Sunday's Commentary
16.45
K tries to block but overhits by 2 yards
Y plays 4y N of 12
Can U see anything? Plays to 2 yard angled posi
For the match..................in the jaws...............that should be enough
K misses a tiny smidgeon of R
Y hits R through 12 and wins the third 7-5 for a 3-0 win.
A very popular winner. He's been around for many years, taking a few years away from the game and come back just as good physically and much better psychologically. Congrats on a highly comprehensive win. I'm off to pay my debts.
If you've enjoyed the commentary, let the CA know. Significant resources are put in place and they need to decide whether to continue improving them.
16.41
K has wibbled further through 6, but still not far enough
Y takes 2 ft angled posi, so hopefully K can't hit it
U plays 1ft even more angled E of Y.....can't be good there?
R misses U from 7 yards
K plays 3" in front of the hoop leaving a fairly easy jump for Mark.
Mark turns down the jump because he can clear K off centre and get Y in the jaws...............does exactly that
U fails it's jump shot which was very difficult and peels Mark giving him a 6-5 lead
R takes 2 yard angled posi at 12
16.39
R plays to posi
K wibbles into the front of 6
Y clears U
U plays back to posi
Will R take on a 5ft angled jump? No, clears U
16.32
R takes 5ft posi at 10 not giving a double....good shot
K to 7 ft posi
Y 8ft posi
U will be trying to clear R from 8 yards....................misses
R has a 5 ft hoop to equalise.........K is slightly hampering him..........dribbles it 80% through the hoop
K clears Y, staying in position
Y plays back in very well from the W boundary to 2ft posi
U has a 7 yarder at the ball in the hoop..........needs to nail this off the S boundary................misses
Should Mark run this hoop or just tap it?
I'd be tempted to tap it, but he decides to run it and is 5-5
K takes posi at 11
Y takes angled posi at 11
U is 1ft W of rover.......plays to 5ft posi
Big 7 yard clearance fro Mark R at K. Wibbly clearance hits half ball but only moves it 9 yards.
K decides not to shoot at Y.....it must be more angled than I thought. K plays S of 11
Y clears U maintaining posi
U plays to 2ft posi
16.30
U takes 8ft angled posi at 9.
Mark decides it needs clearing and takes a 9 yarder at it............misses
K plays to 6ft straight posi
Y shoots.............misses
U runs the hoop very well to peg high for a 5-4 lead
16.26
Hisham has just played the sort of clearance that got him here. Nothing flashy, just a 4 yarder that he hit in the middle maintaining posi near the hoop and moving oppo 20 yards.
Mark plays back in............it is going towards the hoop.............it has finished in the jaws. That should be 4-4. Yes, the players play closer to 9. Mark leads 2 games to 0 and it is 4-4 in the third.
16.23
Just as Hisham gets back into the match, he misses a 6 yarder at 7 allowing Mark to close to 3-4 and get Y 6y in front of 8
U takes very good position..has it blocked Y?
R takes eve better position.....good shot
K plays in
Y needs to clear U.....does so
U has an 8 yarder at R which is 2 feet in front of 8.................hits rushing it 4y E of the peg
R misses a 7 yarder at K which is 7ft 15 degree in front of 8. This for 5-3 Hisham......................poor stroke hits the near wire and bounces away
16.21
It looks like Mark has failed to get posi with R, but it might be runnable?. He makes up for it by clearing U with Y centrally from 6 yards. U is shooting at R, so it is runnable........hits
Mark tries to block with R.............fails
Hisham has a 2y angled 6............good shot. He's 4-2 up now
16.18
Y plays to 4y posi
U dribbles into the front of the jaws
R attempst to clear.........hits the wire, but the ball doesn't seem to move
K clears Y to the S boundary
Y plays S of the peg
U runs 5 to 5ft SW of 6. 3-2 Hisham. Could that get him back in this match???
16.15
K tries to clear Y from 6 yards.............misses.........that could spell the beginning of the end
Y tries to clears U from 5 yards..........hits quarter ball rushing it 8y E.
U has an 8yarder at R.........hits half ball and Mark is now in a strong position.
