Saturday's Commentary
17.56
Tomorrows final starts at 2pm and will be best of 5 between Mark McInerney and Hisham Aboesbaa. Congrats to both finalists.
That's all from me today.
17.50
Hamish runs 12 and Hisham nudges up behind K.
Hamish should still be able to get to the middle of teh E boundary, which he does.
Hisham plays perfect weight to 13..........it flicks the W wire and finishes 1ft 40 degrees - easy hoop
Hamish is shooting from behind 12.............................hits the W wire and flicks off just missing Y
K is almost wired from Y............looking bad
R plays to 1 yard position..........good shot
K shoots and again hits the hoop..........that should be that
No, Y plays into the jaws
Will U clear R or take on the jump?
Taking on the jump....................misses.
Hisham Aboesbaa is a World Finalist.
17.45
Hisham is on the S boundary and is taking a critical 15 yarder at U.......................hits his partner ball which was 5ft in front of the hoop. He now has 2 offside balls.
Hamish wibbles at the hoop and finishes possibly on the left wire, possibly runnable
R plays behind 12
K plays possibly the perfect shot, nudging U into the front of the jaws and possibly impeding R form getting to 13. Ed tells me it barely passes - maybe Hisham will nudge up behind it?
Anyway, Y plays S of the peg and U is considering where to run 12 to
17.43
Hamish clears R from 9 yards, but it hits 11 and stays nearby.
Amazingly Hisham then misses K from 4 feet
Hamish tries to wibble into the jaws from 4ft 50 degrees.............fails, leaving the hoop open. Right shot, wrong execution
Hisham runs 11 to go 6-5 up.
Hamish takes 3 yard position at 12
17.39
Hamish misses an 8 yarder and its 5-5
RY are both near 10
UK are both on the E boundary
U TO 3 ft position
R to 5 ft position
K attempts to clear R - that's what I told him to do, but not from 14 yards
Y clears U to 4y W of the peg. 10 yard clearance for Hamish............in the middle
Can Hamish get position from the W boundary? .....................................no, poor shot
17.37
Hamish clears from 7 yards - I would have taken position
Hisham refuses to clear and tries to block from near C3
Hamish has an 8ft 20 degree hoop..............hits the near wire and bounces away........that was big.............he's underdog now.
Horrible bagpipes have started warming up in the background.
17.34
U clears R
R now has a 7 yarder on K...........good shot.
K plays back but doesn't get great posi
Y now has a great chance to run a 3 yard 20 degree hoop with R legal near 11. Amazingly turns it down and clears K
17.32
Hamish has a 8y clearance on Y............please don't rush peel it..................great shot cust it to the end of B-Baulk. U is 7 feet in front of 10.........can Y hit? ....................Yes, cuts it to the E boundary going near C4 itself. Hamish needs to hit this 7 centrally...........great shot
17.28
Hamish tries to take out Y with U instead of taking position - an error in my opinion with K 7y S of 9. R plays in and K takes on its 7 yard hoop. Boig shot.................into the wire, but finishes in the middle of the jaws.
Y fails a jump
U clears R to the middle of the E boundary.
R hits the hoop but K only moves 2"
K runs 9 to 9y S of 10
Y plays to 3ft blocking posi at 10
17.25
Hamish needs to take position at 9 with Kfrom 6y W of C2. It's awful and finished 3 yards short...........massive error. Y plays to 3 yard position wired from K. U clears Y from 9 yards. All to play for. 9 is always critical.
17.22
Y plays in as does U.
R then takes 2 ft position but somehow fails to block U from the hoop. K is clearing Y from 5 yards...........only moves it 4 yards. Y clears U. U misses R. 4-4
17.20
Hisham has control at 8. Hamish has a 15 yard clearance...........good shot cuts it 5 yards further north. Y plays back in giving U a potential double clearance.............hits the wrong ball. Hisham has a 4ft hoop 8 to go 4-4..........fails and finishes 6" W of the hoop. K play 3y W of 8
17.17
Y, U and R all take position. Hamish tries an 8 yard clearance on Y...........hits. Y has a 7 yard clearance on U...............hits but only moves it 4 yards North. U has a 5 yard hoop. R has a 2 foot hoop. What to do???? The big deciding point was that K was 6y NW of 8 and onside, so he took the hoop on. It hit the wire of the hoop,bounced back and span through the hoop by 3". 4-3 to Hamish
17.15
Hamish clears R to C4. K is 2 yards in front of 6. Y is is 2 ft in front of 6. Both balls can run. R misses K and Y. K takes on the hoop........big shot..........it's through......3-3
17.12
Excellent position from Hisham at 5 is wired from K which has just run 4. Hamish has to shoot with U..............hits in the middle from 12 yards
Hisham tries to clear U from 4 yards and luckily cuts it to wired position. Hamish plays s of the peg and Hisham takes a 3-2 lead.
