All set for the expected Reg vs. Rob final

[<<] [>>] by Dave Kibble
8th July 2001 (World Championship)

Today promises an exciting match between the two giants of the croquet world Rob and Reg, who stand head and shoulders above the rest, frequently causing lesser player to perform well below their best.

Reg has dropped only one game in the Championship and Rob two in the knockout section plus one in the blocks.

When these two last met in the Championship of Surrey (24 June), without either losing a single game, Rob triumphed 3-0, mostly because of Reg missing shots. It has been rumoured that Reg's swing trainer has recently allowed him to hit 63 out of 64 shots at the peg from the side boundary, if he can repeat that without the machine then he would be a truly formidable shooter. In the Men's Championship (10 June: full story) Reg triumphed 3-2. Here the sextuple leave tactic was frequently used to lengthen the shot but never achieved an outright winner. It will be interesting today to see if Reg goes for 4-back defensive leaves rather then 1-back leaves.

Whatever the result, Reg has probably done well enough compared to Robert to be in the world number 1 ranking slot after the championship.