Then he only manages to take 3 yard angled posi........poor
K fails to get posi
Y fails to get posi..............not a good sequence
U dribbles back from 14 yard trying to block R's 3y hoop
R attempst the hoop..............bounces off 12y W................A really bad sequence for Mark who should be 3-2 up now
16.13
U misses R with a hampered swing
Will R clear K or run it's hoop? Takes on the hoop..............no problem.......2-2
K takes 5 ft posi at 5
Y will have to clear this because UR are 1ft apart on the S boundary.................good shot
U plays to 2y posi
R plays to 4ft posi
16.10
Hisham has 2 balls in front of 3, but has given Mark the opportunity to clear from 5 yards and he can rush it so that U blocks K from hitting Y. Hits it, but doesn't get the block.
K clears Y
Y misses from 20 yards
U runs the hoop, but only by 4 feet.........disappointing from 2 feet. Hisham leads 2-1
R takes long (3y) posi at 4
16.07
Good positional shot sees Mark play R to 5ft in front of 3
K plays to 7ft posi
Y plays to3y posi, not blocking
U shoots at R.........snicks it to 2y SW of C3
R clears K, but cannons into Y clearing that as well. Anyones hoop now
16.05
Mark now has an 8 yard clearance.........very good shot rushing it 15 yards away. Y is 2y in front of 2...........K needs to clear.............misses badly
A yarder to go 2-0 up................blobs
U has a 4foot hoop..............1-1
16.02
It is starting to look as if the Egyptians view that the final was played yesterday is correct. Mark has had a really tough draw to reach this stage of the event and it would have been nice to let him try and beat all the top players in the event.
But.......this is GC and it far from over
Hisham now needs to clear from 15 yards to stop Mark going 2-0 up..............good shot
16.00
Mark has hit a couple of 7 yarders, the second of which almost got his ball in the jaws of 1, but it bounced away. He is favourite now though
Mark fails a couple of blocks, allowing Hisham a 4.5 yard attempt at 1...........it finishes in the jaws.
Mark makes an easy jump off the North boundary to take a 1-0 lead
15.57
U takes posi
R clears
K takes very angled posi
Y takes posi
U takes posi
R only flicks his clearance and ends up on the E boundary.
Hisham now has a slight advantage
15.49
As the players take a short break, I can inform you that it is snowing in Christchurch. Past world champion Salah Hassan has just walked past and David Openshaw G.S.C. is sitting next to me.
I'm off for a 5 minute break
15.44
U hits R from 6 yards
R overhits it's positional shot
K has a 7 yard clearance to get back in the hoop............misses
Y Mark runs13 from 7 feet to go 2-0 up
15.41
Y hits K from 15 yards
U takes posi
R hits U from 5 yards
K takes posi
Y hits K from 8 yards
U clears R from 6 yards in the middle
R now taking posi from the W boundary....good shots 8ft straight
K misses a 7 yarder
Y takes posi and Mark now has control
15.37
U to 3y posi
R needs to hit a 9 yarder..........in the middle.
K plays back to 3ft posi
Y clears U from 4 yards, but makes the error of not getting his ball off the lawn
U clears Y 15Y South
R clears K
K takes 6" posi
Y takes 5ft posi
U is trying to block R at K..........hates it
R has a 5 yard clearance on K.........................hits
K has a 10y clearance on Y................hits in the middle
Y has a 7 yard 20 degree hoop shot......................misses the hoop completely. That could be match turning
U moves 2 ft to perfect position and gets some Bravo's
R hits U from 7 yards
K takes 2 ft posi
15.33
K plays to 3ft 45 degree posi
Y hits a 21 yarder from the W boundary rushing both balls off the lawn
U takes posi
R hits it from the S boundary
K overhits it's positional shot
Mark is well in this now
Y takes posi
U clears Y in the middle from 5 yards
R has a 7 yard hoop for a 2-0 lead.........................hits the right hand wire and bounces 1ft NW. Hisham plays a good clearance getiing K 7ft 20 degree posi as well
Y misses from 2o yards
U takes posi
R clears K from 10 yards
K takes 5ft posi, but fails to block Y at U.
Y hits his 7 yarder in the middle
15.31
K clears Y to the E boundary from 7 yards.
