It was another intense day of croquet as nine players took to the lawns with dreams of advancing one more round at the 2025 AC World Championship at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. By the end of the day, only four players would remain in the Championship event.
While the day featured the quarterfinal rounds, the action started early with one pegged-down match from round two between Ireland’s Andrew Johnston and Mark Avery from England. Avery was up 2-1, but Johnston had the advantage in game four. After Johnston ran into trouble at rover, the game took on some interactivity. Johnston eventually prevailed to win 26-23 to force a fifth game. A time limit was put in place, but it didn’t factor in as Avery took the win 26-15 in the decider to advance for a matchup with Matthew Essick.
In the meantime, two quarterfinal matches were already underway, with Reg Bamford (ZAF) taking on Australia’s Stephen Foster on Court 11, while Ben Rothman (USA) tangled with Logan McCorkindale of New Zealand on Court 7.
Bamford went to work early, taking 26tp-9, 26tp-3, scores for a 2-0 lead before lunch. The match finished first, with Bamford notching a 26tp-0 in the third game, earning his ninth trip to the AC World semifinals round.
Reg Bamford went 3-0 against Stephen Forster to advance to the semifinals
On Court 7, McCorkindale was fearless in piecing together a 26-9 win to open the match. In game two, Rothman again got a clip on 4-back, but once McCorkindale got in, he was able to finish with a triple for a 26tp-9 score. He tripled in game three with a 26tp-0 score to close out the match 3-0.
New Zealand’s Logan McCorkindale in play against Ben Rothman (USA)
With the Avery/Johnston match decided, that opened up Court 6 for Robert Fletcher (AUS) and James Death (ENG), while Essick and Avery got started on Court 3. In the Livestream match, Fletcher went to work after Death stuffed 3-back. Fletcher finished 26tp-8 to get game one. In game two, his NSL saw yellow rock into an open position instead of being hidden by 3-back from A baulk. That led to a defensive leave, which was key as Death did hit yellow from A baulk. The defensive leave paid off as Death ultimately failed Hoop 1. From there, Fletcher took control and eventually finished 26tp-0.
Game three saw Fletcher get the first break and again do an NSL. This one looked good, but Death moved west from the end of A baulk and hit it on the North side of 3 back. He went around and also set an NSL, but Fletcher knicked a ball on the east boundary as he shot down the line from B baulk. The turn had an interesting start as he accidentally peeled yellow through 4 back, but in general, he had no other major difficulties as he finished the triple to close out with 26tp-10 game win and 3-0 match win to advance to the semifinals.
Closing out the day, Essick stood as the last American in the event and Avery represented the last English player. Notably, Essick was a finalist in 2022 and 2023, while Avery was a finalist in the very first event in 1989.
Avery carried over his momentum from the win against Johnston and opened the match with a triple for a score of 26tp-9 to go up 1-0. Essick answered in game two, 26tp-9, which concluded around 2:45 p.m. In game three, Essick was the first around and did a leave similart to an OSL, but put one ball in C4 and the other on the south boundary just east. Avery shot from A Baulk and hit went around and did an NSL. Essick missed east boundary balls from A Baulk and Avery took game three 26tp-9 for a 2-1 lead, with the game ending at about 4:05 p.m.
1989 Semifinalist Mark Avery (ENG) in play against Matthew Essick
Game four saw Essick go around on third turn, and Avery missed on the hit in attempt. Essick started the finishing turn, but stuffed Hoop 3. Avery hit the short shot peeling U through three, then went around and did an OSL. Essick lifted black and hit the C4 ball from A Baulk and went through rover and set a cross-court leave that Avery missed. Essick leveled the match with a 26-9 win.
Game five saw Avery pick up the third turn break and set a three ducks leave. Essick shot from B Baulk and just missed. Avery left no doubt as he efficiently tripled for a 26tp-0 score and 3-2 match win.
So, the last four shapes up to be Bamford versus McCorkindale in the featured livestream match and Avery versus Fletcher on Court 7, with players reporting to the courts at 8:30 a.m.
The Shield: Court 3 (double-banked)
A: Greg Fletcher v. Tom Balding
B: Zack Watson v. Jose Riva
The Bowl: Court 11 (double-banked)
A: Jack Good v. Edmund Fordyce
B: Stephen Mulliner v. Jenny Clarke
The Plate Knockout: Court 4 (double-banked)
Resumption of Quarterfinal #4 and Semifinals.
A: Brian Lozano v. Duncan Reeve
B: Resumption of Debbie Lines v. Gabrielle Higgins
Sherif Abdelwahab v. winner of B to follow on same court.