Dumergue (Aus) v Grimsley (USA)
Submitted by Admin on Fri, 13/08/2010 - 22:50 +0100
Please use this link to get to the end of the commentary.
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Dumergue (Aus) v Grimsley (USA)
Submitted by Admin on Fri, 13/08/2010 - 22:50 +0100
Please use this link to get to the end of the commentary. |
(c) 2010 The Croquet Association
Late strat on Lawn 4, so this commentary is being relayed from Tony Hall who is refereeing out there.
K and B Doug Grimsley, USA
R and Y Ian Dumergue, Australia
T2. R to 12 yards N of I.
T3. B hits K from A baulk, takes off to R, puts it 1 yard W
of the peg and leaves a 2 yard rush for B directly at the
peg.
T4. Ian shoots at R with Y from A baulk, shortest shot,
just clips it to 2 ft W of the peg, takes off to opponents
balls.
T4 continued, Ian playing with Y.
of 1, croquet stroke to 18 inches directly in front. Makes
1 with no forward rush, puts U to 3 yards E of 4 and gets a
good rush on K to R, rushes it to 2 and is away on the first
break.
Ian continues T4 with Y:
take-off, leaving U 18 inches from 2 shielded from B baulk
by that hoop. he leaves K shielded fro A baulk by 4,
rushable to 1. R is 10 yards N of IV woith a rush on Y to
2.
boundary is proving difficult.
croquet stroke and runs 1 with a rush to the middle of the S
boundary. He puts Y to half-way between 3 and 4, hits K and
does the "Hogan roll", putting K past 3 nearly to the N
boundary and getting a good rush on U to 2. Has a bad
approach but runs 2 with a fearsome powered stroke that
staggers through to give a rush down to Y. Despite what
appeared to be a good rush on Y to K he hits it to three
yards S of 3, ready for the peel, takes off to K and rushes
it to 3 but mis-approaches to leave a 1 ft 45 degree shot
which he makes. He puts Y on the left wire of 4b, puts K to
5 and makes 4 off U but with no rush N. A long roll from 8
yards N of IV puts U between 4b and 6 and R has a four yard
roquet on Y which rebounds to a good position in front of
4b. After 5 he has another long roll, putting his R past 4b
and nearly wiring himself from Y. He hits Y to five feet at
about 25 degrees. The attempted peel fails, coming off the
left wire to 3 yards WNW of 4b. He has a good rush to 6 and
after that hoop rushes U to 3 yards W of III. K is
positioned 4 yards E and 1 yard N of 1b, in a good position
for him to attempt the 4b peel after 6 but although he puts
an excellent pioneer down to 2b his rush of Y to 4b is short
and he leaves it 1 yard W of 4b.
after 2b, with K at 4b as the pioneer for 3b. Taking off to
U at 2b, he has a 2 inch hoop stroke and a rush to the
middle of the E boundary.
Ian continues T6 with Y.
approaches to 4 ft. He runs 3b to 5 yards S of 4b, hits U
to the N boundary, puts it to 3 yards E of penult and rushes
Y to level with 3b. He does a good stop-shot to put Y a
yard E of penult and gates a rush on K to 4b, which he runs
to the boundary with power.
He rushes Y to 15 inches at 20 degrees to penult and sets
up for the Irish peel, giving me plenty of time to write
this commentary.
puts U to 1 yard SW of rover and rushes K to 6 yards S of
rover, getting an excellent rush on Y which he puts 4 ft
straight in front, just missing the W wire of rover. The
peel goes through and R is left 9 inches in front.
Second Game started at 2:00pm.
R and Y Ian Dumergue
U and K Doug Grimsley
left.
of opponents balls, just on the court, hits K to 4 yards W
of E boundary, peg high and takes off to B. Attempts the
roll to 1, short and joins three yards to E of R near II.
to approach 1 and re-joins Y.
peg and hits, makes 9 without incident.