Mark now needs to hit U with Y from 14 yards to stay in the game........hits quarter ball
Hisham tries to block R from 12...........fails
R has a 3.5 yard 12............runs it off the boundary........6-6
15.29
Mark tries to block K from 12 and succeeds
K clears R
Y clears U and it is anyones hoop
15.25
Mark shoots from S of 9. It hits the wire and spins back........int the laws and out of the jaws. The crowd GO ahhhhhhhhhhh.
Hisham runs 10 to take a 6-4 lead
R takes posi at 11
K takes long posi
Y tries to block U at R, but fails
U hits Y rather than R
R runs 11 really well to 5ft NW of 12.............a great position
K takes posi allowing R a clearance pointing at C3. All Mark needs to do now is take posi with Yellow. It's awful and finished 5ft E fo 12. That was an opportunity wasted
15.23
I said to Mark last night that the key to winning this match would be consistency and he's just had a very inconsistent 5 minutes
Y takes 3y posi at 9
U misses
R plays to 4y posi
K shoots at Y from 14 yards.............misses
Can Mark run his 3 yard hoop all the way to 10?......................no............he's through, but only by 2feet. Hisham leads 5-4 and has played U to 4ft posi at 10
15.21
Many of us are wondering why the Egyptians are so quiet today. Apparently Amir has said that the "tournament was all over yesterday" and they don't think their guy can win. I think he can, but he'll have to play a lot better than he is at the moment.
Or get Mark to miss 3 yarders, which is what he's just done at 8 to give Hisham a 5-3 lead
15.19
Hisham misses a 7 yard clearance. Mark now has an easy 6 yard clearance pointing south for complete control of 7.............misses
U runs 7 and the Egyptians find their voice.
Some of the spectators think Mark may have hit the boundary wire or the long grass on his backswing
15.17
Mark fails a 7 yard 7. Hisham has control. Mark clears from 7 yards in the middle, then clears from 14 yards to get back in the hoop
15.14
Sorry, that was information from Charles. Either they have played the plate final as a single game or Ben has won 2-0. The Aussie has a flight to catch as far as we know. OK.....I've got the full story now. Van der Touw lost the first and then conceeded the match because he had a flight to catch
Back in the final, Mark has equalised 3-3
15.12
Ben Rothman wins the first game of the plate final
15.07
Mark tries to put in a block not just of K hitting Y, but also of U running 5. He's got the latter but not the former.
14 yard clearance from Hisham....................hits half ball. Mark checks the block.....it looks ok.
Then plays a really poor shot failing to get in position from the s boundary
Hisham clears R with U
R plays to 4 yard posi
K plays to 8ft posi
Y clears U getting posi at 5 as well.....good shot
U now has a 14 yarder at R...........hits it quarter ball off the S boundary
R now has a 9 yard clearance on K....................hits it gently, missing and cutting Y N of the hoop. Hisham runs 5..............that was against the run of play
15.05
U has an 8 yard clearance on R................misses.
K has a 4 yard clearance on K..........gently rushes it not quite off the E boundary.
At long last Hisham hits a shot, clearing Mark from 14 yards. but Mark is still all over this hoop
15.03
U plays to 8ft posi
R can't get near 4 due to K and plays to the E boundary.
K takes 2y posi
Y takes on its 8 yard hoop.................cleanly through...........2-2
U take good posi at 5
R clears from 13 yards in the middle gently
K takes posi
Y takes long posi
14.59
Can Hisham hit his 9 yarder.............misses again.
R fails a 5ft hoop 2
K has a 2 foot 30 degree hoop.........it's through. Hisham leads 2-0
Y plays to 8ft position and now has the chance to run the hoop.................good shot to 8y N of 4. Mark trails 1-2
14.56
Then his third, getting his ball off the s boundary in front of 1
Hisham tries to block R at K and seems to have succeeded because R tries to block K rather than clear K.
K blocks Y from hitting U
Y takes on a 7 yard hoop and hits R
U runs 1 off the boundary. 1-0 Hisham
R takes posi at 2, but I don't think it is wired from U
14.54
Hisham still has two balls in front of 1 and Mark will have to hit a few more 7 yarders to get back into the hoop
Hits his first 7 yarder
Then his second
14.51
That was an interesting game in which Mark hardly hit a shot in anger
Game 2 starts
U plays to 7ft posi
R misses
K to 3y posi
Y hits U
Apparently Tony Hall managed to stop the practicing between games - well done Tony.
