Hello all,
Commentary by me and Wixy about to start, taking over from Rob Fulford who is about to start his Doubles Semifinal against Paddy Chapman and Dave Maugham.

avery and openshaw vs bamford and rothman

missed the start but joined the action when openshaw had just got to 4back with rothman already on 1back.

contact leave was
blue (avery, hoop 1) in corner 4
black (openshaw, 4b) in corner 3
yellow (bamford, hoop 1) mid west boundary
red (rothman, 1b) corner 2

bamford took contact from black, took off to red, left a rush to hoop 1

avery then hit from corner 4 at partner in corner 3!!

took off to red and yellow...

off the lawn!!!! :(

bamford plays....not sure what he did, but after making 1 he has got black at 3 and rushed blue to red in corner 2, now making 2 off red. blue is somewhere between hoop 2 and the corner

bamford is in play on lawn 9, the other semi will be on lawn 6. but waiting for dave maugham to finish managing the singles swiss before that gets underway. i did think sitting in the mangers hut between lawns 6 and 7 was a good idea but not so sure now.

rob fulford gave me commentary advice.....he said go for colour rather than play by play....he said comment on the cakes etc. i havent had a cake today so asked him what they were like.....he said he hadnt had one either.....brilliant!!!

bamford has peeled 1b, made 3 and rushed to the east boundary near 1b. has pioneer at hoop 4 so seems like its going to be a fairly normal position assuming he rushes partner to 2b.

singles swiss:
round 10
winner of hopgood vs cumming qualifies

loser of tibble vs mountfield going home, winner to play wilkinson in their round 11 (wilkos round 10....cross round or something....i dont undertsand!)
loser of richard smith vs ormrod goes home
giraud vs holmes goes home

round 11
chris williams vs mulliner
noble vs chang
foulser vs grimsley

reg peels 2b going to deep hoop 5 pioneer

foulser sitting in managers tent annoying the manager about why he cant start his game?! he asks...is there any reason??? gets a short sharp answer from the beast haha

foulser vs grimsley has been put on lawn 11

dave maugham now off to get changed so other doubles semi starting soon? (thats not a promise)....although paddy and rob have starting practicing, james is walking over with half a pint, which he put down and then wonders on to the lawn aswell

reg peels 3b going to 1b pioneer, with 2b pioner at 4b.

leaves himself a 7 yarder(?) misses!

avery now should have a standard tp for the first

takes off from red leaving it on west boundary, rushes black which is at hoop 2 to yellow on the east boundary, claims a cannon!

plays ok cannon, has 3 yard backward takeoff

makes hoop one, rolls yellow to 3 going to red on the west boundary, takes off to partner at hoop 2

mountfield has just scraped past lionel tibble who is now out. tibbles last shot was from the north boundary, he was for rover alone, mountfield was for rover and peg laid up at rover, tibble has 2 balls and the hoop in play but hit the wire bounced back a foot and failed to make a roquet so mountfield scrapes through having performed some diy on his mallet by sticking a bisque in the top of the shaft to extent it because it was too short. genius!

avery is making hoop 5 in the doubles, delayed tp to go. no rush out of 5 though so roll to 4b and 1b (ish)

george noble has gone to the bar to get me another lager before he starts vs eugene on lawn 10. what a nice chap! :D

dont think mark has even managed to get peelee in the jaws before 6

runs 6 but is hampered, call ref

mulliner goes out, clean shot, roquet made, looked easy.

mulliner just started on lawn 10 vs williams who has hit 4th turn with all the balls in the middle of the lawn

probably should have reminder you all that the singles is all super advanced, so is the bamford vs avery doubles, i am certain the other doubles will be too

after 6 mark has left his 2back pioneer at 4b, takles off to 1back pioneer leaving partner possibly in jaws

other doubles
death, blue, to east boundary approx level with hoop 4
maugham, red, to corner 2
fulford, black misses blue from a baulk
chapman, yellow, about to take double from b baulk

avery sticks in 1b off yellow (reg)
black for 4b in 4b (openshaw)
yellow near 1b for 1b(reg)
red for 4b near 4b

bamford and rothman having a long discussion on lawn

chapman hits blue from b baulk. dave maugham seems very happy, shouts "SHOT" goes out to tell paddy what to do

rothman, red, has roqueted black in to jaws of 4back, both balls for 4back

paddy takes off getting rush on black to corner 2, rushes in to corner 2

rushes partner to hoop 1

makes one with a rush back to south boundary

rothman peels black through 4back, makes 4back himself but has hoop and roquet, croquets black to the peg going to blue in the jaws of 1back, peels 1back and will be rushing yellow to penult

paddy rushes partner to south boundary, takes off to blue just off the east boundary, rushes it to north boundary in front of hoop 3, thick take off to black in corner 2

rothman fails to make penult, not sure why though, so red and blue are cross wired at penult, yellow and black are joined up at the peg

paddy approaches hoop 2 very well but fails a dead straight, 3
yard(?) hoop off of black ( fulford)

fulford hits partner at hoop 3, yellow is a foot in front of hoop 2, for hoop 2, red is a yard or two off the end of a baulk

fulford takes off to yellow at hoop 2, gets completely wired, joins up with blue at hoop 3

mark wasnt wired from rothman, so is now going from 1back with a double peel to do, has a delayed double set up now approaching 3back

chapman turns down hoop 2, hits black in corner 3, puts in between 3 and rushes to hoop 2, should have easy break now.