17.09
Hisham clears from 6 yards at 4 then Hamish clears from 9. Both shots were centre ball. Hamish has an 8ft hoop 4 to equalise. No, he fails and it bounces back. Another imprtant 7 yard clearance for Hamish.........hits half ball. Can R hit K? Can K run the hoop? The answers are No and Yes and its' 2-2
17.06
Hamish takes on another 7 yard hoop ..................hits the right hand wire and bounces away. Then nails his next clearance in the middle. Hamish tries to clear half ball from 4 yards, but misses. Hisham runs a 2 yard hoop and takes the lead 2-1
17.03
Hamish hits a 7 yarder to stay in the hoop, although as underdog. Hisham then gets his balls too close together and Hamish clears both. Hisham takes position wired from Hamish and the other two balls are 1 ft apart on the N boundary leaving a fairly easy hamper. Hamish is in trouble. Hisham puts in the block...................no...........he's missed it.....Hamish clears R and it's anyones again.
17.01
Another 7 yard clearance from Hisham forces Hamish to hit a 15 yarder, which he does, but only moves it 3 inches. However that's enough to make the hoop unrunnable and Hisham takes position. Hamish takes on a 7 yard hoop........fails
16.59
Another good, if fairly easy, clearance for Hisham. He seems to be able to suck his opponents into short range. Anothr 4 yard clearance, but this time only half ball. Hamish hits his clearance in the middle to gain a small advantage.
16.57
Hamish now has a ball in hoop 3, but it came in from the wrong side.
16.53
Hamish misses a 10 yard clearance at 2 which allow Hisham to level at 1-1 and the fails to take position at 3. He can't afford lapses like that.
16.47
Good start from Hamish - 2 yards in front of 1 with U
R misses
K to 3 yard position
Y misses
U runs 1 to 2y W of 2.
It's coming up to 5pm, but we still have 120 spectators for this match
16.45
Hamish is still waiting for Hisham to reappear.
16.36
Big 9 yard clearance coming up...............misses
Hisham clears K and now Hamish is faced with a 14 yarder to stay in game 1.................misses
Hisham has a 4 foot hoop to take the first 7-5...........it's through.
16.32
Hisham clears Hamish to hoop 2 and has a runnable hoop. Hamish hits his 17 yarder and now should have an easy stop shot take-out. Fails to get enough stop on the strikers ball which goes 4" past 12 giving Hisham a big wired area which he takes advantage of.............no............he's missed it.................that's an error
Hamish clears Y to the W boundary andU goes behind hoop 2. Hisham now has a 14 yard clearance.............misses. Hamish has a 2.5 yard hoop...........fails.........disappointing after a lot of good work. But it's not all over. Hisham turns down a tricky hoop and clears U -that's a mistake in my book. He's given Hamish a 9 yarder pointing at C3 and Hamish plays a good shot into posi with his other ball
16.28
A centre balled 9 yarder gets Hamish back in the hoop. Now, will Hamish clear R or take on a 4 yard 20 degree hoop? He clears R....good shot.
But then he's slightly short on his approach leaving Hisham an easy clearance. Hamish is hampered on clearing R, but plays a good shot.
16.26
Hamish now has a 14 yarder which he would ideaaly rush to C2 going near 13..............hits it on the correct side, but only moves it 4 feet. Just an inch from perfect.
That leaves Hisham all over hoop 12
16.23
Hisham needs to hit a 12 yarder to stay in 11.....................almost centre ball. Hisham is well in this now. Can he jaws Y to 3 yards 50 degrees? No, it bounces off the wire. Hamish fails to take position, possibly leaving Y able to clear him. He's taking on a 5 yard 11............runs it off the S boundary. 6-5 to Hisham
16.21
Hamish runs 10 leaving himslef a rush to 11. Turns down the rush in favour of position then shooting. Overhits hits positional shot, but centre balls the clearance. Great double clearance from Hamish sees the first Kiwi fist of the match.
16.18
6-3 to Hisham. A miss at 10 gives Hamish the chance to close to 4-6. Jawses, probably deliberately.
16.16
6-2 to Hisham.
16.13
Hamish fails a 7 yard 7. Hisham back in control. Hisham takes on a 5 yard 7...........through to in front of 8.......that's a 5-2 lead
16.12
Hamish misses his next 14 yarder and Hisham takes a 4-2 lead. Hisham misses a 7 yarder. Hamish is taking on an 8 foot 7..............fails
16.08
Hamish again fails to clear in the middle, ketting Hisham gain control of 6. Hamish now needs to hit a 14 yarder to get back into the hoop........snicks it cutting to near the peg. Still in trouble.
16.05
Hishams ball is in the front of the jaws of 6. U clears it, but that means R has an easy stop away of K. All still to play for
16.01
Hamish makes it 2-2. Then plays a great centre ball clearance to force Hisham to hit from 16 yards..............hits centre ball. Hisham jawses hoop 5, and Hamish gives up on that and plays for 6. Hisham runs 5 but flicks the peg on the way to 6. Hamish has cleared him, but not in the middle, giving Hisham the advantage
15.58
3. But makes up for it with a good hoop 3 to go 1-2.
15.57
3. Hamish gets to good position at 3 and then when about to run from 4 feet steps back on his partner ball
15.55
2. It is now. Mark McInerney wins the decider 7-4 to eliminate the defending Champ. Well played.
3. The Egyptian hopes now rest on a 60 year old who holds the mallet 12" from the head.
15.53
3. Hisham leads 2-0
2. Mark clears. Ahmed now needs to hit from C2 to hoop 11.................misses and it should be all over.............
15.51
3. Hamish misses a 12 yarder
2. Mark clears. Ahmed now needs to hit an 8 yarder to avoid Mark having a 3 yard hoop...............hits, but only just. Mark has a 5 yard clearance.........in the middle
15.50
Mark has a 7 footer to go 6-4 up..............it's through!
