[<<] [>>] by David Openshaw
26th June 2001 (World Championship)

Index

• Welcome and general information
• Details of the venues
• Schedule
• Laws, Regulations and Refereeing
• Additional Conditions for Blocks

Welcome and General Information

Welcome to the Lincoln WCF World Croquet Championships London 2001 and to the British Opens 2001

On behalf of the WCF and the CA I would like to welcome you to the World Championships.

This year's event is very much a players' event. The CA has organised the event with the aim of providing more players than usual with the opportunity of playing in the World Championship. One of our aims was to provide places for any of the top fifty players in the world who wanted to play. This we have achieved.

We also wanted to provide additional places for both British players and overseas players. This is why we planned for a tournament with 80 players. In fact there was a very high demand for places. The CA responded to this by providing a qualifying competition with three places in the main event available. This enabled over ninety-five players to compete in the competition

The organisers of this event are primarily drawn from players in the tournament together with Nigel and Janet from the CA office and the Tournament Manager Richard Hilditch.

We are very pleased that four clubs have agreed to host the event. Please remember to respect the rules of each of the clubs at which you play.

I would like to bring to your attention a number of points which are important for you to understand and which might be different from the way previous World Championships and other tournaments in which you have played have been organised.

No practice is allowed on the lawns prior to the morning matches. Practice may be allowed after a player has finished his games for the day with the Tournament Manager's permission.

Referees will usually be other players from the tournament.

All players must wear white clothing. Exceptions are made for rainwear.

There will be eight seeds for the knockout stage of the competition. These will be the eight highest ranked players who are in the top two places in their block (this includes a position of equal first or second).

Overseas competitors in the knockout stage will be separated from players from the same country in the draw.

No leave is allowed at any stage of the competition

We intend to hold a players' briefing at the Barbecue at Surbiton Croquet Club on Sunday 1 July at 7pm, where any questions you may have will be answered.

I hope you have a very enjoyable tournament

David Openshaw Event Director

Disciplinary Committee

All players are expected to abide by the rules of the host clubs, to be ready to play when required, and to play in a sporting and courteous manner. The Tournament Manager (Richard Hilditch) will normally deal with these issues. However a Disciplinary Committee consisting of Richard Hilditch, David Openshaw, Colin Irwin, and Ian Vincent will consider any continuing or gross violations of behaviour and have the power as a last resort to ban a player from the tournament.

Reporting Results

The winner of each game is responsible for reporting the result of each match to the Tournament Manager or his nominated assistant. The Tournament Manager will be based at Hurlingham. Nominated assistants will be in place at the other three venues.

A fuller version of this players pack will be available in printed form on the first Friday of the event.

Details of the Venues for the Lincoln WCF World Croquet Championships

All the venues are in the South West of London. If you visit the website www.streetmap.co.uk you can download maps. Click on the club name to get to a map direct.

Players will play all their matches in any one day at a single venue, but may be playing at different venues each day. It is planned to provide transport each morning for those who require it from Hurlingham to Roehampton and Surbiton.

Hurlingham Club, Ranelagh Gardens, London SW6

By public transport go by underground on the District Line (Wimbledon Branch) to Putney Bridge Station. Turn left on exiting the station then immediately left again under the railway bridge. The Hurlingham Club is 5 minutes walk at the end of this road. The Croquet Association Office is located within the Hurlingham Club (Tel 020 7736 3148)

Parsons Green Club, Broomhouse Lane Fulham London SW6

Players will be able to get to the Parsons Green Club directly from Hurlingham Club.

Roehampton Club, Roehampton Lane, London SW15

Roehampton is about 10 minutes drive from Hurlingham. By public transport there is a bus (number 265) from Putney Bridge station, which goes along Roehampton Lane past the club. Alternatively there are British Rail trains from London Waterloo to Barnes; the station is about 5 minutes walk from the club.

Surbiton Croquet Club, Alexandra Drive, Surbiton

Surbiton is further out of London than the other three clubs, about a half-hour drive from Hurlingham (depending on time of day). There is no underground line near Surbiton. There is a British Rail Station at Surbiton about 15 minutes walk from the club. The bus number 265 from Putney Bridge, which passes Roehampton, terminates at Tolworth, about 5 minutes walk from the club along King Charles Rd.

The Lincoln WCF World Championship and British Open Championship Tournament Schedule

Of course factors outside our control like the weather could cause variations from the above.

Laws, Regulations and Refereeing for the World Championships

1. Introduction
2. Referees
3. Tournament Referee, Deputies and Appeals
4. Strokes to be watched
5. Adjustment of Equipment
6. Impasses
7. Lateness
8. Summary

Introduction

The World Championships will be played under the 6th Edition of the Laws of Association Croquet, dated September, 2000, interpreted in accordance with the May, 2001 edition of the ORLC. As it is being played in the UK, the tournament regulations applicable will be those published in the CA Fixture Book. (They are also available on the web on the Oxford site). The following paragraphs highlight a few areas where these, or local refereeing customs, may differ from those familiar to overseas visitors.

