[<<] [>>] by Ray Mounfield at Ashby Croquet Club
1 Jul 2012 (GC)

Players from Ripon Spa, Nottingham, Leicester, Bury St Edmunds and Edgbaston joined Ashby club members to contest the second National Forest GC Tournament. Handicaps ranged from 0 to 8.
Despite recent extreme weather conditions, the three courts were all in excellent condition, fast and generally true.
Play began in two blocks of 8, all play all, leading to semi-finals between Tim King and Rachel Rowe and Ray Mounfield and Arthur Rowe. Both matches were closely fought, resulting in a father versus daughter final. Could this be a "first" for an Open Croquet event?
In the final, Arthur took the first game but Rachel put up a strong response, winning the next two games and the National Forest Shield.
Other players competed in two consolation blocks with Richard Thompson topping the "Headers" and David Crawford the "Footers".
David Bell did very well in his first tournament and a special prize was awarded to Penny Matthews for playing in an event she had initially thought was a "B" Class!

Results

Block "A"

1st R Rowe 6 wins,
2nd R Mounfield 6 wins
3rd D Bell 5 wins
4th M O'Brian 5 wins
5th E Buxton 2 wins
6th R Sanville 2 wins
7th V Harding 1 win
8th D Pepler 1 win

Block "B"

1st A Rowe 6 wins
2nd T King 6 wins,
3rd R Thompson 5 wins
4th C Mounfield 4 wins
5th D Buxton 3 wins
6th D Crawford 2 wins
7th Gill Brent 2 wins,
8th P Mathews 0 wins

Semi-Finals

R Rowe v T King 7-5 , 7-6
A Rowe v R Mounfield5-7, 7-5, 7-4

Final

R Rowe v A Rowe 5-7, 7-3, 7-4

3RD/4TH Play Off

T King v R Mounfield 7-6