14.48
We're up to 150 spectators
Hisham is practicing..................why doesn't Bill Arliis who is 5 yards away stop him????????????
14.45
Because he took his 7 yard clearance with ball 3 to 11, Mark is still all over this hoop. R is 7ft in front of the hoop and U is trying to block from 15 yards away. Fails the block, but gets posi.
R has a 7footer for the first game..................fails. It looks like it has finished just off the right wire
K is shooting at the ball/hoop target from behind 10.............misses. Hisham hasn't found his form of yesterday yet.
Y clears U from 7 yards to C2
U shoots at R..................misses
Mark wins the first 7-4
14.43
Mark tries to promote Y north of 10 but fails.
Hisham runs 10 and it is 4-6
R to 2ft posi
K to 5ft posi
Y clears K.............good.............that's the line of play I'm going on about
U clears R to stay in the first game
14.38
Hisham plays U to 2y posi at 9
Mark tries to clear with R from the E boundary near 3............hits in the middle and both balls go off the s boundary
K to 7ft slightly angled posi
Y looks like it has gone too far
U takes on the hoop from the boundary........bounces off to 6y ENE
R clears K gently in the middle
K plays to 4y posi
Y tries to take 1ft blocking posi but overhits and now has a very angled hoop
U back to posi
R plays off Y to try and block Ks hoop
K tries his 4y hoop..........fails
Y runs a good hoop to 5y SSE of 10 for a 6-3 lead
U plays into the jaws of 10 from 9
14.36
K takes 3y posi
Y is about 2ft away from 7, but possibly too angled
U to 4ft posi
R clears K, but only half ball. Can Y run the hoop? The answer must be yes, because Hisham is shooting.................misses and hits the wire and bounces away. Mrk runs what was, in fact a very easy hoop.
Mark leads 5-3
14.34
Y tries to dribble behind U.....has it finished on the W wire?
U runs 6 to go 3-3
R takes 4ft posi at 7
K takes 7ft posi
Y tries to block U at R............note quite
U misses R and hits Y
R runs 7 to 4y SW of C4
Mark leads 4-3
14.30
R is shooting gently at K...............misses
K fails 6 from4 ft 20 degrees. That will allow Mark to get back in the hoop
Y clears U.
U takes 5ft posi.........good shot and still has the advantage
R tries to clear U gently from 13 yards.............rushes it into the jaws of 6.
Y should give up and play to the N boundary now
14.28
Mark now has a 10 yarder with R at K at 6. Y is nicely in position.............misses
Hisham turns down a tricky hoop and plays good stun take-out on Y,finishing in front of 6
14.24
Y plays 5y S of 5
U clears Y - both balls off the S boundary
R wibbles at 5..............bounces off to 1 ft W of the hoop
K clears R to 3 staying 1y N of 5................not a good place
Y tries to take wired posi from K...........don't think he got it
U to 3ft angles
R back infront
K clears Y to the S boundary
Y has a 10 yarder at U........................fairly gentle take-out send U to W of 6 and Y finishes in the jaws of 5
U hits Y.............good shot
R runs 5 from 2 yards, but only by 2 yards. Mark leads 3-2
14.22
U plays W of 5 wired from Y
R plays to 3 yard angled posi
K to very angled posi wired from Y
14.19
A slight breeze makes Hisham restalk...........well it's not actually a stalk, just a wiggle up to the ball.
Clears Mark in the middle by 15 yards.
Mark misses with R.
K fails its hoop badly
Y runs 4 to make it 2-2
Hisham takes 2 yard posi at 5 with U
R plays to 4ft posi
K clears R - that's good tactics
Y clears U and almost bounces through the hoop, finishing on the wire
14.17
Mark plays Y to 3 feet in front of 2 and after two dribbles by Hisham, Mark equalises 1-1
U plays to 4 ft straight in front of 3
R misses
K to 4 ft angled posi
Y shoots........ misses U and hits K
U runs 3 to an excellent position.............3y E of 4
R plays 4.5 yards in front of 4.