15.45
2. Mark promotes partner in front of 9 and runs a good hoop to take the lead 5-4
3. Hamish fails an 8 foot hoop 2.
15.42
2. Mark misses a 4 yarder. Ahmed makes it 4-4.
3. On lawn 3 we are having a glorified game of pit-pat round hoop 2
15.39
2. Mark has played his way back to even chance for 7 now. Ahmed fails 7 from 5 yards. Mark runs 7 from 3 yards angled by 1 foot.
3. Hisham maintains control at 2
15.34
A missed 7 yarder puts Mark in trouble at 7, but he hits his next clearance and his ball looks like it is 2" NW of 7. Will it run???? He has stalked it at 45 degrees, so it should.................no, he's looking at playing back to block R. No, he's trying the hoop.........fails and bounces out. Ahmed takes position. Mark needs to clear from 13 yards...........misses. Y clear U to the E boundary. A 20 yarder coming up..............hits
3. Hisham and Hamish start. Hamish wins the toss, but Hisham wins the first with a jump over U in 1
15.31
2. Mark does well to stay in contention by running 5 to go 2-3. Then when trying to clear Y from 13 yards, he runs hoop 6 instead to make it 3-3.
15.30
As a gesture of goodwill and a belief in fair play, I will be returning all losing bets on Bamford.
15.28
For those of you interested, I've laid Hisham at 40-1 for the Champs, Mark at 20-1 for the Champs, Ahmed at 7-2 and no-one even asked for a price on Hamish.
15.24
2. Mark seems to have wibbled a ball down near the left hand wire of 4. It looks like it is over 45 degree angle. Ahmed plays to 1 yard position. The other balls play in. Mark has called a ref and is looking at jabbing his ball through the hoop................looks like a mini-flip..........seems to have called a fault on himself.
Ahmed clears K with R leaving Y the easy jump is K misses. That said. I've seen Ahmed miss plenty of these in the past. Runs the hoop to go 3-1 and have great position at 5.
15.21
2. Ahmed gently rushes partner into the jaws of 3. Long range jump for Mark? Yes, but hard/high enough and it bounces on the balls. Ahmed runs 3, but leaves it 8y short of 4. Ahmed leads 2-1
15.15
2. 1-1 in the decider. Mark misses from 2 to 3 and Ahmed dribbles into the jaws. Mark clears from the E boundary.
15.08
Mark wins the second 7-3
14.52
Ahmed had complete control at 6, but Mark is now back in it. A great clearance from Ahmed gets his ball in front of 7, forcing Mark to hit a 7 yarder, which he plays very well.
14.48
2. Mark leads 3-2 in the second, but is game down
14.42
Sorry, I've just been down to see the lawn and try and take a picture of the damage, but you can't actually find the damage. In all my time playing and watching association and golf croquet, this is the worst decision I have ever seen.
I don't want to take anything away from Hisham who played very well, but I thought that the result of the match and possibly the Championship was changed by non-players. Very bad luck to Reg.
Do remember though that the idiot's guide to golf croquet is still available from the CA
14.36
All over 7-5. I'd better not write any more about that.
14.30
It has been called a fault. Bill Arliss (if I overheard correctly) says he can see a very faint straight line on the lawn caused by the mallet. There is no way you would see anything if it was at United. The perfect example of crap rules getting in the way of players playing the game as it should be played.
14.26
As the applause dies down, Hisham appears to be appealing that the lawn has been damaged. Bill Arliss, referee of the tournament has been called. If the damage has been cause by the ball, this will show what a pathetic set of laws we are playing to. This is one of the most important refereeing decisions in the history of the sport
14.24
Hisham plays K on to U but doesn't peel it. The Egyptians still give it lots of Bravvs. 8 yard jump now for Reg. After waiting 5 minutes for his last one, how long will this take?
The answer is 5 seconds as he powers his jump through the hoop for a 6-5 lead - absolutely fantastic. 5-2 down to 6-5 up
14.23
1. Apparently Reg has damaged the lawn. The bucket is out.
14.21
.............he's about 3 yards E of C2 now....................long stalk....................restalks..................150 people are watching..................fails.............has the referee called a fault??
14.19
..............he's still lining it up. Finding that spot in the distance. This is one of his strengths. Wipes his palms on his shorts..............crouching down.................back kneeling on the ground finding his aiming point.........................
14.16
1. Big 9 yarder for Reg...................shooting from the peg with Y at U at 11...................in the middle. But Hisham now has his own 11 yarder U at R............................misses R, hits the hoop, bounces back and hits R and spins forward into the jaws.
