we believe), Dallas Cooke is leading Mona Hegazi 7-4 and 3-0 in the second after a very nice clearance in-off. To be honest this looks like an incredibly brave performance from Dallas - her left knee looks in dreadful nick. I think the issues come and go a bit, so she might have started the game ok, but presently is running at about 30 seconds from north to south boundary.

The Plate final is a gentle affair so far - starting at 9am, and at 10.44 it is 4-3. My match was completed by the time they got to hoop 5, having had a lot of goes at hoop 1 each, with reportedly the balls never more than 7 yards from the hoop. Kate McLoughlin is red/yellow, and trailing 4-3. This is anyone's match!

Meanwhile, the Bowl final is turning out to be a cracker! Up and coming star Eleanor (Ellie) Ross raced to a 6-1 lead against Maha El Dideri (yet another incredibly lovely Egyptian lady - they have a really really nice bunch of players here). She had a lovely controlled angly jump shot at hoop 3ish, and has looked really good this tournament. I hope she sticks with the game as I think she'd be really fun to play doubles with one day!

Bowl game 2 - looks like a desperate attempt at a clearance from Ellie might have just snuck by, but Chris is on the way back to report.. Ellie is 6-5 down and "losing 12" - in the middle of West boundary and Maha is two feet in front of 12. Ellis shooting...misses. We'll have a decider!

Not through!! - looks like blue might be in the jaws. We've seen some horribly wibbly hoop strokes in this tournament - people do really need to learn to hit a ball firmly.

Not through!! - looks like blue might be in the jaws. We've seen some horribly wibbly hoop strokes in this tournament - people do really need to learn to hit a ball firmly.

Oops- better write something - people will think I've disappeared... Looks like Ellie and Maha have started game 3.

Dallas is getting ready to put her leg up - she's up 5-0 and leads 1 game to 0

And it's... 4-3 in the plate final

(we'll keep an eye on that plate final - probably in italics to avoid distracting from the main event)

And the players are out on lawn 5 - we'll start a proper commentary soon. Many thanks to Dave Walters and Tim King - I'm also half-way through my mallet-ordering email. They are new to the market, but I have never heard of a Trimmer mallet failure. The "airline" shafts have had some excellent reviews too both for quality of engineering and downright reliability. That said, local Terminator mallets have had no reports of breakages that I've heard of in a few years. And to be honest, it might just be a repeated end-face failure, though the sound might be brass detachment.

Anyway...

The 6th Women's World Champs - Final - Soha Mostafa v Manal Koudier

Both players warming up, both immaculately presented in white, Manal with her customary bright blue decoration on the back of her cap. That doesn't do it credit, so jump on facebook and search around a bit - it's beautiful. She also has some very attractive kinda embroidered white lace on her calves. Sorry, I've never seen anything like this before, but it is very attractive. Her mallet is also decorated in the Egyptian Red, White and Black. Very decorated. Soha's mallet looks like something very very basic of wood, with artificial (tufnol?) endfaces. Both mallets about 9 inches long, and they are very very accurate with them.

1. Soha has won the toss. Plays blue to 3 yards deep, 2 yards short of straight.

2. Red 2.5 short of straight, 3 yards back. Sorry, apparently blue was 2 feet short of straight

3. Black drifts past, 4 feet towards corner 1, and yellow a foot right of that.

Soha has the first go at hoop 1. Hits all of the inside of the hoop and bounces out to the side. We're back on lawn 5, the half-way markers are Enormous

Red played to 5 feet and 5 deg, black cleared yellow, yellow played back in.

Blue was able to dribble into the jaws, and we'll see Manal's first jump shot. Chris "She's going to need to get these or else she's got no chance".
Fails the jump, but blue has been slightly dislodged.

Black tries to roll up to yellow, but leaves it a pretty angled jump shot from about 40 degrees... makes a very very attempt at it, but doesn't get through. That first jump was useful though, as Soha can only run hoop 1 by a few yards.

Soha leads 1-0

Red plays up to hoop 2 - it's next to it!

Black played up - I'm about 20 yards from the south boundary, so can't see how far back it is, but it's very straight

Yellow plays up - again not a great shot.

Blue lags up.

Red tries to block black's shot... short. Soha has an open shot, and smashes black through without touching the wire.