K plays 3y in fron to 4
Y plays 5ft in front of 4
14.13
The final starts and Hisham plays U to 2 yard position...a good start
R hits and both balls fly off the W boundary........very impressive
K plays to 2 yard posi
Y to 3 yard angled posi, blocking R at K
U to deep posi
R tries to block but fails.
K runs the hoop by 2 feet.
1-0 to Hisham
14.10
The crowd is now 120 around lawn 4. More spectators are in the shade of the clubhouse veranda.
Tony Hall pats me on the shoulder and says he never expected me to write something as positive about him. He tells me he will be refereeing games 4 and 5 if it goes that far.
14.08
Mark is wearing white shorts and a green Ireland shirt
Hisham is wearing white longs and white short with a small Egyptian flag on the breast.
Neither is designed by Vivian Westwood
14.04
Hisham starts by practicing short roquets, then tries to take position at hoop 1 from C4. Mark starts by taking position at all the hoops in turn with 2 balls. I would guess that the lawn is playing at 11 Plummers.
14.02
Charles Jones shouts an introduction from the middle of lawn 4. Roger Barnacle is introduced as the referee. I don't know Roger, but he must be a massive improvement on Abdul.
The toss is being made.............Hisham has won.
The players start their practice.
14.00
Well, it's 2pm and the players haven't been introduced or started practicing yet. All I can tell you is that I think Ryan Cabble and Will Gee are the ball boys
13.53
Mark has just walked down between lawns 3 and 4 and for the first time I can remember, a croquet player has received a round of applause as he arrived at the lawn. If this gets close, we might need the Hurlingham Gestapo to keep control!!
Bill Arliss has just walked between the lawns. No round of applause there!
13.44
Today, we have the best weather of the event. I'm sat in the shade and it is still pleasant. In the sun, it is around 23 degrees. There is only 10% cloud cover today and virtually no breeze.
A crowd of 50 is gathered around lawn 4 and I expect that to rise to 150 during the next hour.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see over 200 here. I could be a great atmosphere. Mark is one of the most popular players in the sport and will have even bigger than normal support today.
I never thought I would say this, but I hope Tony Hall is refereeing this game.
13.36
Skills
Shooting long range. Mark is slightly better
Shooting short range (up to 8 yards) Hisham is more reliable
Hoop running. Not a lot to choose. Slight edge to Mark
Tactics. Hisham is better
Power. Big advantage to Mark
Temperament. Not a lot to choose. This is the big difference in Mark from 5 years ago, when he was way too headstrong
Position - not a lot to choose
Jump shots - Big advantage to Mark
I have Mark as a firm favourite, but it is GC and anyone can win. We could play this event 50 times and have 10 different winners. I don't believe that the same would apply at AC.
I certainly don't believe that these two players are the best two in the event and I don't believe that they have played the croquet in the event.
However, all you have to do is beat the person put in front of you on the day - that is the beauty of sport - upsets are always just round the corner.
As usual, readers can write in to me at chrisd4clarke@hotmail.com and give their own views
13.26 As I arrive at the lawns, the club is still buzzing about two people. Regrettably, it is not our two excellent finalists, Mark McInerney and Hisham Aboesbaa, but Abdul Ahmed from Pendle and Bill Arliss from Southwick. There have been very few instances in croquet when officials have altered the likely winner of the event, but yesterdays woeful refereeing decision certainly did that.
Reg was able to take comfort in alcohol and said that "he would be making so much noise during the final, that he might get thrown out of the club". As a non-drinker, I could not find solace in alcohol. Regrettably, I couldn't find it in chocolate either!! In the end, I bought a packet of jelly babies and used my visualisation skills as I chomped their heads off to imagine them as a certain referees.
But enough of yesterday. Today is about finding a new world champion. I'll try and give a breakdown of their relative skills before the match starts.
13.20 Good afternoon from Hurlingham. It may surprise you, but as I arrived at the lawns, we had another massive refereeing incident. It is a match between Ben Rothman and Terry Ericson in the plate. I don't know the full details, but it appears that Abdul Ahmed is once again the guilty party. Ben has just made a request to the ROT that if any future test is made about a ball running a hoop, it is done with the eye and not the piece of string that he says caused a ball to move.
I may find out more details later.
Fortunately, after a 10 minute delay, Ben wins the match 7-5. He will play John van der Touw in the final.
