A GRAND FIRST TOURNAMENT
Saturday 28th September 2024
The Croquet Gods smile on the new Aldershot Traction Bowls and Croquet Club for our first ever Croquet Tournament. The weather is sunny, the clouds few and far between. The lawn looks superb, perfectly prepared by Andy, Bill, and Doug, the “Lawn Lads.”
We all arrive well before 10.00am eager for the competition, bringing oodles of food for the day, and are briefed by Bob. Ten pairs in two Leagues, so we will all play four matches each, with the leading two pairs in each League qualifying for the semi-finals. 45 minutes per match or first to 5 hoops. We all have handicaps so in theory, with bisques, we are evenly matched. Game On!
The early players trace their shots in the dew until the sun dries the lawn. Sweaters are removed as the day heats up, then replaced when the sun disappears behind clouds. Those not playing sit, enjoy the sunshine and the food, watch the matches and applaud the best shots.
League A is fiercely contested, with four ties in ten matches. Peter Adams, our referee, is occasionally called to adjudicate. No pair wins all their matches. Laura/Colin come top with five points, losing to Julie/John and scoring the only whitewash of the day against Angela/Andy. There’s a three way tie for second place between Angela/Andy, Julie/John and Wiz/Watson, so hoop difference decides it. The steadily scoring Wiz/Watson go through to the semis, with 15 hoops Julie/John’s 14. There’s a bit of friendly argy-bargy between Julie and John about who missed the hoops which would have made the difference…
League B is also fiercely contested and, as in League A, no pair wins all their matches. Elaine/Bob and Diana/Brian, the dark horses (but predicted by Bob to go far), qualify with three wins each. Elaine/Bob run 19 hoops in total, the highest of the day, and Diana/Brian run 11 hoops, the second lowest of the day, which just shows that preventing your opponents from running hoops is as important as running them.
The semi- finals are Wiz/Watson vs. Elaine/Bob, and Laura/Colin vs. Diana/Brian and are played first to 7. Those of us on the sidelines are naturally rooting for the pair that beat them. But it is both teams from League B who triumph: the final is between Elaine/Bob and Diana/Brian.
The final is an exciting, storybook climax to a wonderful day. The higher handicapped Diana/Brian storm into an early, commanding 5-1 lead over Elaine/Bob, hardly using any of their bisques. Game over? Not a bit of it. 5-1 soon becomes 5-5, then Elaine/Bob pull ahead to 6-5. Will it go to the Golden Hoop? Diana’s ball is poised to run the hoop, Bob’s ball close behind. Jump shot? Bob shapes up and executes it perfectly to win the match and the tournament with Elaine!
Some super photographs, taken by Angela Walker, can be seen by clicking here
Well played everybody! Thanks to all for entering and making it such a good day. A massive thank you to Bob for organising it, to Peter for refereeing, to Elaine for overseeing the food, to Angela for the photographs and to the “Lawn Lads” for all the work they did to make the lawn perfect.
A successful first season for the Club topped off by a successful tournament.
Andy W/1st October 2024