Soha leads 2-0

One of our scorers and tireles volunteers has just wandered past and admired my athleticism - how lovely!

Yellow plays in - it's a bit short. Soha replies with two very straight balls, and in the middle red is pretty decent

Dallas Cooke has beaten Mona Hegazi 7-4 7-1 to win the Shield.

Sorry I can't see anything of Ellie's game

Yellow clears blue to the boundary, but it has a free go at hoop 3 from a slight angle. Beautiful firm controlled stroke. It didn't look like an all-out thrash, but it's through to the south boundary.

Soha leads 3-0

Manal typically starts a bit slowly, but will need to hang in there before the match disappears on her

All play down to hoop 4. I'm not sure if blue could see red or not - it was a decent ball, and blue just plays back in front. Manal shooting with red... fails the hoop. It's very early days yet.

Black clears yellow.

Yellow clears blue - that'll give Manal a boost.

Red's a bit angled and longish, but she might fancy the free shot, as blue plays back in front.

Red shooting... bounces out.

2hrs and 17 minutes in.. the plate final is all locked up.

Black clears red and is south of the hoop

Yellow centrally clears black - she's back in this now - red is on the short side boundary, yellow a couple of yards short of hoop 5, and blue is playing back in.

Manal just needs to warm up a bit - she's very dangerous once she gets in her stride.

blue plays in - it's short!, red takes good position wired from black

Soha dribbles black up - it's bad - it's on the back wire of the hoop - good chance for Manal to start her campaign

Soha has a go at a double clearance as yellow was blocking red - misses a straight-forward double leaving red a free shot at the hoop. Manal hits it HARD - bounces off.

Black plays in front. Soha plays blue in - three balls in front of the hoop, not clear if yellow is in front - bit messy here.

plate is 5-4 to Kate now

Red clears black, and it's coming back in - yellow clearly not in front - playing for the jaws... huge stroke... drifts past. Soha for a bit lead

sry - big lead

Soha bounces off with Blue - didn't do that yesterday!!!

red plays back in - why didn't she clear black??
Black runs the hoop powerfully Soha leads 4-0

Yellow plays in front of hoop 5, blue plays in. Red looks like it might have blocked ... Soha shooting at something...

Hits the middle of yellow!

I should also mention here that the referee for the final is Australian Peter Freer. He has been outstanding throughout the tournament - keeping a low profile when players are hitting balls. Ever ready to get involved when needed, carries his hammer around with him, as that's most of what he's been doing - the hoop holes have got floppy very fast in this event. Also very cheerful and energetic at replacing balls. Bless him!

Yellow plays back in - hits the side of the hoop. Blue runs an angled hoop 5 well Soha leads 5-0

Red plays up to hoop 6 - looks like it's possibly runnable/jawsable? - it's quite close. Soha has a good look - is taking on the hoop!! just past the peg and very angled from clearing yellow.

Second prize for Soha - she clears red. Blue can't get anywhere near hoop 6, and Manal played what looked like a really good shot, but the wind got involved, and it drifted across, hit the lefthand hoop and ended up a few inches to the side. Soha will play pretty short here. Looks like she has got jumping position.

Red is on the north boundary from being cleared, but she tries to promote yellow - drifts past it into 3 yard straight position, and Soha is playing black back in from corner 3 - she's well short.

Yellow clearing blue. Red's a bit far back for comfort, and Soha will be comfortable just playing in.

Blue plays in close to the hoop - again a little far with the prevailing breeze

Manal shooting - Soha leads 5-1 This game looks a bit difficult to come back from, but Manal will gain a lot of confidence for the match from this, and it's certainly possible to come back

Soha plays a good black in front of hoop 7.

Yellow plays in - it's a really nice shot - in front of black, but probably can be cleared.

Blue plays in - a good short of being straight, maybe 30 degrees. Well in Soha's range.

Manal shooting from the middle of the top boundary at black - it's very close to yellow... no - clears blue

From her reaction it looks like blue was her target. Blue is now on the side boundary and red well down the lawn

Soha plays a beautiful stop shot to nice position at hoop 7, might be wired, but it's probably open

If you're wondering how I can both think and type this fast - I don't need to - Chris is pretty much dictating a commentary!

