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Opens Friday - Chris Clarke's Commentary

[<<] [>>] by Chris Clarke at Surbiton
8 Jul 2011 (AC - Championships)

Rob v Rutger

They are playing TV1 and TV2 on lawn 2. All the lawns at the club look great despite heavy rain which has reduced their speed to around 10.5 to 11 seconds.

Rutger won the toss and went 1st. Rob is RY.

G1T1 U to 16y N of C4

T2 Y misses U from B-Baulk to a couple of inches W of C4

T3 K misses Y from A -baulk on the right.

T4 R takes the target from B-Baulk and hits it surprisingly gently, hitting the middle of the balls near C4. Goes to 4-b, popping K to hoop 3. The contact leave is Y in C4, R 2y ESE of C2, K 13Y S of C3 and U 10y N of C1

T5. Rutger takes contact from Y with K, croquets it 12y N and goes off the lawn 3y S of U, leaving R a perfect double.

T6 Rob misses the double with R

T7. Rutger opts to take on the 7 yarder at R with K.........hits. Takes off to get a rush on U NNE. Rushes it 2y N of hoop6 and rolls it 5y N of hoop 4, failing to get on Y to hoop 3. Plays long backward take-off to 3 well and has a 2 yard straight hoop. Runs it "gently" off the S boundary. Hits his 13 yarder at U. Rolls U to 5 finishing 7 yards short of R...............hits. Takes off to get rush on Y to hoop 4 but is short. Rolls up to the hoop and he now has a break.

Maugham v Aiton (Lawn 1)

Playing TV1 and TV2 (I think all 4 matche are, but not sure)

Aiton first ball to 1-b with a spread. Maugham misses short lift

Death v Johnston (Lawn 3)

Andy first ball round (to 1-b?). James misses long lift. Andy to 4-b with spread. James hits lift.

Bamford v Patel

Samir had the first break to 4-b I think, but Reg is now in play.

11:04

T7 (cont.)
Rutger has gone to 4-b with K and has left K in C3, U 3y ESE of C2, R in C1 and Y 1foot NW of C4.

T8 Rob takes contact with Y from K in C3,croquets it 8y N of C4 and 1Y W. Finishes 8 yards short of Y and lags a 3y rush to hoop 1.

T9 Rutger shoots with U at R (33 yards)............hits. Croquets R 6y N of hoop 1 (surely JR would have spotted the disjoint cannon? :-)). and rushes Y to hoop 1. Just needs a couple of good strokes for a standard TP.

11:22

T9 (cont.) Rutgers turn was progressing well until he sent the front ball off the lawn whilst approaching hoop 2 - strange because he didn't want an Eastward rush.

T10 Rob hits his 7 yard R at U (again quite gently). Only manages to get a cut-rush on K to hoop1 and rushes it 5y WNW. Perfect take-off to 2 foot straight. Runs it - the hoops have looked very easy.
The hoopsetters (French and Vincent) say that the ground has given up the ghost since the rains came, but had been good in the early stages of the event.
Rob now has the same set of croquet strokes to play that Rutger had.
He's made hoop2 with a good pioneer at 3, but rolls into Y near hoop 4. He'll have to roll it up to 4-b from hoop4. Rolls it 5 feet WSW of hoop 3 and almost can't hit his hoop 3 pioneer K. He's hit it, but it will be a delayed TP now.

Meanwhile,
Samir (on 1 and 4-b) has missed the long lift again Reg (1 and 1-b) Sextuple or TPO?

Aiton has won the first we think +26, maybe TP.

Death has TPOed Johnston. The balls were in C2 and 16Y N of C4. Andy took contact from the E bopundary ball and under rolled to hoop1 and took position on the S boundary.
R went 1y N of C4
U ran hoop 1 to between 2 and C2, hit the ball in C2 and failed to roll off hoop 2 and went 16y N of C4.
James played Y to C1.
Andy has taked 5 minutes to decidce on what to do from here and plays U 15Y N of C1

11:27

James shoots Y at U and misses to C2. The crowd didn't like the option and preferred some form of join.

