Simon Jenkins on the finishing turn during doubles quarterfinals
The 2017 National Championships of Association Croquet are underway at the National Croquet Center. The doubles quarterfinals took up all of day 1, with one match needing the full 8-hour time limit and another match coming close. (The latter match must have had a long lunch break, because they were the last to finish.)
Top seeds Danny Huneycutt and Stephen Morgan advanced with comfortable wins, Morgan tripling in game 2. Stuart Lawrence and Jeff Soo (seeded #2) also advanced in straight games, though without style points. The other matches were upsets, with the last-minute pairing of Wayne Davies and Daniel Pailas surviving 10-9 in game 3 against Chris Patmore and Jim Bast and Mike Taylor and Simon Jenkins prevailing +3 in a game three nail-biter over Brian Cumming and Ian Harshman.