The 2018 WCF Association Croquet World Championship starts this Saturday in Wellington, NZ. Five clubs are being used and I’ll try to send photos from each of them as the event progresses. There are eight blocks of 10 players with the top four qualifying for the knockout from each block, with ties on wins being broken with play-off games, so net points are irrelevant.
Read More2016 Best of Croquet Network
As 2016 winds down, it's always a great time to look at the most popular articles and pages on the Croquet Network site. The trends always present an interesting look back at the year in our wonderful sport and the popularity of specific pages or articles makes me appreciate the loyal audience that has been cultivated over a near-decade of work. The past year was particularly enjoyable because, we kicked off a small but targeted effort to invest in and produce more original content. It's nice to see some of those pieces in the top 10 for 2016.
Read MoreVideo: 2016 AC Worlds-Two Block Games
Video by Russell Dilley on Day One block play from the 2016 AC Worlds at the National Croquet Center in Wets Palm Beach, Florida. This double banked session features Jenny Clarke (NZ) vs Robert Hurst (USA) in Game One and Matthew Essick (USA) vs Andre Savinovs (Latvia) in Game Two.
Read MoreMorning Coffee: Fletcher Out for ACWC
The 2016 WCF World Association Qualifier started yesterday at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, but the big news is the potential withdraw of reigning World Champion Robert Fletcher from Austalia from the main event. This was reported on the Nottingham Croquet List, but no other information has been made available. A check of Fletcher's block on croquetscores.com does show his name removed and an additional qualifier spot.
Read MoreAC World Finals: Game 1, Clip 1
Simon Hockey Audio Interview
The ABC North and West SA website has posted and audio interview with Simon Hockey who made the final four at the WCF World Association Championship:
Read MoreAC World Finals: Bamford Wins 3-2
World Championship winner Reg Bamford and World Croquet Federation president Amir Naguib. Photo provided by Leo Nikora.ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA -- Reg Bamford survived a 2-1 deficit to come back and win a 3-2 final over Robert Fletcher for his fourth World Championship title. According the commentary, the final was played in dreary conditions, but seemed to have a lively crowd. Scores were as follows in favor of Bamford:
AC World Final: It's Bamford and Fletcher
Is it the dream final? After negotiating block play and surviving the 32-player knockout, we now have #1 Reg Bamford vs #2 Robert Fletcher. Bamford will be looking for a repeat of his 2009 win and his fourth world championship title overall, while young Fletcher will be looking for his first.
AC Worlds Final Four
The WCF World Association Championship marches on as we have now reached the final four. These matches should occur around 6:30 eastern time in the U.S. if I am translating my Australian time converter properly:
Read MoreAC Worlds Elite Eight
The WCF Sweet Sixteen played out yesterday and it looks like there was an upset with Marcus Evans eliminating Robert Fulford 26TP/0, 6/26TP, 26SXP/0, 23/26TP, 1/26QNP. Other results from yesterday's action:
Reg Bamford over Ian Dumerge
Stephen Forster over Miranda Chapman
Simon Hockey over James Death
James Hopgood over Alan Walsh
Robert Fletcher over Harley Watts
Samir Patel over Harps Tahurangi
Marcus Evans over Robert Fulford
Malcom Fletcher over Jenny Clarke
Today's Matches:
Reg Bamford vs Stephen Forster
Simon Hockey vs James Hopgood
Robert Fletcher vs Samir Patel
Malcolm Fletcher vs Marcus Evans