Yellow misses black

Red cleared black, black has played back in - red looks like it has a go at the hoop from the boundary outside the offside marker - unclear if she was shooting at black or the hoop...clips the hoop on the way through.

Runs hoop 7 very well - off the south boundary. Soha leads 6-1

And where was the referee at that point - well placed out of sight where he could see the hoop - good lawn craft there.

With two pretty hard-hitting players, I suspect Peter knows his duties today are predominantly hoop firming and ball boy. Yesterday Peter and the scoring chap were great at replacing balls. If you're a spectator and a ball goes off the lawn near you .... PLEASE PUT IT BACK ON!!! Sitting there with the ball next to your foot staring blandly at the field isn't ideal.

Meanwhile...

Yellow plays in - not in front - neither is blue really, red looked like it was too close to the wire to do anything interesting. Tries to clear black - clips the wire and misses! Black stuns yellow away. Blue is angled, but probably runnable...but Manal plays back in

Blue going for the jaws.. nope - plays to 18 inches straight in front. Black will clear yellow, albeit to a short boundary - I think she can half-ball this to north of the level of the peg.

Chris reckons Ahmed Nasr could get this near corner 2 with a fabulous shot.

Opts to clear trying to have it so yellow can't see blue because of where the red is. But it's open! - if she clears this she can just about get position at hoop 9 also...

Misses. Hammer guy is on.

Soha wins game 1 7-1

update on the plate... red has cleared black up towards hoop 13, however we're still competing for hoop 12, Phyllis has the lead 6-5 - go kiwi! - although Kate is really very nice, and Peter is obviously my hero of the tournament

And they're off!!

Game 2 - Soha leads 1-0

Red plays in - decent position to some applause. There's a stack of people in front of me now, so a bit hard to see, but this shade is sooo nice.

Soha plays black in - it's badly short.

Yellow - in front of hoop 1 - this is a better start from Manal.

Blue has to shoot..

misses. Manal has the first shot at hoop 1

Bowl final... 4-4 in the decider. Maha plays first into position, but isn't in front

Manal shooting at hoop 1... through by about 3 yards. Not ideal, but a great start nonetheless.

Manal leads game 2 1-0

really need to put Soha under pressure.

Great 18 yard clearance from 1 to 2 from Manal. For Manal supporters, the good news is she has got better as each match has progressed.

Soha hits the 9 yarder from the north boundary - balls now well spread. Interestingly, one of the players in the qualifier said "balls should only ever go near boundaries when there is a penalty area continuation". She would be surprised to see high level GC. I'm not sure the balls have been near the boundaries during the Plate final (game one still in progress after 2hrs 48 minutes)

Soha smashes through hoop 2. 1-1

Manal can't get red to h3 and plays a pretty good flick off black to reach somewhere near corner 3

Black takes decent position. Yellow plays up - far too far

I was advised "it's 11.50 and they're [the plate] is on hoop 13". My expert says "it's just diabolical". That is not Chris saying that nor me. That is an unnamed croquet player. But that is a 3 hour game...

Blue plays up well. Red centre-balls black from 8 yards - clearing it by 20 yards - very nice shot by Manal.

It's over!! - Phyllis won the first game "a phenomenally fast hoop 13" apparently - 7-6 to the kiwi

black played back in. Yellow smashes blue in the middle.

Blue plays back in, but black maybe can't clear yellow

red back in front.... black block yellow at blue.

Yellow trying for the double clearance... - only gets black

Blue taking on 2 yard 30 degree hoop... rejection! (didn't do that yesterday either!)

Looks like Manal has a 5 foot 10 degree hoop.

Bounces out. Still 1-1

Yellow taking on a quite angled hoop 3...

Runs it -....and runs hoop 4!!! Manal Koudier leads game 2 3-1

Blue plays in well. Red in front. Soha plays down from hoop 3, and nudges blue slightly straighter. But it's behind blue's clearance at red

Blue can have a go at the hoop - but is very angled. Soha doesn't look thrilled with the hoop - angled, but only about 18 inches. She's playing it gently. Into the jaws, but red has a very easy jump.

Come on Manal

Nope - puts blue through Manal leads 3-2

Black plays up well.

Yellow shooting, as red doesn't have much - misses.

Blue can't get anywhere, so plays up level with the peg.