Reg has a 30 degree jump from 2 feet.............he should get this............it is a massive shot............
14.14
Great clearance from Reg at 11. Now Hisham has to hit a 14 yarder.............massive shot....................snicks it. Reg now has to hit a 5 yarder..............needs it in the middle...........only hits 1/2 ball and his ball goes near the peg.........not good
14.12
2. Ahmed clears Mark from 11. Mark misses from 20 yards. Game 1 to Ahmed 7-4
1. Reg clears Hisham a bit further and he now needs to hit from 14 yards..............misses. Reg runs 10 gently and is back to 5-5. The crowd are getting into this.
14.10
1. Hisham misses a 7 yarder. Reg clears Hisham, but completely on the wrong side. Hisham now has a 7 yard clearance and Reg's ball is down 6y N of C4. Hisham hits his 7 yarder
2. Ahmed goes 6-4 up
14.08
1. Another crucial 6 yarder for Reg............hits but only half ball.
2. Ahmed is in control of 10
14.03
Hisham now has an imprtant 8 yarder clearance. Hits, but only 1/2 ball. Reg now needs to hit a 12 yarder................good shot
Hisham now needs to hit a 7 yarder ........does so, but critically manages to hit it centre ball. That puts him right back in the hoop.
2. Ahmed leads 5-4
14.01
1. Reg now has a 4 yard 10 or a 2 yard clearance................takes the clearance.
2. Hoop is being reset - it was a bit wonky. Mark then runs 7 from the boundary to go 4-3
13.58
1. Reg has now got a 14 yard clearance from C3 for a great chance to get back to 5-5............misses. Hisham clears Reg's other ball and it is all to play for again.
2. 3-3
13.55
Reg allows Hisham a 6 yard straight attempt at 9 for a 6-3 lead............this is vital..........hands 12" from the mallet head..........restalks............it hits the hoop and finishes in the middle of the jaws. Reg now has a routine jump shot. He uses his normal technique of finding an aiming spot in the distance and jumps it cleanly to C3. 4-5
13.50
1. Reg attempst 9 from 10y W of C4, but fails. Reg now needs to clear from 7 yards.................does so, gently. I think this is one of the problems. Hisham is never being removed 20 yards and so is always getting back into position.
13.48
2. 2-2
1. Reg hits a 14 yarder to stay in hoop 8, then runs a 4 yard hoop to make it 3-5. He's still in this.
13.43
Another centre ball 8yarder sees Hisham put Reg well and truly under the kosh. He has to hit this 9 yarder.................misses
Hisham takes a 5-2 lead and the favourite is almost out. Do I have time to sneak in a Mars bar?
13.42
Reg misses a 14 yarder and Hisham takes a 4-2 lead game up. It looks like Amir can't watch as he wanders up to lawn 4.
13.39
2. Ahmed misses a 5 yard clearance at 1. Mark makes the first hoop.
1. Hisham has 2 balls in front of 6, Reg's balls are several yards away. He's starting to look in trouble.
13.36
2. Mark McInerney wins the toss in his semi-final against Ahmed Nasr
1. Reg has a ball in C4 which isn't good when you are competing for hoop 6.
U is 8ft and angled in front of 6 and Reg is trying to block with Y. Hisham just clears Y to maintain a slight advantage. R is back up near 6 and Reg has escaped a scare.
13.35
Reg misses from 15 yards and it is 3-2 and game up to Hisham. I'm trying to remember who backed him at 40-1 with me.....
13.32
Good shot from Reg gets position which Hisham is blocked by partner from clearing. Reg then clears Hisham to the South boundary. Hisham now has his own 11 yarder to hit - that was good - centre ball and a huge shout of Bravvvvvv greets it.
13.28
Big 9 yard clearnace coming up for Reg............good shot, clears it off the W boundary. Reg is now 3 feet in front of 5, so Hisham needs to hit his 14yarder..............in the middle, very good
Reg now has his own 14 yarder..........hits but only half ball.
Hisham gets control of 5 and once again Reg needs to hit an 11 yarder............hits
13.26
Aboesbaa has just played a good shot back through 9 to block Reg in front of 4. He did it with his hands 12" from the mallet head though. Reg responds by shooting at this ball, missing, hitting the right wire, bouncing onto oppo's ball and then spinning through the hoop to level at 2-2.
13.23
A couple of good shots and Reg is back in reasonable position for hoop 4
13.20
Right then, back live and it's looking like a Snickers ice cream may be my last chocolate until Christmas since Aboesbaa leads 2-1. I would describe his style as a mix of Nelson Morrow and Martin Murray.
He's got control of hoop 4 as well. Reg needs to start playing properly soon
12.58
I'm off to recharge the laptop and get possibly my last bar of chocolate for a few months -I'd better get two!!!!
12.54
Reg clears K hoping top go in-off but doesn't. U is 3y in front of 13 and may be wired from Y..............big trouble for Reg. Runs 10, but doesn't hit it. First game to Aboesbaa and the Egyptians, who had become silent, once again find their voice. Are we going to get a tactical lunch break?