Andy shoots U at Y in C2.........hits. Plays a good roll to hoop 2, apart from the front ball which is too far E.
Runs 2 and has a 6y rush to hoop3. Good shot and this is now a good chance to finish

Meanwhile Rob is setting up for a delayed TP.

Reg is peeling 1-b going to R in C4 (I like this play - he has an excellent Y 2 yards S of hoop 3). Excellent shot from Reg peels 1-b 2/3 of way to 2-b and finishes 4 feet from C4.

11:31

Andy makes hoop3 and misses 4 yard rush, finishing 12y N of C4

James is taking the 11 yarder ........ hits. Good finishing chance now.

Rob has 1 peel of his delayed TP done and is making 2-b off partner

Keith had the first chance in game 2, but didn't capitalise. Dave is now rushing to hoop 2 from C1 for the first break

11:41

James has picked up his 3 ball break so should be 1-0 up soon.

Rob is down to a straight rover peel to take the first

Dave has the first break in the second

Reg has peeled 2-b getting a rush to hoop 5.

James has misapproached 1-b off U and retires to c2 leaving U a 10 yarder (no better option since he was conceding a hoop 4 lift)

Andy shoots at R in C2...........SNICKS IT. Another good chance to win with Y 2y NE of 2-b and U on hoop 4

Fulford +16QP*

Please note previous error in commentary. Robs first break went to 3-b not 4-b and the roll up to hoop 3 was peeling partner through 3-b.

11:47

Decent croquet stroke from Andy, but overcuts the rush to hoop 4. Decent approach to hoop 4, but fails a 1 yard hoop, fortunately wired from Y. Y shoots at R which is 2y SW of the peg.......misses to C2.
Andy runs hoop 4 with U and shoots at R........HITS.

A massive downpour has now started.The glorious British summer in action

G2T1 U (Rutger) 12y N of C4
T2 R hits U from b-bAULK, croquets it 2feet N OF C4 and plays R 1ft S of C2.
T3 K just joins with U.
T4 Y hits K

Dave has gone to 1-b in game 2 and made a spread

Reg has failed to peel 3-b going to 1-b

11:52

T4 (cont.)Fulford has played some good strokes and has almost picked his break up.

Andy has taken off to Y in C2 leaving R 3y WSW of hoop 6. He's now taking off to hoop 5. He's got a 4y straight hoop..................blobs, finishing 1y E of the hoop.

Keith has missed the lift and DAve is playing his hoop 1 ball, so maybe another sextuple attempt

Reg has made 1-b and has rushed back down to peelee at 3-b

11:58

James plays R to C1 which may be wired from U.
Andy shoots at Y in C2............hits
He's rolled Y to hoop 6 going to R in C1. I would have rolled Y to hoop 5 instead.

Dave is approaching hoop 2 from worse than death.....he's failed the hoop leaving Keith a 6 yarder.......... hits.
Fails hoop 1 off partner

Reg has peeled 3-b well leaving himself a 5 yard rush to 2-b, but has made it. He is now trying to peel 4-b from 5 yards trying to get a rush back to 3-b. Jawses peel and gets a cut-rush to 3-b

12:02

In Reg's game he obvuiously got the peelee through 4-b befopre 3-b and now justy has a straight double left.

Andy played a great roll to hoop 5, ran his 1 yard straight hoop with no wire and now has a choice between a 5 yarder at Y (his hoop 6 pioneer) or a 5 yarder at half of R which is partially wired by the peg.

12:06

Andy takes the shot at Y and hits and then surprisingky ignores R and just approaches hoop 6 from 3 yards to the side. He's made it and is rushing to 1-b. R is still NE of hoop 5.