Doug continues T7 and makes his leave, with R 3 1/2 yards
from W boundary, 15 yards S of N boundary, Y 18 inches W of
the peg, wired from R and B having a rush on K on the E
boundary, 10 yards N of IV.
nearest the peg, hitting it to 2 1/2 yards N of U. He puts
K out two yards and rushes U to E of Y, putting it to 2 with
a cut rush on Y to 1. He makes 1 with a rush to K, near the
E boundary. He now has his first break reasonably secure.
Erv Peterson, manager of the US team, just emerged from the
shrubbery. Sorry, I missed another two US players behind
some shrubs at the other end of the court.
imaginary RSM, between 3 and 4. His pioneers have become
precise.
yard NE of K. He makes 5 off U and sends it to 3/1/2 yards
ESE of 1, gently rushing K to a wired position 3 yards ENE
of 1. This is to be a 1b leave. He rushes Y to and makes 6,
and rushes Y to near III, leaving a rush for Y towards 2. R
is open to B and Y to K.
T10. Ian roquets K, puts it 5 yards NE of 6 and rushes R to
the W boundary about a yard N and 3 yards from U. R is put
to 2 yards NE of 1 and U rushed to a yard in front of 1.
The approach is over-hit to the right, so he scatters R to
half way up the E boundary, Y going to the N boundary 5
yards E of II. Disaster?
1, but N of it. Ian remarks as he leaves the shelter "Very
cheeky".
S boundary. That makes an easy start for Y with his second
break but of course he only made 6 hoops with his first
break, so will he try the sextuple or a NZ tpo? Or just a
break of 9?
Ian continues T10 with Y.
it to 3 and pass rolls, sending R to 3 (for the tpo of K)
going to U at 2. After 2 he sends U to 3 yards N of 4 and
sets up for the peel at 4b.
rushed to III, sent to 6 and K rush-peeled to the N
boundary. He aims K at 6 to stop it and achieves the
pass-roll perfectly, hitting 6 with K and Y with a dead rush
on R to 5 from a short distance. He now has both K and U at
6. After 5, he rushes R to 2 1/2 yards past 1b, takes off
to the balls at 6, makes the hoop and the peel, and rushes U
to the N boundary.
Ian continues T10 with Y.
a pass-roll on the way to U at 2b. After 2b he sends U to
short of a good position at 4b but gets a good rush on K to
peeling position at rover. The peel ... bounces off to 1 ft
in front of rover. He approaches 3b to only about 4 ft and
sticks in it.
while before hitting it centre ball to the E boundary. He
sends R to t 2 1/2 yards E of 1 and calls the referee (me!)
before smashing Y through 3b, sending it to 2 before laying
up on the E boundary, giving U a rush to 2.
Y on 4b
R on 2b
K on rover, and
U on 1.
the left by about three inches. Doug should finish from
here.
both low and high. We are reduced to one spectator, Nigel
Graves, two officials, Colin Irwin and myself and the two
players.
T13. Doug makes a simple 4-ball break with U from 1 to 5,
sets up for the rover peel, calls the referee to watch the
approach stroke because Y was close and only jawses K.
After 2b he again calls the referee to watch his rush-peel
of rover and finishes, 26-16 or, in the preferred
terminology, +10.
Third Game.
U and K Dumergue
3 and 4.
hits it, takes off for rush on U to 1. He cuts U to 4 yards
in front of 1, makes 1 with a rush towards corner 1, gets
his rush to 2 while putting U to 3, and is away with a
3-ball break. But, aha, he fails to get a rush to 3 and has
a 5 1/2 yard approach from behind 3 which does not get
position. He checks that R is behind 4 from the end of A
baulk and sends Y to the E boundary opposite 4 and only 5
yards from R.
baulk, missing U but hitting R. He puts R to 4 yards NE of
4, hits Y to the E boundary and puts it to 2 with a good
rush on U to 1. Unfortunately he rushes to the S boundary
11 yards E of I, but approaches 1 with precision and has his
4-ball break.