12.52
That was, Reg did have an advanatge until he missed his 4 yarder!!!! Aboesabaa now has 2 ball in front of 13 and Reg clears the first gently from the N boundary, but his ball has finisehd 5y S of 13...........not good
12.49
1. Reg runs 12 to make it 6-6. Hisham take 3.5 yard position. Reg clears from 17 yards. Both players play in front of the hoop. Hisham tries to clear Y and almost rush peels it. Reg clears K. Reg now has a slight advantage.
12.47
1. Hisham runs 11 from the N boundary behind 10 to take a 6-5 lead. I'd better go and get a bar of chocolate whilst I''m still allowed!!
12.44
2. Nezar misses a 6 yard clearance. Hamish plays the perfect clearance of R to the S boundary. I think it is wired from K which is 4 foot in front of 11........misses whatever he could see.
Hamish McIntosh reaches the semi-final of the World Championships. Fantastic and throughly deserved.
12.41
Nezar now needs to clear from 10 yards to stop Hamish having a 4 footer for the match. Excellent shot. Hamish plays U to 18" position. R will be taking on the double of hoop and ball.................hits the middle of the target - the right hand wire. Hamish plays K to 15" position, but offers up the double clearance from the W boundary- he overhits that.
Nezar has a 14 yard to stay in the Championship............nails it clearing both balls, great shot. That has put Nezar right back in it
12.38
A good 9 yard clearance means that Hamish will have a 2 yard 11 for the match if Nezar misses his 14 yard clearance............shoots.........
This for a place in the semi................fails, but has finished blocking Y. You need a bit of luck to win these matches. Y clears K and Hamish is still slight favourite for the hoop
12.35
2. Hamish's next shot fi nishes almsot in contact with K. R tries to jump UK, but fails. K tries to close hamper Y and succeeds. Y can't clear U from 2 foot position and it is 6-4 to Hamish.
12.30
2. Hamish takes deep position at 9. Nezar might be slightly short on his approach. Hamish puts his second ball 4 yards in front of 9. Nezar plays R to 5 foot position from the W boundary - good shot.
Hamish clears Y to 6 with K. Y plays back in. Is U open on the hoop? Or will it clear R? Looks like he's blocked............he's jumping.............its' through with amassive fist. A 5-4 lead.
Excellent positional shot at 10 from Nezar leaves it 4 foot in front. Hamish puts in a great block. Nezar plays Y 2Y E of 10
1. Still competing for 8
12.26
1. Aboesbaa is right in front of 8 and Reg needs to clear from 7 yards W ..............he's taking his time............hits
2. Nezar has just been really unlucky. He's cleared Hamish from 15+ yards and rushed him through 8 to make it 4-4. Can Hamish make the most of his good fortune?
12.22
2. Hamish runs another good hoop to level at 3-3. He clears Nezar from 7, but cannons his own ball away as well. Hamish hits another 7 yarder, but only on the edge and Nezar is taking control of 7. He now has a 2 foot 15 degree hoop.............off the S boundary for a 4-3 lead game down
1. Aboesbaa leads 4-3
12.17
2. Nezar leads 3-1
1 3-3
I've unplugged from the power and have moved down to lawn 2
2. Hamish runs 5 to go 2-3
12.12
Mark takes 1 foot position in front of 12 wired from Rutger. Rutger clears Marks other ball very wellpast 13. Rutgers Y is 4 feet SSW of the peg. Is it open on the hoop - I don't think so..............after multiple casts restalks..............hits the right upright and that should be that
Once again, this talented Irishman gets a medal. Well played to both.
12.09
4. Mark misses a 15 yard clearance and Rutger runs 11, but only by 2 feet. He's in trouble now
2. Nezar has a 5 foot hoop 2............2-0
4. Rutger tries to clear Mark from in front of 12 from 12 yards...............hits, but almost rush peels it. It has bounced 9" to the side of the hoop. Big trouble still. But Mark fails to get position from the N boundary - that might give Rutger a chance.
12.06
4. Mark fails a 3 yard hoop 10....that could be huge. Rutger plays Y back through 3 to 1 foot in front of 10. But it is lawn 4 and it has hilled slightly E as alaways and Mark can just squeeze past it. He's got another 3 yard hoop...............through for a 6-4 lead
2. Nezar runs hoop 1 in the second
4. Mark misses a 6 yard clearance at 11
11.58
4. Apologies about an error on lawn 4. The scoreboard had read 5-3 to Rutger for 10 minutes, but apparently it was 4-4. Mark has now run 9 from in the jaws to go 5-4 and game up with a good position at 10
1. 2-2
2. Hamish runs 12 by 3 feet. Oppo balls are both in bad positions so he's in with a chance at 13
I've started to shiver it's so cold
4. Rutger fails 9 from the boundary
2. Good positional shoot from the middle of the W boundary sees Y finish 8 ft straight in front of 13
Hamish misses from 15 yards
Nezar plays another ball almost off the N boundary
Hamish misses from behind 12
8 foot hoop to take the first..........................fails.............bounces back possibly to 5 foot position.