Red coming up - gently... it's in the jaws!! Time for a Soha jump shot - about 2 yards back

It's a really really nice shot 3-3

Yellow nicely in front of hoop 7... so much so that Soha is shooting with her first ball (well, it is to a short boundary)

Misses.

Red plays through hoop 6 - nothing much she could do - fingers crossed time.

Black shooting ...

Missed another one.

Manal to take the lead again

The plate has now been doing 3hrs 5 minutes and we haven't started game 2 yet. There was a bit of a delay having hoop 5 reset. "Let's face it, you need a bit of restorative tea and cake after three hours of playing croquet". (I'm not naming my source there!)

Manal at hoop 7 - bounces back - might still be runnable.... but Soha has run the hoop from the boundary!! To about halfway down the lawn

Soha leads 4-3

I'm told the Brits are 13 hours behind in their winter. I'll be joining that shortly. Brilliant summer here again

Anyways... yellow's in front, red not really, black in the vicinity - blue shooting - at yellow? - maybe the hoop!!

Probably the hoop, but misses everything.

And it's buzzzzzz.... Sherif's drone is up ahead...what a gorgeous picture!! Alas not enough data to stream it. He has permission from the manager and the players. He's here with his phone - what an amazing view!!

This is a DGI Mavic drone - about $US 800. It can hang up there for 30 mins, and can easily track players. Gorgeous

Meanwhile 4-4!!

Blue has very good position, red plays in front, black plays in, and yellow has to hit this...

It is a bit noisy, but still cool. So many no-fly zones these days though, gotta be careful flying these.

Yellow shooting from boundary from where it ran hoop 8... hits!!

Blue shooting back from the short boundary.... lifts her head... and misses!!

Red clears black, which was in the way - great shot leaves it wired from red.

Black plays back into position. Chris has abandoned me to watch Ellis and Maha

Yellow clears black. Manal looking more relaxed now

The drone has just very sharply ascended - now buzzing from afar as Sherif demonstrates its abilities to Khaled.

Blue clears red, but ends up mid the side boundary. Red back in front

black clearing...misses

Blue now shooting - red is nicely in front

Blue shoots - not that hard - misses - runs the hoop, but doesn't bother red.

Red through - hits it a bit hard really, and it's off the north boundary

Manal leads 5-4

Black plays up, yellow drifts up, but downwind and too far

Blue takes position

Red dribbles in - might have a block there

Black runs hoop 10 5-5

Yellow takes position - it's short - not sure it's runnable.

Black near it - that is clearable.

Red to good position, and Blue has played in - Manal can clear black to corner 2.

Hits it well

Bowl final - looks like we're on hoop 13 there, and Maha has just played a very good clearance - she appears to possibly have blue in the jaws... Ellie misses... yup - Maha has just won the bowl Great tournament from Ellie though

Manal shooting with red at hoop 11 - it's always good to get to 6-5 up.... Manal runs hoop 11 by a foot or two and leads 6-5

Black takes decent position, Manal plays yellow down, but it's level with hoop 12, Blue's not that great - maybe too far across

Not sure what Manal can do here - she can roll red directly in front of hoop 12!!!

Almost in the jaws

Black clears yellow- that's to let blue try to jump red, and then red will have no chance to get to 13

yellow shooting hard.... clears blue!!! Red isn't actually in the jaws - it's in a silly little indentation that i got in yesterday against Soha. That's not runnable I think?

Soha dribbles back.... Manal can run it!!! - Manal wins game 2 7-5!!

The players are taking a bit of a break while Peter visits each hoop. Not just as a tourist either - he has gauges, rubber mallet and a spirit level. Good chap.

Drone is grounded for battery replacement.

Game 3 - the match is tied

Soha plays in well, red and black come in - yellow shoots... misses

Soha runs hoop 1 off the boundary to lead 1-0

Red plays up - bit wide, and not wired from blue.

Black takes good position, yellow is poor

Controlled shot with blue at red - clears it to hoop 5 - nicely done

Red shooting - bounces a bit... misses

Soha runs hoop 2 Soha leads 2-0

Yellow takes decent position slightly past the line of hoop 3

Blue plays in - it has gone too far

Red comes in short, and black is a bit past yellow - not a great set of balls

Manal shooting at hoop 3. bounces out

blue in front, red clears that, black's in, and yellow has put in a blocking ball. Soha never surrenders and is shooting at something - runs another hoop with no wire off the south boundary - that's another 7 yard hoop. I wonder if the Egyptian team will let Soha play in the world championships, I don't think she is in the lineup though, which is a shame

Soha leads 3-0*

Red has approached the hoop to the right. Black comes down with a sort of jump shot as yellow is right behind it.