Meanwhile on lawn 1, Dave missed, Keith played a sufficiently poor turn that Dave cornered and now Keith has made hoop 1 with balls in C4 and near C3

12:09

Rob has gone to 3-b with 2 pops and made the same leave as game 1.
U (3) is 12y S of C3
k (1) is 10y N of C1
y IS IN c4
R is 1ft E of C2

Andy has made 2-b with a 3 ball break

Reg has peeled rover straight and jumped over the peel

Reg Wins Game 1 +17sxp*

12:15

Andy sticks in 3-b from nowhere.........at least it is of James' peg ball. Multiple finishing turns for Andy and at least one for James.
James hits the ball in 3-b with Y

James has laid up guarding C2 with U near 4. Andy shoots.........misses

Rutger (as in game 1) takes contact from Y in C4 with U and croquets it 18y N of C4 and a bit in-lawn going to K. U goes off the lawn 1y S of K, not leaving a target this time.

Once again, Rob shoots with R and misses

After a brief interlude on sunshine, the heavy rain has returned

12:22

Rutger is trying a tricky pick-up with his hoop 3 ball rather than an easier one with his hoop 1 ball. He has a 4 foot 45degree hoop 3..........runs it down to his hoop 4 pioneer

James Takes the First +5TPO*

12:24

Keith has gone to 1-b with a spread. Both players are now 2 and 1-b. Reminder : Keith won the first

Rutger has a break and is going to 4-b.

12:28

Reg has hit in C2 on turn 4 of the second. He's looked really impressive so far today.

Dave lifted his 1-b ball and missed the long short lift. Keith is playing with his 1-b ball

12:32

James made a spread 3rd turn on game 2 from a standadr tice opening. It looks as if Andy hit from C3 and now has the first break

12:44

Rutger is round to 4-b with U.
R (1) is 8y N of C1
Y is 8y N of C4
k IS 4Y E of C2
U is in C3

12:49

Keith has a delayed TP ahead of him for a 2-0 lead

G2T8 Rob lifts Y and takes contact from U, splitting it 8y NNW of C4 leaving a 5 yarder at K.........hits. Takes off to R, nudging K nearer C2. Leaves a guarded rush near C1 (rush not pointing directly at hoop 1)

12:56

G2T9 Rutger has had a long think. In game 1, he shot K at R and hit, but now he is looking at U at R. Rob must be ecstatic at having got Rutger to play his 4-b ball..............misses

Keith has done 1 peel of his TP and has a delayed double for 2-0 lead, having just made 2-b

Andy has gone to 4-b and is struggling with his leave.
His last shot was trying to roll both his balls off the lawn from the E boundary to the W side. He has left James a 1 yard rush from B-Baulk with the other 2 balls 3 and 15yards S of C2. james has an easy break opportunity, so another TPO??

13:03

Rob has made hoop 2 and has a standard quad for a 2-0 lead.

Reg is on hoop 3 with 1 peel of his sextuple completed

Keith Go 2-0 Up Winning the Second +19TP*

13:06

James is in the middle of a quick TPO.

Rob has peeled 4-b before hoop 6

13:14

James has completed his TPO and popped Andrew to hoop 2. K(1) is 8y N of C4, U(peg) is in C1

13:15

Rob Finishes +17QP to Take a 2-0 Lead*

13:17

Andy takes contact from U in C1 and rolls straight to hoop 2. He's got a 3 yard hoop, but U might be in the way???
No, he's taking on the hoop...................blobs

13:23

James has laid up near C4 instead of C1. I think that is wrong - both balls are far enough in-lawn to allow Andy to get a ball to hoop 4 and get a rush to hoop 2.

Andy is thinking.............plays into C3

Meanwhile, Reg is looking very good. He's just failed the penult peel badly before 4-b though and it's bounced a few feet to the side.

13:26

James has laid up near C1.

