Photo by Jeff Soo -- " Stephen Mulliner, England’s colors on his jersey and flying in the background, pegs out to win his semi-final match against top seed and four-time champion Reg Bamford."
LIVESTREAM OF THE FINAL:
livestream.com/accounts/18489438/events/5205737
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA -- It was a stunning day of action at the 2016 WCF World Croquet Championship yesterday at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. American David Maloof continued his drive to the final with a 3-1 win over David Maugham (ENG). Maugham got the first game with triple, but Maloof took over from there and once the momentum swung it seemed all go his way. He joins Ben Rothman as the only US player to reach the AC World Final.
In the other semifinal, the script seemed to be going according to plan as Reg Bamford (ZAF) jumped out 2-0 and offered up a bit of shock and awe with a sextuple in game one. Stephen Mulliner then took game three with a 26tp-6 score. Ho-hum, right? Even the guys on ESPN probably know that Bamford isn't going to be denied with just one win to and three opportunities. But then, Mulliner followed with is own sextuple in game four and all of the sudden we're in game five and the murmors started to roll throughout the NCC.
Once the action in game five started and Mulliner was in, the historic comeback seemed inevitable. Sherif Abdelwahab kicked on the Livestream and personally, I was able to pop that view up onto my living room 37" HD TV in the living room and watch croquet history from Kansas City. Mulliner did finish 26tp-0 in that last game and advanced 3-2 on what turned out to be a thrilling day of croquet action.
SCORELINES:
Maloof defeats Maugham: 13-26tp, 26tp-1, 26tp-22, 26tp-1
Mulliner defeats Bamford: 0-26sxp, 13-26, 26tp-6, 26sxp-0, 26tp-0
TODAYS COMMENTARY:
croquetscores.com/2016/ac/wcf-world-championship/commentaries/7649