CHAMPION FINISHES WITH 15 STRAIGHT TRIPLES

South Africa’s Reg Bamford entered Sunday’s WCF Association Croquet World Championship final against England’s Mark Avery riding a 12-game triple-peel streak. But after just 45 minutes of play in Game 1 at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, that run looked in serious jeopardy. Avery had seized the first break and was closing in on a triple of his own, with Peelee in the jaws of rover as he approached 3B with a standard hoop shot. The ball stuck and that turn ended with just four hoops to go for a potential 1-0 lead.

Mark Avery getting ready to jawz blue at rover in Game One

Bamford seized the court and built a successful first break and set a reverse DSL with blue as the peg ball in a non-rushable position to one. Avery lifted blue and shot from B Baulk but missed, opening up a triple opportunity. Bamford obliged and ran the triple with precision to snatch game one 26tp-19.

In game two, the players switched colors and Bamford took the standard position on the east boundary, but very tight (less than a foot), while Avery had gone near C2 with yellow. His shot from A Baulk missed and Bamford started the first break of game two and set a DSL that Avery failed to hit. Bamford finished for a 26tp-0 score and a 2-0 lead.

EVENT LINKS

GAME 1 VIDEO
GAMES 2 & 3 VIDEO
CHAMPIONSHIP KNOCKOUT
SHIELD
BOWL
PLATE KNOCKOUT

Game three saw Avery get back in the action as he hit his partner on the standard east boundary opening position with black on third turn and took off to red in C2 where he got a rush on red that went to the west boundary near C1. His croquet shot left black a bit short and angled for Hoop 1. He took it on but the ball rejected leaving a nice target for Bamford from A Baulk.

Bamford picked up the easy break, ran it around and set his preferred DSL. Avery lifted the western ball and shot from A Baulk and missed the boundary red ball just to the left. There was a bit of a discussion about the placement of blue, but once that was settled, Bamford set off on a match-winning triple attempt with red. He got the 4B and Penult peels as planned and did have an angled hoop shot at 3B that looked a bit tricky, but he smoothed it through easily. He had a hoop-and-roquet moment at Penult on black that meant he would only have the blue ball as a safety valve at rover, but yellow’s position was close enough to the hoop to make it manageable. He navigated the peel and hoop with no issues. His four-yard peg out from the east successfully put both balls into the peg and he offered his traditional tip of the cap to the appreciative crowd on covered porch of the NCC. The 3-0 victory extended his triple-peel streak to 15 games and capped a flawless 14-0 knockout run to claim the title of 2025 WCF AC World Champion.

A Historic Sixth Title

The victory cements Bamford’s place alongside Robert Fulford as a six-time AC World Champion and extends his overall world title count to eight when including his two golf croquet crowns. He has now won World Championship titles in the following years: 2001 (AC), 2005 (AC), 2009 (AC), 2012 (AC), 2013 (GC), 2017 (GC), 2020 (AC) and 2025 (AC).

For Mark Avery, the result caps a remarkable resurgence. Thirty-six years after reaching the final of the inaugural AC World Championship in 1989, he returned to the grand stage with a superb run that included a memorable five-game semifinal win over world No. 1 Robert Fletcher, which was preceded by hard-fought five-game matches in rounds two and three against Andrew Johnston and Matthew Essick. Though denied the title, Avery’s outstanding performance entertained fans across the world.