Ealing Croquet Club

Competitive Croquet

Whether you’re playing for fun or more seriously, croquet is a competitive game. There are a number of competitions you can enter.

Internal competitions
The club runs several internal competitions for members, covering all levels of experience and ability.

Inter-club competitions and leagues
The club enters a number of these, and members of all abilities are always welcome to play. They’re a great way to get your first taste of competitive croquet. Whether officially designated as friendlies or not, all croquet matches, whilst hard-fought, are played in a spirit of conviviality and sportsmanship. Tea and cake feature prominently.

Tournaments
There is a flourishing tournament schedule from March to October at clubs across the country (and overseas), run by the Croquet Association. Many players get bitten by the bug and become regulars on the circuit!

Competition Achievements

2025 was another successful year for club members.

Club Matches

In CqSE League matches nearly all were played away. Teams generally achieved 50% wins, while the GC Handicap Team achieved 75%.

The GC Tier 3 Bowl semi-final was lost in a close match at Roehampton.

The final of the internal AC Handicap Knockout 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.

2024 was also a successful year for club members:

Sean Doherty won the club internal AC knock-out competition, beating David Graham in the final. Both players went on to compete in the All England AC Final held at Blewbury Croquet Club, in which Sean was the overall winner and 2024 National Champion.

Bridget Goodman had a successful 2024 by winning the Woking GC A-Level Tournament and qualification for the National Final at Budleigh, which unfortunately she was unable to play in due to other commitments. However, Bridget’s D Grade increased to entitle her to play in the Ladies European Championship at Compton in the summer, affording her the opportunity to wear an England shirt for the first time and finishing a creditable 13th out of 32.

Jane Powell won the plate competitions at both the Woking and Phyllis Court GC B-Level National Tournaments.

Simon Turner  won both the Watford AC B-Level (Group B) Tournament and the Roehampton End of Season AC Handicap Tornament.

Margaret Page had a particularly successful year in which she won the Surbiton and East Poole GC C-Level Tournaments (winning all seven games at East Poole), while also finishing second in the GC C-Level National Final.

John Hutchinson won both the Watford and Roehampton GC C-Level Tournaments, reaching the National C-Level Finals.

Simon Tuke was selected to play in the Selector’s Weekend (AC) End of Season Tournament. Simon also finished second in his Class in the Hurlingham May Bank Holiday AC Advanced Tournament and the Roehampton B-Level AC Advanced Tournament, also in May.

Tony Elliott finished 3rd in the Hurlingham Open Handicap One-Ball competition held on 13th October, whilst Margaret Page and Simon Turner each took one of the four equal fifth places. Tony also finished second in his Class at the Hurlingham May Weekend AC Tournament. The club is also fortunate in that Tony is an International Croquet Referee and refereed at the Hurlingham President’s Cup earlier in the year.