Keith, Dave, Rob and Rutger are lunching

13:32

James left a reverse rush near C1.
Andy has played 13y S of C3
This allows James to lay a wired rush the correct way since Andy played to the wired spot.
Andy goes back to C3
James 2-balls 3 hoops and lays where he started the turn with a rush to hoop 4

Meanwhile, Reg has jawsed the rover peel straight. He jumps over it to the boundary, but it comes back out of rover. He'll need a decent cannon peel now

13:35

Reg rushes his deep ball back for the cannon, but overhits it to the peg. Now what? A long cannon peel or getting control on the side ball.
He goes for the controlled method.

Andy is taking his 35 yarder.................flicks off hoop 1 to the W boundary. James may now be hampered from the pick-up

13:42

Good cannon peel from Reg, but he only snicks his rush to the peg, leaving a 6 yard peg out.........snicks it +26sxp

James can't hit Andy and so 2-balls from 4 until getting hampered after 3-b. U is now 8y S of 4-b. K is in C4 and U will be taking it's lift at K.......hits

13:48

Andy plays a poor croquet stroke leaving a 4 yarder pointing at the end of B-Baulk. He cuts it the wrong way and now needs to roll off hoop 2 from 3 yards E of hoop 3.
He's got a 7 foot 45 degree hoop. Jumps through it to the boundary and gives it some fist. Can he do the easy part now??

13:50

Another o\poor croquet stroke leaves him a 4 yarder on his hoop 3 pioneer pointing at the end of B-Baulk. He hits it.
Approaching from 3 yards to the side...........overhits the take-off and has another angled hoop. This one is easier than the last

13:51

He's jumping again.................fails.

13:53

James hits his 3 yarder with his 4-b ball and should finish.

Hampered after penult.......R is at the peg. U is 2y N of hoop 4. K retires to 9y S of C2

13:54

R is shooting at K from where it lies.........hits

13:59

Surprisingly, Andy is rolling straight to hoop 3 and ignoring U. He's overhit it and I don't think it is runnable.
Shoots at U - misses
U shoots at the peg.........hits
It's now rover vs 3

Fulford v Beijderwellen
G3T1 R (rob) 14y N of C4
T2 U misses R to C4
T3 Y hits R from B-Baulk, takes off to get an acute cut to hoop 1 and ends up turning down an angled hoop 1 and joins up 10 Y N of C4
T4. K shoots at U north of 1 (16y).......misses

14:03

Meanwhile in James v Andy
R takes long position at 3
K takes 8 foot position at rover
R runs 3 to 8 feet 10 degree position at 4........turns down the hoop and shoots at R.......misses

K runs rover and shoots hard at the peg.....misses

R tries to take position at hoop 4, but goes 3 yards too far
K plays 3 yards NW of the peg...is it wired???
No, he's got 3/4 of it..........snicks it. He can get to hoop 4 past the peg without any problem

14:07

Andy rolls to 2 yard 20 degree position at 4..........blobs.
K has a 7 yarder at R, but is dribbling at the peg.......misses
R shoots at K...........hits

Andrew Gregory has arrived, so he'll be giving you all the lowdown on Aiton vs Maugham game 3

14:11

This time, the peg is in the way of the approach to hoop 4.

Andy has rolled to hoop 4 and is in a very similar position to last time. K has been sent 2 yard off the end of A-Baulk. Takes on hoop 4..........runs it to the boundary. Now, if only K was better....

Takes his 7 yarder at K..........hits it in the middle gently, good shot

14:14

Approaches hoop 5 sending K 5 yards N of hoop 6. He's too angled and is trying to take open position.
.
James is asking for a lift..........it's been given.
K hits R to take a 2-0 lead +9tpo

14:16

Rob has made an error. He's rolled R off the lawn just S of C2 when making his leave. Y is for 3-b and is 3 yards W of 1-b
U is for 3 and is in front of 1-b
K is for 1 and is 8y N of C1

14:17

This time, Rutger has lifted the hoop 1 ball, so I expect a QPO to be attempted

14:24

James has won the opening in games 3 and has the first break

Rutger has made hoop 1 and looks like he'll be QPOing.

The opening to game 3 in Reg vs Samir looks like it's been scrappy. It appears that Samir has made a hoop and has the innings

14:30

James has gone to 1-b with R and has made a B spread.

