Clark: Old Holes vs New Holes #06

The knockout started with 10 matches at Kelburn and six at Wellington. Regrettably, only three of the five lawns at Kelburn had new hoop holes and this made the matches played vary considerably. On the two lawns with old hoop holes, there were several one-sided games and six triples. On the three lawns with new hoop holes, there were several close games, no triples and some long matches. It is a shame that such failures occur in World Championships.
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Soo: Block H Entertains at Kelburn #05

Two pegged-down games from Block H provided the morning's entertainment for a small group of idle tournament players and other spectators at Kelburn. Samir Patel (ENG) had won the block on 8/9. Jim Nicholls (AUS), with six wins, resumed with Sam Murray (SCO), on five wins. Stuart Lawrence (USA) and Andy Myers (ENG), each on five wins, were the other pegged-down game. With Greg Fletcher (AUS) at 6/9, a Murray win would create a four-way tie for second place and hence a two-round playoff. Lawrence won his game +25, taking advantage of a wrong hoop run by Myers. Now he and Fletcher became Nicholls's biggest fans.
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Soo: Moberly Surprises in G Block #04

Waikanae is an especially attractive venue on the Kapiti Coast, about an hour NNE of Wellington. There are five lawns, one of which is newer and faster than the rest, and about which Simon Hockey was in raptures after a fifth-turn (I think) +26tp he played there. Hockey (AUS), the top seed in block G and therefore the #7 seed in the event (pre-tournament world ranking #15), finished with 7/9 for a share of first place in the block. He lost to Aiken Hakes (NZ) after a Hakes TPO and a two-ball finish. Earlier in the game Hakes had broken down at 1b, and on the peeling turn he also peeled partner to 2b, and then pegged off both rovers. In the two-ball ending, each player scored five hoops.
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Soo: Plimmerton is Tops For Challenging Conditions #02

The tournament opened with fine weather: mostly sunny and moderately breezy all day. With ground still damp from the recent rain, the notorious Atkins hoops are quite easy to run, up to a moderate angle. Conditions are most challenging at Plimmerton, with extreme variation in pace and significant slopes. Unsurprisingly, this is where games have been longest, and three games are pegged down.
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