Ealing Croquet Club

Ealing Croquet Club had another successful year, both in club competitions and individual achievements in tournaments.

Club Matches

In our CqSE League matches nearly all were played away, for which we owe thanks to the opposing clubs. Teams generally achieved 50% wins, while the GC Handicap Team achieved 75%.

We lost the GC Tier 3 Bowl semi-final in a close match at Roehampton.

The final of our internal AC Handicap Knockout, was played on 30th September and was won by John Hutchinson.

Individual achievements

Our individual competitors in recent national finals have done very well.

Margaret Page finished 2nd in the All England AC Handicap Final.

In the All England GC Handicap Final, Margaret Page finished 3rd, John Hutchinson 5th and Simon Turner 6^th, meaning Ealing had an impressive 3 of the top 6 players. Richard Barkey also won 9 of his 15 matches in the GC (B) Level final.

Richard Barkey also won the B-Level Series GC tournament at Ealing and Tim Vernon won the Ealing C-Level Series Tournament.

John Hutchinson also won the Hussars Cup at Roehampton in their end of season AC handicap Tournament.

Simon Tuke won his block in the Hurlingham AC Advanced May Weekend with 6 wins out of 7, with Stephen Harbron placed second.

Tony Elliott won the Watford One-Day AC (Handicap Advanced) tournament, and the B/C class at the main annual AC tournaments at both Hurlingham and Nottingham. Tony Elliott also came second in the Surbiton Easter Handicap AC Tournament on overall percentage wins in a flexible Swiss format.

Simon Turner won the AC August Handicap at East Dorset and the AC Annual Tournament (B class) at Sussex County.

In the Hurlingham Midweek Veterans Advanced Handicap Singles Tournament held over 3 days from 2nd to 4th September Tony Elliott came second, despite having the same number of wins as the overall winner, but missing out on quality of wins. Margaret Page also came second at Hurlingham in the same event.

Photographs:

Top: Margaret Page & Tony Elliott at Hurlingham

Bottom Left: Stephen Harbron & Simon Tuke at Hurlingham

Bottom Right: Tony Elliott at Nottingham 

The club pavilion now sports a new croquet themed weathervane designed by club member David Graham and sponsored by Christine Mason in memory of her father. Read more about it and the themes used in its design in the article published in the Croquet Gazette:

Simon Tuke has been awarded a Croquet England Diploma in recognition of his services to Ealing Croquet Club, presented at the club AGM.

Ealing Croquet Club hosted the CqSE Short Croquet Teams Handicap Tournament on Sunday 29 June. The Tournament Manager was Tony Elliott.

The competition comprised four teams of four players each: Ealing; High Wycombe; Guildford & Godalming; Reigate Priory.

Short Croquet is played on half lawns and the winner is the first to run six hoops and peg-out with both balls. However, a time limit of 1¼ hours per game meant that the winner simply had to have run the most hoops on time. The rules are otherwise the same as for Association Croquet (with the exception that wiring your opponents from each other concedes a lift).

The format comprised a total of three rubbers in which each team played one doubles and two singles games against each of the other teams. This resulted in each team being positioned in order of their number of games won overall. The final order was then determined by a 3rd/4th play-off and a 1st/2nd final.

The games were played in very hot conditions, but at least competitors could find a shady spot to sit out when their opponent was on the lawn; a mixed blessing. There was a welcome break for an excellent lunch, organised by Margaret Page.

The teams were generally well matched, with High Wycombe having the lowest overall team handicap, although not necessarily an advantage when up against higher handicaps with more bisques, due to only having to run six hoops.

Reigate Priory were in the strongest position after three rubbers, followed by Ealing and High Wycombe on an equal number of points, so it was on the basis of who beat who that Ealing and Reigate Priory played each other in the final, which Ealing won 3-0. The full results can be seen here.

However, regardless of the heat, everyone seems to have had a very enjoyable day and we look forward to inviting them back next year.

Report: David Graham

Photograph: Roger Mayhew, John Hutchison, Margaret Page and David Graham holding the trophy under the new weathervane.

Ealing Croquet Club was the venue for 3 days of CqE GC National Series Tournaments comprising: C-Level (7+) played on Wednesday 11th June, B-Level (4+) on Thursday 12^th June and D Level (10+) on Saturday 14^th June.

The results can be viewed on www.croquetscores.com.

There were 10 players from Ealing overall: Richard Barkey, John Hutchinson, Tony Elliott, Margaret Page (B-Level); Tim Vernon, Jonathan Rann, Gwynneth Hopper (C-Level); Tim Vernon, Anthonia Chalmers, Tom Hartwell, Christine Mason (D-Level).

Richard Barkey won the B Level on Thursday with John Hutchinson losing in the semi-final, but gaining 3rd place in the play-off.

Tim Vernon won the C-Level on Wednesday with Jonathan Rann losing in the semi-final to gain 3rd place in the play-off.

Tim Vernon was also runner-up in the D-Level on Saturday.

The results meant that Ealing players won two of the competitions, came second in one and third twice, not a bad return overall.

The competitions were managed by Simon Turner (Ealing) and the weather was warm and mainly dry, with the greens running fast due to the dry conditions over recent weeks.

As can be seen from the pictures, wearing whites was optional for the C-D Level competitions, as the club likes to encourage as wide a participation as possible amongst players that may not play competitively on a regular basis.

Report: David Graham

Simon Turner & Richard Barkey. John Hutchison & Richard Barkey. Tim Vernon & Jonathan Rann. Tim Vernon

Photographs showing the C-Level Tournament held on Wednesday 11th.

Photographs: David Graham

Simon Turner and Margaret Page (pictured) won the AC Doubles Handicap Tournament at Roehampton in spectacular style on 17-18 May, with each player receiving a trophy.

Simon also played in The Trevelyan Bowl AC Singles Handicap on 21-22 May at Roehampton and came joint second with four out of five wins.

Ealing won the LLoyd-Pratt Mallet in their friendly against High Wycombe on 9th April in a hard fought match that ended with a penalty shoot-out (again!). See the full report by Tony Elliott here.

There were 14 players gathered on a glorious Spring Sunday for Ealing’s heat of this year’s Charity One-Ball Competition. Andy Dibben’s excellent Flexible Swiss Excel programme was used to run the tournament, which meant the leisurely arrival of competitors during the morning presented no problems, with the computer scheduling games as and when everyone was ready. (The only slight hiccup came when the manager’s better half attempted to enter a result, causing a degree of meltdown from both man and machine.)

Players could play as few or as many games as they wished, with two enthusiasts clocking up 5. The clear winner was Margaret Page with 4 wins out of 4. Martin Blackmore was second with 3 out of 3, and Sean Doherty third with 3 out of 4.

It was good to see adherents of both AC and GC playing and prospering. In particular Luis declared that he had got the hang of it, pleaded for another game, and proceeded to thrash the manager with all four of his bisques standing.

Everyone’s generosity meant that we raised an impressive £170 (plus Gift Aid) for this year’s designated charity, the Alzheimer’s Society. This gave us two places in the National Final at Surbiton on May 17th. Margaret and Martin are unavailable, which means that Fred Overton-White (who tied with Simon Tuke on 3 out of 5) and Sean will be our representatives.

Many thanks to everyone for making it such an enjoyable day. We even tucked into unseasonal mince pies and Christmas cake.

Report: Simon Tuke

Photograph: Lindy Jordan

Congratulations to Margaret Page for winning the Sussex County GC B Level Tournament Plate on 26 April with impressive wins in each of the knockout rounds.