Referees

It is not the normal practice in this country to have referees either permanently in charge of a game or assigned to one or more lawns. Instead, qualified players or spectators are expected to act as Referees when required. All UK Championship Referees, and any overseas players qualified to officiate in their own championships, are hereby appointed as Referees for this purpose; if none are available, or in plate events, anyone with refereeing qualifications may do so.

If you need a Referee, you should initially signal for one by raising your mallet vertically, head uppermost. If that fails to attract a response, it may be necessary to go in search of one, particularly if you are on an isolated lawn. If all you need is an umpire, to adjudicate whether a ball hits another (or causes it to move or shake) or the peg, or whether a ball has run its hoop or is in position to do so, or is on or off the court, then raise your mallet horizontally.

Tournament Referee, Deputies and Appeals

I have been appointed Tournament Referee (or, as the post if commonly known in this country, Referee of the Tournament or ROT), and can thus be appealed to on questions of law, or decisions under Law 55, but not of fact. Since the tournament is being played at multiple venues, I will endeavor to appoint deputy ROTs to hear appeals where or when I am not available, whose identity can be found from the local Manager. There will be no appeal from decisions of Deputy ROTs when so acting.

Strokes to be Watched

Pegouts are not normally watched, unless being attempted from a considerable distance. On the other hand, you should ask for an umpire to watch where balls go off the lawn if their precise position is likely to be significant (usually if a cannon may result).

Adjustment of Equipment

Tournament Regulation R2(h) overrides Laws 3(a)(3) and 3(b)(3) in that it distinguishes between resetting hoops or pegs following a material change to their alignment (possibly caused by double bankers or vigorous shots), which can be requested by either player, and other cases, where adjustment can only be requested by the striker and balls will be moved if necessary so that he gains no advantage. Note that under Law 35(b), a replay will only be allowed after a ball or hoop are found to be defective if the ball actually ends jammed in the hoop. At Hurlingham, any adjustment to hoops will be made by the groundstaff, which may result in some delay.

Impasses

There is deliberately no detailed procedure for dealing with impasses, as to publish one might risk encouraging a player to engineer an impass if he thought he might benefit from it, whereas uncertainty as to the outcome might dissuade him. If, however, your game reaches a state in which no discernible progress is being made by either side then you should request a Referee to exercise the discretion given under Law 53(f).

Lateness

This event is being run to a tight schedule and out of courtesy both to opponents and the manager you are asked to ensure that you are on court and ready to play at the appointed time. The manager has power to impose sanctions, including reducing time limits and deducting points from the offending side in the event that time is reached and, in the last resort, loss of a game or disqualification, but would prefer not to have to use it! Please report results promptly when you finish a match.

Summary

To conclude, the tradition here is that refereeing is unobtrusive and that Referees will only intervene in a game when, and to the extent, that they are requested to do so, unless an error (which I would interpret to include an interference, as the regulation was written before the laws distinguished as clearly!) is claimed or admitted, or wrongful information is given about the laws. I hope you have an enjoyable and error free tournament!

Ian Vincent, ROT.

Additional Conditions for Blocks

Withdrawals after the Draw

a) In the event of one or more players withdrawing between the draw and the start of play, the Manager may fill the place(s) from the waiting list, the qualifying event, another block, or otherwise at his discretion.

Incomplete Blocks

a) Any player who, for any cause, completes less than half of the largest number of games completed by a player in his block, or who has lost all the games he has played, will be deleted from the block and will not qualify for the knock-out stage of the main event.

b) The results of any remaining incomplete games will be randomly determined by the Manager, such that the probabilities of each player winning a game are in the same ratio as the percentage of their completed games that they have each won. E.g if A has won 6/8 and B 3/6, A will be given a 60% chance and B a 40% chance when determining the result of the game between them.

c) Whatever the outcome of (b) above, any player who failed to complete one or more games in his block will be treated, for the purpose of assessing his own results (but not that of his opponents), as having lost them, unless the Manager is satisfied that he was prevented from completing them by events outside the player's control.

Final Ranking

a) Having applied (1) and (2) above as necessary, players will be ranked solely in order of number of games won or deemed to have been won.

b) The top 4 players from each block of 10 will qualify for the last 32 (best of 3). The manager intends that ties for qualification from each block will be separated by single game play-offs to take place on Wednesday or Thursday but it may be necessary to draw lots instead. The best 8 players (by WCF grade) who have come no lower than 2nd= in their block will be seeded in the last 32. The other qualifiers will be separated by block and country as far as practical.

- David Openshaw - Tournament Director