Don’t try this at Hurlingham: the red trouser brigade pokes a bit of fun at Keith Aiton’s sense of style. Photo by Eileen Soo.Player report from Jeff Soo:Day One of the British Opens at the Cheltenham Croquet Club was a short day with a single round of the main doubles knockout. Most of the top-ranked teams had fairly easy matches, but a couple of matches were especially competitive. Jeff Dawson (England) and David Walters (Wales) bested Ben Rothman (USA) and Gavin Carter (Jersey) with two triples by Dawson.
James Hopgood and Sam Murray (Scotland) did likewise against Mark Avery and Jack “Wixy” Wicks (England), Hopgood completing both triples. Matthew Essick and Robert Hurst survived a game one loss to win the only three-game match of the day, each player completing a triple. The doubles knockout continues with the quarterfinals (and one remaining match from the round of 16) on Sunday.