News

Sweden won the Tier 2 championship at Sussex County in the six day tournament which ran from 5 to 10th August. They beat Canada in the final 4-0.

In Tier 3, Scotland beat Germany to take the trophy and additionally beat Switzerland to be promoted into Tier 2 with Switzerland taking their place in Tier 3.

The Championship in a few figures: 42 inter-country tests, 237 matches, 575 individual games and more than 4,300 hoops run during the 6 days of the competition. With 11 lawns at our disposal but 12 country teams taking part in two blocks, one half of one test had to sit out in each session of play for the first two days of block play and make up the games later in the event, something we largely managed to do. The competition had one new country taking part - Hong Kong; they were playing in their first tournament and said they thoroughtly enjoyed themselves.

We were fortunate that the weather provided almost perfect conditions for play as the timetable was very tight, with play continuing until dusk on 4 of the six days (and beyond on one day!)

It seemed to be the case that a good proportion of players hadn’t met Quadway hoops before. They struggled initially as many shots bounced back which would have been bullied through on other hoops. The hoops were set to 1/32nd clearance and as we had had an extended dry spell, the ground was very firm by Southwick standards, so that may have contributed to the hoop challenge as much as anything. Whatever the causes, a very high proportion of hoops were strongly contested as players either blobbed the hoop or hesitated to run unless closer to the hoop than usual with the consequent risk of being cleared – and we saw a very high general standard of clearances. It was one of the great excitements of the competition to see players taking on long clearances and not just hitting the ball, but hitting it full centre!

The countries were represented by players of all ages from 80+ to 17 years old. Those of us playing on the UK south coast are more used to seeing a competition of – shall we say – the more mature age group. To see so many young players hitting with skill, strength and confidence made the spectator aware that croquet certainly has a great future as well as a past. I want to pay tribute to all the teams for playing the tournament in a very congenial and enjoyable manner.

Previous contact between Sussex County and photographer David McHugh led to an excellent article about the competition in the Times newspaper, followed by reports on radio and ITV; these were all good publicity for croquet.

The club put on a good show for the event and I have had several emails thanking us for our hospitality, so thanks to all who made it possible.

John Low
Manager

Organising a group photo before play starts

Portugal: Tier 3 Bronze Medalists

Germany: Tier 3 Silver Medalists

Scotland: Tier 3 Champions and winners of promotion to Tier 2

Part of Wales team: Tier 2 Bronze Medalists

Canada: Tier 2 Silver Medalists

Sweden: Tier 2 Champions and winners of promotion to Tier 1

Photos by Ray Hall