Ian continues T4 with K.
hoops 2, 3 and 4.
long. A cool breeze is coming from the North and we are
down to three strangers and the faithful Nigel Graves as
spectators. But wait, Stephen Forster has just arrived to
support Ian, and I see there may be a couple of others
concealed in the bushes at the far end.
roqueted ball was in contact with the left-hand wire and
there may have been unintended reactions. It turns out to
be a courtesy only and he continues on to make hoops 6 and
1b. He leaves R 2 ft SW of 1b, makes 2b and 3b and sets up
for his leave which has Y at 4 and R at 2. U has a rush on
K at 2 from the E boundary, 10 yards N of IV.
not sensible. He tries both sides then goes to B baulk.
Now he's at A baulk. Now... he's standing thinking... ...
... he walks to the peg ... he's back checking the sweep
stroke ... now ... (at last!) he lifts R to A baulk, shoots
and ... hits the edge of Y, which must have been a double
with K on its right.
K on 4b
Y on 3
U and R on 1.
the E boundary 10 yards S of U, sends K to 4, getting a rush
on U to Y near 2. That was close to the edge. He's away on
his 4-ball break.
Doug continues T5 with R.
We have just 5 spectators and bright sun throwing deep
shadows. (I wonder for how long?)
at the peg. From near 5 he croquets K inside the yard line
peg high, going to U, which he leaves 1 ft W of the peg. Y
is left with a rush on R pointing due E, peg high.
drink of water and banana before lifting U (as we all knew
he would). But he shoots at R and Y from the end of B baulk,
instead of from corner I as we expected. He may be wary of
the W boundary. He misses between the balls.
R and K on 4b,
Y on 3 and
U on 1.
boundary, a yard N of K and gets a rush to 3, putting R
towards 4. He fails - badly - to get in front of 3 from
about 3 yards S of 3 (exactly what he did at that hoop
earlier). He retires to a position 3 yards NW of IV, about
7 yards from R which is 2 yards NE of 4. He leaves K in
front of 4b as the rain starts in earnest.
and 2 to applause from the increased number of spectators.
However the rain is now sending them away. He takes off to
R and rushes it to the E boundary NE of Y. With a little
croquet stroke he tries to get a rush on Y to penult while
sending R out a little. R finishes 4 yards N of IV. Y is
rushed to the boundary 15 yards S of III. He takes off to U
but fails to get a rush and sets up peg high 3 yards and 5
yards from the boundary, with a rush for U towards the peg.
N boundary 1 ft E of II. It is now raining heavily and
spectators are crowding into the shelter.
T10. Ian waits for the rain to abate somewhat, plays U and
and tries to cut K to R near IV. Or did he mean to cut it
to 1? In any case the cut is extremely fine and K is 3
yards N of 1. He takes off to 1 and makes it with no
forward rush.
croquet stroke puts Y to 1 1/2 yards SE of 3 and he sets up
guarding the W boundary from a shot at K by Y.
is easing, although both players are still wearing their
waterproofs.
T12. Ian makes 2 off U, rushes to 3 and misapproaches to
about a foot at 45 degrees. With a mighty smash he sends
his ball about 9 inches though with a rush S. He sends U to
5 and using the two enemy balls near IV is away on his
second break.
far enough, leaving it S of penult. R goes to 1b, he makes
6 off Y and sends it to 2b, rushing K to position in front
of penult, taking off to R at 1b. After 1b he sends R to 3
yards NW of 3b, putting K in front of penult. A good
"death-peel" sends K through penult by 3 yards and gives U a
rush on Y to 2b. Y is sent to 4b and he rushes K to 4 yards
NE of rover. The attempted peel or jawsing bounces off to 1
yard W of rover. He makes 3b and places R at penult while
rushing K to E of rover. The take-off to Y at 4b leaves K 2
ft E of rover.
other matches at Roehampton are complete. The rain has
ceased (almost).
Ian continues T12 with Y.
penult off R and rushes and croquets R to 6 yards S of
rover. He rushes Y to a yard E of K and puts K a foot
directly in front of rover. The Irish peel is clean and he
finishes, 26tp - 11, or as preferred, +15tp.
and applause from the 30 or so spectators.