After a little bit of jumping around, Croquet Network is back on blogger. The site just didn't merit the pay model over on squarespace. Expect posting to start flowing again soon.
World Championships Down to Sweet Sixteen
Ben Rothman is the last American standing in the WCF World Championships in West Palm Beach, Florida. Today, he'll be taking on #2 Robert Fulford from England. The sixteen that remain:
Chris Clarke | England | #1
Robert Fulford | England | #2
Reg Bamford | South Africa | #4
Rutger Beijderwellen | Netherlands | #5
Stephen Mulliner | England | #6
Ian Lines | England | #9
David Maugham | England | #10
Stephen Forster | Australia | #11
John Gibbons | England | #12
Robert Fletcher | Australia | #13
Ed Duckworth | England | #19
Ben Rothman | United States | #20
James Death | England | #27
Leo McBride | Canada | #36
Bruce Fleming | Australia | #41
Chris Farthing | England | #59
World Championship Block Standings Through May 10
| World Croquet 2009 -Block A | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Duncan Dixon (NZ) | 3 | 1 |
| Ed Duckworth (ENG) | 3 | 2 |
| James Death (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Chris Clarke (ENG) | 2 | 4 |
| James Le Moignan (JER) | 2 | 5 |
| Ron Lloyd (USA) | 1 | 6 |
| Tim Murphy (AUS) | 1 | 7 |
| Johnny Osborn (USA) | 1 | 8 |
| Martin Murray (SCO) | 0 | 9 |
| Allan Morris (BEL) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block B | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Robert Fulford (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Jim Bast (USA) | 3 | 2 |
| Kevin Beard (AUS) | 3 | 3 |
| Jonathan Kirby (SCO) | 2 | 4 |
| David Openshaw (ENG) | 2 | 5 |
| Tony Le Moignan (JER) | 1 | 6 |
| Trevor Herin (USA) | 1 | 7 |
| Jerry Guest (ENG) | 0 | 8 |
| Evan Newell (IRE) | 0 | 9 |
| Koji Moriyama (JAP) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block C | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Stephen Mulliner (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Robert Fletcher (AUS) | 3 | 2 |
| Peter Trimmer (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Leo McBride (CAN) | 2 | 4 |
| David Walters (WALES) | 2 | 5 |
| Ken Bald (AUS) | 1 | 6 |
| Anthony Ritchie (NZ) | 1 | 7 |
| Charlie Gillmarten (USA) | 1 | 8 |
| Chris Farthing (ENG) | 0 | 9 |
| Peter Just (USA) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block D | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Mark Avery (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Paul Billings (USA) | 3 | 2 |
| Samir Patel (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Rutger Beijderwellen (NETH) | 2 | 4 |
| Phillip Drew (NZ) | 1 | 5 |
| Dick Knapp (USA) | 1 | 6 |
| Mark Prater (AUS) | 1 | 7 |
| Carole Jackson (SA) | 1 | 8 |
| Simon Watkins (AUS) | 1 | 9 |
| Jose Alvarez-Sala (SPAIN) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block E | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Jamie Burch (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Reg Bamford (SA) | 3 | 2 |
| Robert Lowe (NZ) | 2 | 3 |
| Danny Huneycutt (USA) | 2 | 4 |
| Malcolm Fletcher (AUS) | 2 | 5 |
| Rich Lamm (USA) | 2 | 6 |
| Brian Storey (ENG) | 1 | 7 |
| Ed Cunnigham (IRE) | 0 | 8 |
| James Hopgood (SCO) | 0 | 9 |
| Debbie Cornelius (ENG) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block F | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| David Maugham (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| David Bent (USA) | 2 | 2 |
| Colin Irwin (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Stephen Forster (AUS) | 2 | 4 |
| Roger Jenkins (ENG) | 2 | 5 |
| Bruce Fleming (AUS) | 2 | 6 |
| Ian Burridge (WALES) | 1 | 7 |
| Anton Varnas (SWE) | 1 | 8 |
| Bob Cherry (USA) | 0 | 9 |
| Kevin Wells (IOMAN) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block G | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| Stuart Lawrence (USA) | 2 | 1 |
| Liz Fleming (AUS) | 2 | 2 |
| Ian Lines (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Brian Cumming (CAN) | 2 | 4 |
| Marcus Evans (ENG) | 2 | 5 |
| Damon Bidencope (USA) | 2 | 6 |
| Bruno Hess (GER) | 1 | 7 |
| Juan Ojeda (SPAIN) | 1 | 8 |
| Paul Bennett (USA) | 1 | 9 |
| Andrew Winn (ENG) | 0 | 10 |
| World Croquet 2009 -Block H | ||
| Players | Wins | Place |
| John Gibbons (ENG) | 3 | 1 |
| Aiken Hakes (NZ) | 3 | 2 |
| Keith Aiton (SCO) | 2 | 3 |
| Chris Patmore (ENG) | 2 | 4 |
| Greg Fletcher (AUS) | 2 | 5 |
| Doug Grimsley (USA) | 1 | 6 |
| Chris Williams (WALES) | 1 | 7 |
| Ben Rothman (USA) | 1 | 8 |
| Andres de Diego (SPAIN) | 0 | 9 |
| Paul Emmett (CAN) | 0 | 10 |
TOP FOUR ADVANCE TO KNOCKOUT FROM EACH BLOCK
April Photo of the Month
Flickr CC / markymarko
USCA Nine-Wicket 2008 Recap Video
Golf Croquet Tourney Highlights
Letchworth Croquet Club Strawberry Tea event. Starting about 2:30 you get some great low-angle shots from the ground.
Croquet in the 90's
Here's a great story from New Zealand on a couple in their 90's (90 & 91) playing in a 76-and-over tournament. I tell this to friends all of the time. Croquet is a sport you can play the rest of your life:
Parkville, MO Field in the KC Star
Nine Wicket National Championship Results
Matt Baird sets up during the USCA 9-Wicket Doubles Championship
Baird and Parsells Claim National Title
Matt Baird and Art Parsells capped off a fantastic three days of croquet by surviving a final run by Reid Fleming to claim the 2008 USCA Doubles National Championship early Sunday afternoon in Shawnee, Kansas. With time expired, Fleming had to run out from wicket #5 to the final stake on his last turn in order to snatch away the title from Parsells and Baird. Fortunately, Fleming's partner Bob Kroeger set him up for a three-ball break. Fleming worked the break all the way to #12 but got caught in the jaws on the wicket shot.
In other action, Brad Clouse claimed the national title in the Cutthroat (six-ball singles) division on Saturday. On Friday, George Cochran claimed the title in the singles Championship flight.
The event was hosted by the Missouri Croquet Association and ran pretty much on schedule and featured three straight days of perfect weather. Plans are already in place for the 2009 event.
9-Wicket Coverage on KC TV
The FOX affiliate here in Kansas City did an interview with Matt Griffith at his court in Parkville, MO regarding the upcoming National Tournament in Shawnee: