Surbiton Advanced Easter Weekend

[<<] [>>] by Kevin Carter at Surbiton
31 Mar-1 Apr 2002 (AC)

1st (8/10) Robert Fulford
2nd= (5/7) Chris Farthing, Roger Jenkins, David Openshaw

It was always going to happen. Starting a tournament on the first day of British Summer Time was just asking for trouble. Six of the 24 players did not adjust their clocks. Neither did the tea-lady, Dorothy Miller (there you are Dorothy, you always wanted to appear in the same tournament report as Robert Fulford).

However, Patrick Hort's 'triple play' won the most plaudits. Having asked for a late start, he then did not adjust his watch and he was unpunctual. The result was that he arrived just before the bar opened at noon.

The croquet side-show was run as a flexible swiss, with an emphasis on giving players as much play as possible. Helped by the easy, drying conditions, those that wished to take advantage managed to get in nine or ten games. There were 15 TPs and also an SXP by you-know-who.

The overnight leaders were Tim Wilkins, Robert Fulford and Robin Brown. However, during the second day Tim and Robin fell back, leaving Chris Farthing, Roger Jenkins and David Openshaw as Robert's nearest challengers, though Robert was assured of victory by tea-time (on schedule the second day). This was just as well, since he fell to a gritty performance by Paul Castell in the last round.

Format: flexible swiss; 24 players; five lawns, easy going, fine weather. 15 TPs, one SXP