Croquet: Top players expected at croquet tournaments

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This season, Croquet New Zealand has selected the two Taranaki croquet associations (Croquet Taranaki and Croquet South Taranaki) to host its prestigious Golf Croquet Invitation tournaments. 

These events attract some of the best male and female players from around the country, with the 30 highest ranked players expressing interest being chosen to play at the three venues being used – and that 30 includes a number of local representatives. 

The objective of these annual graded invitations is to provide both up and coming and elite players with challenging competition. Players attending come from as far afield as Canterbury, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Thames and Auckland, and are likely to exhibit a range of styles of play, though the winners are usually those that can consistently employ a high level of accuracy and precision in their tactics.

The New Plymouth Croquet Club and West End Croquet Club will be hosting on behalf of Croquet Taranaki and in the south of the region, Hawera Croquet Club will be hosting an event on behalf of Croquet South Taranaki.

Play takes place over three days at each location, starting at 8.30am Friday 22 November and concluding late afternoon on Sunday 24 November. And unless the weather intervenes, players will be expected to play as many as nine games a day – with a single game taking potentially up to an hour to play out. All games are 13 hoop games with the first player to run 7 hoops winning the game. 

There are 10 players at each venue and they play a best of three round robin format ie each player will contest a match with each of the other nine players, with each match being won by the first player to win two of the three games scheduled. 

And albeit croquet isn’t the most physical of sports (which makes it suitable for all ages and abilities) it still requires a high level of stamina, concentration and focus to be able to maintain a high level of performance for eight or nine hours a day over the three consecutive days of competition that comprise the Invitation events.

The New Plymouth club is the venue for the tier 1 Top Ten event where the 10 players will compete for the CNZ President’s Trophy. These players represent 10 of the top 35 ranked players in the country and includes players who have represented New Zealand on the international stage, for example, Te Kiri King of Park Croquet Club, Hawera recently returned from competing at the Golf Croquet World Championships in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, USA. 

The New Plymouth club has 4 lawns and is located off the end of Watson Street, Strandon and is bordered on two sides by the Te Henui Walkway and Stream.

The tier 2 Second Ten event is being contested at West End Croquet Club and players are competing for the CNZ Duncan Dixon Trophy. Again, those taking part are highly ranked players from around the country. The West End club with its 3 lawns can be found at Churchill Heights off Cutfield Road, Central New Plymouth.

The Third Ten event, also a tier 2 event, is being staged at Hawera Croquet Club, Albion Street – in the shadow of the Water Tower. The 10 players competing on Hawera’s three lawns are fighting for the right to have their name added to the CNZ Gordon Smith Trophy.

There are 5,000 registered croquet players in New Zealand and all the players taking part in the three events are ranked in the top 170, so a high standard of play is anticipated at all the venues.

Details about the game of croquet in general, as well as the names and regions of the participants and details of the clubs involved can be found on Croquet New Zealand’s website www.croquet.org.nz.