Hamish has a 7 yard hoop 13 for the game. Through cleanly............."Come on my son!!"
11.55
2. Nezar misses a 12 yard clearance with Y. U now has a 2 yard northward clearance with U on R. How close to 13 can he get U? Too central.........rushes R near C3 which is great, But U is still 3y SE of the peg.
R shoots at K.................misses
1. Aboesbaa leads 2-1
11.52
1. Reg is playing Aboesbaa on the lawn 1 (yes, that's the same lawn Aboesbaa played his last match on). It's a long way away, so I'll focus on the two other matches
2. Hamish hits a 13 yarder to stay alive in 11 but he's still a big underdog
4. Rutger runs 8 for a 5-3 lead but is game down
2. Nezar runs 11 to take a 6-5 lead
11.50
4. Rutger fails 8 fron 8 yards
2. Hamish makes 9 after Nezar misses for the first time in a while and the runs 10 from distance to level at 5-5. Unfortunately, he then misses a 6 yard clearance at 11. this game is being played at a fast pace.
11.47
2. In the blink of an eye Nezar goes from 1-3 to 4-3. He then runs 8 from 15 yards to go 5-3.
4. Mark makes hoop 6 to level at 3-3, but Rutger immediately runs 7 from the boundary to retake the lead
11.44
2. A power clearance at 6 from Nezar not only gets rids of both of Hamish's balls, but gets Nezar in front of 7. Good comeback.
3. Stephen has R nicely in front of 11 and now needs to clear U with Y from 13 yards.............in the middle. Ahmed shooting from the N boundary clears R almost centrally and spins through 11 to take the match 7-3, 7-4
11.42
3. Ahmed clears Stephen. His other ball is 7 feet in front of 11. Will Stephen clear or block. He shoots...............hits to much applause
2. Nezar runs 5 with good control and is unlucky to hit the peg
4. Still competing for 6
11.40
3. Stephen misses a 7 yarder - that could be serious. Ahmed is 2 yards in front of 10 and Stephen is in the middle of the W boundary.........misses
2. Nezar fails hoop 4 from 4 yards. Hamish has a very difficlut hampered flip.....fantastic shot to take a 3-1 lead and a big fist
3. Ahmed goes 6-4 up
11.39
3. Stephen now has an imprtant 7 yarder with Ahmed 4 foot in front of 10..........hits
2. Hamish takes a 2-1 lead
4. Still competing for 6
11.36
2. Nezar is in control of hoop 2. Makes it to go 1-1
3. Ahmed takes a 5-4 lead, but only gets 4yards SSW of 4-b..............not the best place to be
4. Mark fails 6 from 3 yards
11.33
4. A poor positional shot at 6 from Mark goes Rutger a 4 yard clearance south. Out of nowhere, Rutger misses it entirely.
2. Hamish fails a 4 yard hoop 2
3. Ahmed is in the jaws of 9. Stephen is nowhere.
11.30
3.Ahmed fails 9 from 2 foot straight trying to run it with control to 10
4. Mark runs 4 from 5 yards to go 2-2. Mark then misses a 25 yard clearance at 5. Rutger takes a 3-2 lead
11.26
3. Very wisely Stephen plays off the S boundary in front of 9
4. Rutger runs 3 gently from the boundary to take a 2-1 lead
2. Hamish runs hoop 1 to go 1-0 in the first. I can't understand why this is on lawn 2. I may be wrong, but I'm sure Nezar played his previous round on lawn 2 - that's not good.
11.22
4. Mark runs hoop 2 from 3 yards to make it 1-1
3. Stephen tries to put in a block at 8 - didn't like that choice -Ahmed has a position to clear Stephen getting over to 9. Yes....a good shot clears Stephen to the S boundary so he can only see 1/4 of Ahmed in front of 8 and Ahmed now has a ball 1y N of C4. Stephen misses to near C2 and it is now 4-4
11.17
3. Stephen has just done something awful. He was wired from clearing Ahmed with both balls and played to a position where Ahmed could play off him to 7. Absoultely dreadful. He needed to play off the N boundary just onside
Ahmed makes it 3-3 with a ball 2y E of 7.
4. Mark has an easy position for a double clearance at hoop 4. Moves both balls, but not well enough. Rutger has a 3.5 yard hoop 1...............1-0
3. Excellent block from Stephen leaves Ahmed in no mans land. Stephen has an 18" 30 degree hoop 7...........through by 3 yards. U and Y are hampered near the N boundary pointing towards the middle of teh W boundary with Y the southerly ball. Stephen immediately breaks the hamper which I think is correct.
11.15
3. Stephen hits a 1 3 yarder, but Ahmed is still in complete control at 6. Time to start getting your balls better positioned for 7 in my opinion
4. Rutger has the advantage at hoop 1
11.11
3. Stephen makes 5 for a 3-2 lead, game down
My hands are getting really cold, so that gives you an idea that it isn't a perfect summers day
Stephen misses a 5 yarder - he's got his gloves on as usual
2. Nezar and Hamish are warming up. Surely they aren't going to play on lawn 2?
11.07
2. Reg stymies Duncan who now has almsot no shot with Reg 2 foot in front of 10. Duncan does really well to strike the ball..............it's rolling towards 10..........it's going to reach............but the line wrong and Reg makes the QF with a 7-3 win
So that's 3 Egyptians, 2 English, 1 SA, 1 Irish and 1 Kiwi in the QF - a healthy balance. I think 7 of them could win.
