18th WCF Association Croquet World Championship Ends with a Back-and-Forth Thriller
Today’s WCF Association Croquet World Championship final at the Hurlingham Club in London featured a thrilling display of croquet as England’s Robert Fulford battled back from 2-0 to take a 3-2 win over American Matthew Essick by a final of 9-26tp, 9-26tp, 26tp-22, 26tp-0, 26otp-18.
Fulford had the first break in all five games but game three looked relatively bleak for Fulford as Essick set up for a sextuple finish. It did loosen up a bit as the turn progressed, but Essick was looking to end with a straight triple finish before a complication arose at 4B (H10). Essick’s red ball only inched through the hoop after a successful peel of yellow. The hampered location only left yellow as an option for Red and Essick rushed it to the boundary, where he did attempt a peel at penult. It missed left to end up near H1.
With the sextuple now dead, he continued the break through rover and with a contact lift for Fulford put Red into C2, leaving Black West of hoop 1, Yellow level with the peg on the east boundary and Blue into C4.
Fulford picked up blue, took off from red in C2 to set a rush for black to H1. Essick reluctantly put yellow just west of C4. Fulford completed the triple go to the lunch break down 2-1.
In game four, Essick put black three yards southwest of the peg and Fulford went three yards southeast of the peg with yellow. Essick shot gently at black from A Baulk and rolled past about two yards. Fulford took the double from A Baulk and hit blue to begin the first break where he finished after nine with a DSL. Essick missed the lift into C4 and Fulford worked on the finishing triple. He got a bit adventerous at H6 with yellow in a short-distance angled hoop position, but jumped through to press on and even the match 2-2.
The game five decider started with Fulford putting black out as a supershot three yards northwest of hoop 5. Essick went to the east boundary south of peg level about three yards. Fulford shot at yellow from B Baulk and missed to end up about three yards north of C4. Essick missed yellow with red from A Baulk and Fulford used blue to hit yellow at roughly 10 yards to again take the first break of the game. He went around and set a DSL.
Sizing up what was potentially his last shot of the match, Essick lifted the yellow peg ball and took a 22-yarder from B Baulk that missed and ended up just west of C4.
Fulford then started with black rushing blue toward the western red ball for a rush to hoop 1 where he managed the hoop but was not able to get a forward rush. He croqueted red to H3 but his black ball took a bad line to the blue H2 pioneer, which was four yards south of the hoop. He missed the four-yarder and left Essick a lifeline with an 11-yarder — red near H3 at black northeast of H2.
Essick was game and hit in. After a few heroics, the break was on and it soon became clear that he was going to work on a delayed TPO. The TPO was successful and with a contact lift available for Fulford, Essick left yellow in C4 and red in C1 (black three yards west of H5/Rover).
With Black for H2, Fulford opts for yellow in C4 and sends it toward H3 and ends up with a seven-yarder at Red in C1. He attempts the rollup to H2 from C1 and performs and incredible shot that puts black in great hoop position, but as Red gets into the dirt northern boundary it goes about three inches past the line.
Essick hits black with red (eight yards) and the 2v1 game truly begins. After some positioning and Essick taking hoops 1 and 2 with yellow, he gets a two-ball going after H3 and works through the middle (with Black in C2). He gets through H6 and has a three-rush on red after six that he attempts to cut toward black in C2. He misses red.
That leaves Fulford a seven-yarder at yellow from C2. He hits it and it cuts into the court. With red nearby he is able to pull together a three-ball break with a chance to claim game five. He finishes with no real difficulties to claim his sixth WCF AC World Championship title to break the tie with Reg Bamford.
NOTES
The commentary from Andrew Gregory indicated 90 spectators at Hurlingham. At one point, the livestream had 382 viewers, but peak viewership has not yet been reported.
This is the first time that a player hasn’t finished as runner-up in consecutive WCF AC World Championships.
Tom Balding (USA) and Robert Fletcher (AUS) both received bronze medals for reaching the semifinals.
James Death (ENG) defeated Zack Watson (USA) 26-5, 26-9 to win the Shield.
Debbie Lines (ENG) defeated Kyle Maloof (USA) 26tp-0, 26tp-0 to win the Bowl.
Robin Brown (ENG) won the Plate with a 26-22, 26tp-0 win over Nick Parish (ENG).
The Managers Invitational was won by Sandy Greig (IRL) who defeated Joakim Norback (SWE) 26-22.
Brian Cumming (CAN) defeated Stephen Forster (AUS) 26-9 to win the Z event.
The 19th WCF Association Croquet World Championship is set to be held in Florida in October of 2025.
WCF AC WORLD CHAMPIONS
1989 - Joe Hogan
1990 - Robert Fulford
1991 - John Walters
1992 - Robert Fulford
1994 - Robert Fulford
1995 - Chris Clarke
1997 - Robert Fulford
2001 - Reg Bamford
2002 - Robert Fulford
2005 - Reg Bamford
2008 - Chris Clarke
2009 - Reg Bamford
2012 - Reg Bamford
2013 - Robert Fletcher
2016 - Stephen Mulliner
2018 - Paddy Chapman
2020 - Reg Bamford
2023 - Robert Fulford