It looks like yellow has hit the middle of black and moved it closer.

Blue plays in. Red clearing - disaster!! - cleared blue into the middle of yellow!

Black back in front

Yellow shooting... misses

Blue clearing red - stops it to the middle of the near
side boundary

Red shooting at hoop 4...hits the side of the hoop

Soho leads 4-0!!

sorry - clumsy fingers with cake arriving - Soha leads 4-0

Yellow takes good position, but blue clears it

Red takes position, black takes great position, yellow dribbles in and knocks black dead in front - that might be awkward

Blue shooting from the side boundary

blue plays in gently

red clears black

black shooting - yellow is nicely in front

shooting...

misses

Yellow runs hoop 5 - Soha leads 4-1

Yellow is a bit past the line of the peg

Wimpy old shot from Soha leaves yellow an easy clearance and red plays into position - that's awful - it's miles from the hoop and angled

Here's black - decent, but yellow should be able to clear it and maintain position - if yellow is still there.

yellow? - I meant red.

Yellow clears blue off the top boundary. Yellow is now near hoop 7

Blue taking position

Blue takes position, red needs to clear - decent stop shot on black

black plays back - yellow clears - blue plays back - red at hoop 6...red runs hoop 6 very nicely Soha leads 4-2

Black to hoop 7 - it has drifted too far

Decent yellow and blue. red clearing

Misses. black can run the hoop, but it'll clear yellow

Yellow clears blue from across the lawn - c'mon Manal!

Blue pays back in, red back in, black having a gentle go at red - seems to have rolled onto the wire of the hoop - might not be a great outcome for Soha

Yellow clears blue, Blue is back, so is red - so black must be unrunnable

Plays it nicely in front

Plate final: 5-2... if it goes to three they might have to lock the doors themselves - looks like Phyllis is dominating and will take it in two though

blue is cleared, shoots back at red which will have a long tricky jump... hits... Manal will give up on this hoop

Nope - trying to jump from miles and miles away - has a decent go - hits the hoop though

Soha leads 5-2 in game 3 - runs hoop 7 to 3 yards 10 deg in front of hoop 8

There are a zillion people between us and hoop 8 - we'll have to join the action at hoop 9 once someone makes a point

Kate is mounting a comeback - now trails 5-4

Soha leads 6-2

Ma
nal has not got position at hoop 9, and rather than having a go at the hoop she is clearing with yellow. Blue will have a 7 yarder for the game

Blue takes position

red dribbles into its way

black clears gently, yellow clears blue

blue back, red clearing blue - she'll need to halfball this and get both off the boundary

Soha taking on hoop 9 from the boundary with blue... fails it

Yellow tries to clear black - bounces it off the side of the hoop - tries to roll it into the jaws - it's just in front

Manal fails hoop 9

*Soha leads 6-3 after MAnal has made hoop 9, but Soha runs hoop 10

we'll be back to normal coverage in a little -just having a wee break.

Soha leads the match 2-1**

We're on a wee break now

*
Game 4 - Soha leads 2-1*

Sorry - Chris has a stupid keyboard! - mine returning

Game 4: Soha leads 2-1

Manal has taken first position reasonably well, but bounces out of hoop 1. Soha take the first point!!

Soha leads 1-0**

Soha leads 1-0

Buzzy McBuzzBuzz is back in the air. Apparently it has a range of about 4.5 miles!

In the name of journalism, or something, I'm now in a position in full sun where I can see everything - proper commentary resumes from here on

Soha is now dead in front of hoop 2 with blue. red tries to run the hoop to clear it, but misses everything

lack up, but is angled. Yellow jumping from a big distance...

Gets a bit of bounce going, but not high enough, and leaves blue in front of the hoop.

Soha runs hoop 2 and now leads 2-0

Red plays up to hoop 3 - it's about half a second faster in that direction, and she has gone miles past, but straightish.

Soha plays black in well

Yellow takes good position, followed by blue. Red shooting....