11.05
3. Ahmed has an 8footer to go 2-2...........it's through
2. Duncan tries to run 10 from 9.............hits the hoop, but it's almost all over now
4. Mark has an 8footer for the first............it's through 7-5 to Mark
11.04
4. Rutger clears from 15 yards to stay in the game
3. Stephen clears from 11 yards, but the misses from 9
2. Duncan makes 9, but only by 5 feet to go 3-6
11.03
3. Ahmed is all over hoop 4 which he needs to get back to 2-2. Stephens hits another 9 yarder, but then misses a 16 yarder
4. Mark has control at 12
2. Still competing for 9
11.00
3. Excellent dribble into the jaws from 5 yards from Ahmed. Stephen takes on a 6 yard jumo shot and needs to change to Solomon grip. Hits it down the wrong line, but it wouldn't have worked anyway since it bounced too low. This has been a problem all week. The lawns are so so soft and spongey that it is very difficult to clear a ball on the bounce.
4. Rutger back to 5-6
10.57
3. Good 15 yard clearance from Stephen and Ahmed misses his 12 yard clearance. 2-0 to Stephen
2. Reg jumps through 8 to go 6-2 up
4. Rutger runs 9 but Mark takes a 6-4 lead as he runs 10
3. Another 14 yard clearance from Stephen. He's doing everything you could ask of him. Hits another 8 yarder.
10.53
4. Rutger misses a 16 yard clearance and Mark run a 3 yarder to go 5-5 up
2. The fact that Duncan has just shot from the N boundary indicates his ball on the wire is hopeless and with Reg 2 ft straight in front of the hoop, it looks bad for the Kiwi.
3. Stephen runs hoop 1 in the second
10.48
4. Rutger misses a gentle 6 yard clearance leaving Mark with a great chance to clear Rutger off the S boundary with partner in front of 7. If I dare say so, a somewhat wibbly take-out only clears Rutger to 3 yards in front of hoop 5. Rutger attempts to clear.............misses. Those few shots were important.
2. Reg wins 7 to go 5-2, but Duncan wibbles down and is on the wire of 8.
10.44
3. Stephen fails 9 from the boundary
4. Rutger has control at 7
Duncan has made 6 and has a rush to 7. He's doing everything right tactically.
Reg takes 1 ft posi at 7. Duncan rushes K to within 5 feet fo 7
3. Ahmed runs 9 from 2 yards then runs 10 from 9 to take the first game 7-3
10.41
2. Duncan misses a 10 yard clearance. Reg runs 5 from 2.5 yards to go 4-1 up.........I can't see him losing from here.
4. Mark does well to win 6 and level at 3-3, but then misses an 8 yard clearance
2. Very good positional shot at 6 from Duncan. Reg misses from 19 yards and it should be 4-2
10.38
3. This has turned into a shooting contest which is very bad news for Stephen
4. Mark did well to get back into contention for 6, but Rutger has just cleared from 12 yards. Mark clears from 15 yards
3. 5-3 to Ahmed
10.35
4. Mark misses from 20 yards and Rutger runs 5 to 2y W of 6 to take a 3-2 lead
3. Ahmed is taking on 7 from the boundary............Bravo!!! Runs it by 9 yards to go 4-3
2 Reg takes a 3-1 lead
10.32
3. Excellent positional shot at 7 from the E boundary from Stephen. Surprisingly, Ahmed misses from 7 yards, but hits the next one. Stephen still has the advantage
2. Reg leads 2-1
4. 2-2. Rutger hits his 10 yarder after hoop 4 and cannons into the other oppo ball as well knocking both away from the hoop
3. Good gentle take out from 8 yards from Ahmed but he's still massive underdog. Poor stop shot from Stephen allows Ahmed back in the hoop.
10.30
4. Mark clears from 20 yards
2. Duncan rushes to 5 yards straight position.Reg clears from 9 yards
3. Stephen has jsut dribbled onto the wire from 9 yards angled. I think this is good tactics. If you can get near the hoop and force Ahmed to jump, you'll do ok. Unfortunately Stephen then misses a 9 yarder.
2. Duncan needs to clear from 11 yards........misses
3. Ahmed runs 6 to make it 3-3
10.26
3. Ahmed runs 5 to 3 yard in front of 6. Stephens fails 6 from 5
2. Correction on lawn 2. Duncan only jaws hoop 2, but it should be 1-1 soon since Reg is 20 yards away
4. Rutger does well to make it 1-1, but Mark is all over hoop 3
2. Duncan is now 1-1, but has now got a rush to rush 3
4. Mark takes a 2-1 lead
10.22
4. Good 15 yard clearance from Mark. This match is all about who can produce consistency. I'm confident that they will both play well in patches, but how long will the patches be?