G3T6 Rutger is starting his QPO. He peels Y through 3-b before hoop 4 and doesn't try and get a rush back to make hoop 4. His approach leaves him an angled hoop, but he runs it easily.

14:35

Andy has lifted the Westerly ball and is shooting at Y which is 3y N of C4............misses

James has a sextuple ahead of him for the match.

G3T6 (cont.) Rutger has the second peel through 4-b before hoop 6.

14:38

James fails to get a rush out of hoop 3 and rolls off the lawn trying to get a rush on the peelee which was S of 2-b. That's given a fair bit away.

14:43

G3T6 (cont.) Rutger rushed the peelee back to penult after 2-b and has got the third peel of his QPO. Will it be 1 or 2 balls off? I guess 2.

14:47

There's been some interaction in the Reg vs Samir game. Reg is 1 and 2 and Samir is 1 and 1. Samir has just hit in.

14:48

G3T6 (cont.) Rutger is down to a straight rover peel to complete his QPO - all under control

14:49

Andy has got a break and is trying to pop Y through hoop 4 with an roll irish peel........succeeds

14:53

More heavy rain.

When Reg, Andy and Rutger are in play, it does seem a bit slow.

Rutger has completed all the peels. 1 or 2 off??
He has rushed his partner ball, U 8y N of C4. As a reminder, U is on hoop 3 and R is on hoop 1

14:53

Andy is trying to pop Y through hoop 5 after making it with K.

14:55

Not sure what happened to Samir, but his clips are still on hoop 1 and Reg has a break with his hoop 2 ball.

Andy jawsed the hoop 5 pop

14:55

Surprisingly, it's only 1 off for Rutger as he sends K to C2.

14:58

G3T7
Rob takes contact from U and rolls it 4y W of the peg getting a 4 yard straight hoop 1. Runs it off the N boundary and has an 8 yarder at K............hits
Bet Rutger is wishing he'd had 2 off now

15:00

G3 T7 (cont.)Great croquet stroke from Rob sends K to hoop 3 (a bit too far East), but gets a 1yard rush to hoop 2which he rush to 1 foot away.

15:08

Total croquet from Fulford who takes the match +16QP +17QP + 12OQP

15:12

Meanwhile, on lawn 3, Andy has unjawsed the hoop 5 pop and is now approaching 3-b with K.

Recap
U - 1
K - 4-B
R - 5
Y - 2-B

The contact leave is
Y - 3y N of C4 and 1 ft inlawn
R is 16y S of C3 and 4ft inlawn
U is in the middle of the W boundary
K is in C4
Andy's leaves have been weask so far today

15:14

James takes off from K to get a rush on U to 2-b and makes the hoop. I guess he'll just go to 4-b and make a hammer leave

15:15

I should also say that Y was 5 and R was 2-b, so it is R that is making the hoops at the moment

15:17

James hasn't got a rush to 3-b and will need to approach it from the E boundary. He has rolled up trying to get a wire through hoop 4 on K, but has failed both the approach and the wire. Big scatter coming up.
Plays the scatter well, but K still has a 13 yarder

15:18

K is taking its 13 yarder at R on the S boundary.........misses

15:20

A truly awful turn from James sees him fail 3-b giving K the innings

15:32

K makes a leave and James misses.
Andy has a rush to hoop 1 for a standard TP, but it hits hoop 4. He rolls up to hoop 1, but is short and returns to partner near hoop 2

15:37

James shoots with R at hoop 1 at Y near hoop 4......hits. Takes off to oppos and obtains a rush to 3-b. Makes 3-b and makes a leave near C4 wired from K which is 2y NW of hoop 4. It looks like a fairly easy jump shot at a double target to me. U is 2y SE of C2.

15:38

U shoots at RY from near C2.........misses

15:40

James now has a delayed tp for the match

15:49

James wins +5TPO +9TPO +17TP



 

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