Almost gets the miracle shot! - clears black to between hoops 1 and 2, and red hits the leg of hoop 4!

Black coming back.

Black has gone too far, and blue is closer to hoop 3 than yellow, but Manal really needs to run this hoop - both to restore confidence, and because red is stuck to hoop 4

Runs hoop 3 by about 7 yards - well done!! Soha leads 2-1

Blue plays down to hoop 4 quite ball, but is a couple of yards back and slight angle. Red taps right in front, and black comes in deepish.

Manal considering her options - she could take on blue to make it longer, but a partial hit might be worse - shooting at blue...

New plan - shooting at black... misses

Soha should be able to clear this red

Not a perfect result, but does get red to an unrunnable position. Might be able to gently go back to the jaws?

tries to play red back in front, but misses her spot - black has an open hoop - about 2.5 yards back - takes good position!! - I thought she'd show some dominance and run her hoop here

Manal shooting at blue - red is 2 inches dead behind it - doesn't shoot - plays gently at the hoop, and just hits the back of it. Blue can now clear red a million miles away

Opts for 25 yards - but might have left a double, and blue isn't really runnable!

Manal is shooting with red... hits it hard... and clears yellow - close

Soha having the hoop firmed up

Ref walks backwards keeping an eye on things... and it's 3-1 to Soha Mostafa

And yellow had been knocked offside, so is taken to the lefthand penalty area

Manal plays yellow back in - it's a bit deep, but it's straight - decent shot

Meanwhile the plate final is 6-5 to Phyllis Young of NZ over Kate McLoughlin of Australia

Blue and red play back in. Black shooting... - it's a good blue too..

Very poor shot misses yellow by a large distance. Yellow taking on the hoop...about 6 feet back..

Manal runs hoop 5 beautifully!! - it has come out at quite an angle, and it about 4-5 yards from hoop 6. Soha leads 3-2

Blue plays in really tight - from the face of it a good shot, but appears to have given yellow a double with prospects for in-off

Manal plays red up - into the front of the hoop!!!! - great shot!

Black coming in from the left hand side boundary.. nice ball in there.

Yellow now should be able to clear blue to somewhere it can't see much of red...

Lovely shot - takes it half-ball, with yellow going towards corner 2. Blue might have to run the hoop from a long way along the north boundary - she's taking it on - I thought she might concede things and go halfway

Shooting - great to see a player who doesn't give up.

Blue shoots... hits the front of the hoop and bounces off (offside) to hoop 7. 3-3

Black comes in a few yards deep - decent shot by Soha from the east penalty area. Yellow takes good position from corner 2

Sorry, Black was near hoop 6 - blue has played in deep from the penalty spot

Red shooting from the middle of the north boundary...

Hitting this well would be huge in match terms for Manal

Clips it moving it a few yards. Yellow now down near the middle of the left boundary

Black has a 7 yarder back at yellow...

Hits it well. To give you an idea of the power here - yellow is now on the corner 3 side of hoop 3, and black is on the south boundary also past the 3-4 line

Yellow plays back - perfectly in front of the hoop. Very good shot.

Soha shooting with blue from 6 yards at the hoop... looks like she was having a dribble at yellow, which she gently clears - that yellow ball in from Manal was outstanding

A wry expression from Soha as she makes her way down here (I'm near corner 4 where the game is so much more exciting as I can see everything now! - but am getting burnt to a crisp)

Plays black up towards the north boundary, in front of hoop 7

Blue isn't in front, red is but longish, but not as long as black. Yellow plays in front of hoop 7

Meanwhile the plate recently finished, so Phyllis Young has made it a family double taking the Plate, while daughter Dallas Cooke limped comprehensively to a Shield victory. Her knee looks really bad, but hopefully we'll have her back up and running soon - well, walking - she has a former All Blacks doctor looking after her.

Anyways, yellow plays in front, so does blue, I think red tried to block something, but Soha has cleared yellow really well, and Manal concedes the hoop with blue right in front of it -plays yellow to halfway up the lawn.

Soha running hoop 4 from a foot in front - runs it well - watching.. it's quite usefully close to hoop 8, but too angled to run it, or probably even to get into the hoop

Soha leads 4-3 in the 4th game

Red plays in about 3 yards north of blue - that's well in Soha's range - but Soha puts in a poor black which is angled and level with red.

