Club

Croquet

Wrest Park

GC C level tournament 24 May

report by Richard Keighley

In a final featuring two players from Leighton-Linslade, John Watson (7) beat David Thompson (7) by 7-2.

On a perfect day for croquet, the field of 16 players had admired the avenue of glorious horse chestnut trees and the immaculate lawns before knuckling down to the competition of playing in blocks for the morning session.

In Blocks A and B, Colin Carr (Ashby) and Nigel Wulcko (Camerton/Peasdown) won all three games to proceed to the knockout. They were joined by Paul Rockall (Gainsborough) with two wins and a rather fortunate David Thompson who had a solitary win but a superior hoop count to Patrick Richardson (Wrest Park) and only prevailed over Celia Frost (Northampton) on a who-beat-who basis.  

In Block C, both Andrew Jackson (Guildford) and John Watson had two wins. Nick Boxall (Wrest Park) topped Block D with three wins and was joined by Alistair Broom (Phyllis Court) with two wins.

Fortunes changed sharply in the quarter-finals. David beat Colin 7-3 and Andrew beat Nick 7-4 to eliminate two of the block winners. John Watson beat Alistair 7-4 and Nigel Wulcko maintained his excellent form to beat Paul Rockall 7-5. In the semi -finals David raised his game again to beat Andrew 7-4 and Nigel succumbed to the improved positional play of John who won 7-3.

David won the first hoop in the final but found that he could not withstand the relentless pressure of his clubmate John who won 7-2. Andrew beat Nigel 7-6 in the playoff for 3rd and 4th places.

The Plate knockout produced a closely contested final between Carol Jamieson (Blewbury) and Tim Barzychi (Pinchbeck), which Tim won 7-5. It only remained for Manager, Les Heard to present the prizes and to thank both Andrew and Brian Jamieson for kindly acting as referees for the tournament.

Runner-up David Thompson with winner John Watson (in cap).

© Wrest Park Croquet Club