Rutger hits back, but Mark still has the advantage
3. Stephen is doing well to still be in hoop 5, but he's still the underdog
2. Duncan looks like he has cleared R to wired from K which in front of 2. Reg runs 7, but fails to hit R. 1-1
10.19
2. Reg is 4 ft in front of hoop 1 and Duncan needs to hit from 25 yards................misses. Reg runs 1 to 5y S of 2
3. Stephen hits from 13 yards to stay in the hunt for 5
4. Mark has control at 1. Rutger needs to hit a 13 yarder through the hoop (about a half ball target)...........rushes it off the S boundary......very good, but to no avail as Mark runs 1 from the boundary
10.15
4. Mark is in the jaws of 1 and Rutger needs to clear from 9 yards.............hits it, but only moves it 2inches.......it's enough to let his other ball try to clear though
2. Reg has just missed a clearance and Duncan is back in hoop 1.
3. I think Stephen has just dribbled through 4 from 12 yards. Ahmed takes good posi at 5 and then clears well........that is good play - I don't know why so few do it.
Stephen clears K with R
Still on hoop 1 in the other 2 games
10.11
Excellent shot from Ahmed who takes 2ft posi at 2, blocking Stephen who subsequently misses his 3 yarder, hitting Ahmeds other ball. Ahmed equalises 1 hoop each
2. Still for hoop 1
4. Still for hoop 1
3. Stephen takes good position at 3 with Y and then blocks most of Ks shot with R...........two good shots. It was Stephens positional play that beat Mahdi and he will need it to be good today if he wants to win.
2. Duncan fails hoop 1 from 7 yards, leaving Reg in full control
3. Stephen goes 2-1 up
10.08
Ahmed fails to clear from 18 yards and Stephen is now 2 foot staright in front of 1.........runs it to 4y SSE of 2
Reg has just failed hoop 1 from 2 yards straight...........wow
10.02
3. Ahmed wins the toss, but only gets 2 yard SE of hoop 1. R plays S of U. K is 2 yards W of hoop1. Y plays to decent position.
Can Ahmed run his hoop and start the match well?
He tries to dribble into the jaws and misses badly
Stephen is attempting a 5 yard 20 degree hoop................fails and bounces away
Doesn't look like being a clean game, so lets see whats happening on lawn 2
2. Reg takes 2.5 yard position with Y
Duncan clears with U....good start
R to 2 yard position
K misses
3. Ahmed has just missed a 6 yarder
09.57
Mark has just arrived and will join Rutger on lawn 4. I think the idea is to play all the QFs on 3 and 4.
09.55
Thanks to everyone who wrote in yesterday. I have asked the manager to publish the plate results, so hopefully they will be up soon. If you want to contact me directly, please email chrisd4clarke@hotmail.com
09.50
The crowd has started to arrive and one of the first seated is William Ormerod - wonderful to have such players come to spectate. I hope he has a more enjoyable day than Martin Murray who arrived on Thursday afternoon to watch the start of the KO only to be told that it had been postponed. His days spectating consisted of watching 5 failed jump shots and being massively overcharged by the Hurlingham bar (don't get me started about this)
3. Ahmed and Stephen are practicing
2. Duncan is practicing
09.42
The matches on at 10.00 should be Ahmed Nasr v Stephen Mulliner and Mark McInerney v Rutger Beijderwellen. Both should be highly competitive. I think Ahmed is a fairly strong favourite in the first, but the second is much closer. I think Rutgers style will work well against Mark and have this as a very evenly matched QF.
In the opposite half, we have a re-run of the QF of the U21 Worlds between Moustafa Nezar and Hamish McIntosh. Last week, Hamish was suffering from the flu, today he has no excuses. I think Nezar is the favourite but expect a close match.
If Reg comes through his decider against Duncan, he will play Aboesbaa. I simply can't see him losing this match (I can see him losing to Duncan though). Therefore, to keep everyone entertained, I will promise to give up chocolate until Christmas if Aboesbaa beats Reg
Saturday
09.35
Good morning from a slightly cool Hurlingham. The breeze is stronger today, but there is still blue sky mixed with light cloud.
Last night saw the second game of Bamford v Dixon. With Rge having won the first 7-1, it didn't look promising for the Kiwi, but he made it to 3-3. Thereafter, Reg made 7, but Duncan got in the jaws of 8. With a 4-3 lead, Reg then attempted an overly aggressive 3 yard jump and rusjed Duncan through and Reg was soon 4-5. Reg made 10 to equalise and cleared well to make himself favourite at 11. Duncan also hit a number of clearance, but was the first to miss making it 6-5 to Reg. Duncan took the game to the deciding hoop and Reg played to 4.5 yard position. Duncan chose to just hit his ball off the N boundary. Reg played another ball in and Duncan missed Reg from 25 yards.
Reg then failed his 4.5 yard hoop and Duncan ran his 7 yard hoop to equalise. The light was becoming an issue (for me anyway) and play was adjourned for the day. They are due to start at 10.00 which means that only 2 of the QFs will start at 10.00