Yellow takes good position - this is to get Soha to clear it and let red have a long go at the hoop

Soha clears yellow gently, and Manal will have a long go at her hoop with red...

Nearly... bounces out. Black now has a free shot from the same distance but a bit of angle.

Nope - dribbles in front. Blue will have a decent line to clear red to so that it can't see the black ball.

Yellow plays in very well in front of black - I think it is fully blocking

Yup - blue clearing yellow - both to the short side boundary - that lets red take black out, and shows how good that yellow ball was.

Manal with now stop black away keeping red in front of the hoop - red jumps a bit as she hits it and is now about 3 yards away from the hoop and at a slight angle - that probably protects it a bit from blue on the side boundary

Black plays back in

yellow comes back in really well again - I can't quite see if black is open, but Soha is shooting at red this time

The Egyptians are very quiet - respectfully not favouring either of their players

Blue clears red over to near hoop 4. Blue is up near corner 3 now!!

Red shooting back...

Black must be open on the hoop.

misses - this is black for a 4-2 lead

My computer screen is getting quite hot, so I might type blind for a bit

oha has the hoop knocked down - it is very wobbly now

It's a free shot at the hoop - slight angle, 3.5 feet..

easy

Soha leads 5-3

Yellow to hoop 9...needs something good to stay in this match. It's quite a good shot

Blue coming back down from corner 3... really good shot into position

Red's now in front - blocked by blue though

Wee break as Manal heads off to the ladies' room.

My phone says it's 24 degrees now, and advises I am in Hastings, Hawke's Bay

While we're waiting for play to resume, I should mention the many many many hours of work done to prepare both venues (and Dannevirke for the qualifier). A LOT of high quality catering has been done - other venues - please take note of what you can achieve and still make some profit from clubhouse fees - you don't need to pocket it all! The sausage rolls have been outstanding. Many hours of time preparing lawns, organising scoreboards, measuring balls, sorting rosters, etc.

Many thanks to the scorers, the referees, management, and all other helpers, including the awesome caterers.

On the referees I really would like to see some ongoing referee education. We recently ran a referee training course in Canterbury and really pushed the following points..

Referees are judged very much on:

1. How they mark balls
2. Where they stand to adjudicate potential faults
3. Their ability to judge questionable shots at hoops
4. Their ability to judge questionable shots for close clearances

The refs here - too many didn't want to put markers down - you've been called as there could be a possible fault - put some markers down for goodness sake in case there is a fault.
If you never fault anyone - think about having a break from refereeing and doing some retraining - we've seen some very clear faults just ignored here!
if you feel you need to be in two places at once to see everything clearly - find a friend - noone thinks less of you if you need to have another referee to watch something.

But if you're marking a ball never, never, never touch the balls - if you find you occasionally brush a ball - get some retraining - NEVER touch the balls.

End of rant, as the players return. Soha leads 5-3

Soha shoots with black... misses.
Big hoop for Manal - she's back a bit, but straight... runs the hoop off the boundary!!

Soha leads 5-3

Soha takes position with blue - it runs on a bit and yellow can see it. Can Manal get close enough with red? ... not really - it's too far back.

Soha plays black up staying back and out of the way of everything. Blue can run the hoop, so the first part of this mission is to clear blue with yellow. Misses!

This blue is a very easy hoop - Soha has the hoop firmed up...

Soha leads 6-3 - that's 4 match points!

Much as I fancied winning this tournament, I did also fancy someone else knocking out Soha - she has been the best player here, and has the advantage at 2-1 up and 6-3 up.

Manal plays red to hoop 11 - great position - not over yet!!!

Dunno about you, but I want to see a decider

Black plays in to good position. I think this is the point where Soha decided that yellow could stay in its offside position in the middle of the south boundary

Blue shooting from north boundary... at red...

Yellow might be partly in the way - no... blue clears red to a few yards in front of hoop 1 - really good really pretty consistent power here - this is setting a great standard

Manal needs to hit this to stay in the championship...

Red shooting... misses.

Soha has a 4-5 foot straight hoop 11 for the championship

Soha Mostafa is the new WCF Women's World Champion - congratulations to a fantastic player

Soha wins game 4 7-4

Raises her arms briefly in celebration and big hug for her opponent

Very impressive tournament from Soha.