dave doesnt know what he wants chapman to do though

rushes right on top of 2 and they have a conference

mark jaws the penult peel before 4back

straight peel send black with 3 yards of rover but not in front

makes penult

clubs rush to rover, red is deep, yellow to the side

openshaw on the lawn......

avery leaves the lawn, both clips on rover

yellow, black and blue all at rover, red maybe 4 or 5 yards due south

reg and rothman on....rothman doing some pointing, reg seems to be listening

so yellow on 1back, red on penult, reg now has the same turn that mark just had, can he do any better?

discussions turn to the possibility of a lucky loser in the singles swiss....

i havent been listening so not sure what the situation is....and im not asking beast cos he already seems annoyed at the number of times he has explained it. i can say that it somehow depends on robert wilkinson.....

alain giraud has beat holmes who has already gone home,

so giraud now through to the last round

have spoken to beast now, if wilkinson wins vs moutfield then he is through and giraud will play the lucky loser, if not then its wilkinson vs giraud in the last round

reg just made 2back with position for death roll to 3back or delayed double

paddy has made 5, sent partner (part of the way) to 1back and will be trying to peel black (fulford) through hoop 1 on the way to blue at hoop 6

not a good shot, leaves himself 6 or 7 yarder at hoop 6 pioneer, hits it in the middle, rushing it behind 6, no martins (murray) though, he runs 6 an

hopgood has just pegged out vs cumming so qualifies for the knockout for the first time in 4 years. not sure whether to boo or cheer???

paddy has rushed his hoop 6 ball to 1 back, takes off the red, rushes it to black, leaves it at 2 back and rushes black to 1back hoping for the 2nd pop

reg has run 4 back and has partner at rover so that should be 1-0

was going to type something about ormerod, but couldnt spell his name and what i was going to write turns out to be complete bollocks haha

paddy has peeled black (fulford) through hoop 2, rushes blue to somewhere near corner 3. makes 2back off partner, rushes partner to corner 2ish

richard smith beats ormerod in the swiss, ormerod out, smith to play cumming in round 11. there was a comment by richard smith about someone stealing his jumper.....are you reading martin murrary?!? youve got two mentions already!!!!

paddy leaves red a few yards south of corner 2 , rushes black to corner 3, blue ends up 8 yards north of corner 1, yellow to corner 4.

so red for hoop 1
yellow 4back
black 3
blue 1

reg
pegs out to win the first game, +4

mark ormerod asking the manager when he can play next seeing as hasnt qualified for the knockout...dave says hes not sure....ormerod asking about y doubles....dave moaning abiut amount of people obsessed with y doubles this year....its not his priority

James takes croquet from Dave's ball near C2, sending it in a few more yards in the take off to partner in C3.
Now lining up a leave near C3 for Rob's H3 ball, presumably wired from Dave's ball near the west boundary.

rothman to east boundary
openshaw to corner 2
reg hits partner, lays rothman a rush to corner 2
avery misses from a baulk
rothman makes 1 and rushes back to east boundary

dave hits blue near corner 3, rushes black to 3 yrds west of partner in corner 4

rothman has managed to get partner to hoop 3 and rush the ball in corner 2 to hoop 2, should be round

maugham tries to approach hoop 1 from corner 4, black (for 3) now between hoop 4 and corner 4

dave joins up on the west boundary just north of hoop 1 with a rush to 1

death, blue shoots at black by hoop 4....misses.

maugham rushes partner to hoop 5
ohhhhh, i shoulldnt have go to the toilet and bar (in that order) at the end of paddys turn, he is actually for 3back so dave has a quad to do
rolls yellow to 3back going to blue on south boundary, croquets blue to 2 yards north east of 5
rushes black poorly to hoop 1(in the right quarter of the lawn)
approaches to a yard or so
runs the hoop with a rush back to corner 4

rothman round to 5, expecting him to make 6 and have a diagonal spread

maugham rushes to corner 4, puts black to approx level with hoop 6, getting with a foot of yellow at 3 back
peels yellow getting rush on blue to hoop2, rushes it 5 or 6 yards west so approaching 2 from south of the peg

3 yard, straight hoop 2, smoothes it through to the boundary getting a 6 or 7 yard tonk pointing at yellow near hoop 4
rushes on the the side of hoop 6, looks ok though

poor roll though only gets a rush point east, so rolls yellow in to very long
going to black which is a rough hoop 3 pioneer

rothman to 1back with a spread,

maugham does well, runs 3 to south of partner so can rush it closer to 4back
poor rush though and ends up just putting partner in front of 4 back so effectively a delayed tp to do now

avery lifts the ball from the peg, short shot from a baulk, misses :(
expect that to be all over from this position

maugham runs 5 by an inch or two getting a perfect rush north to within 3 yards of peele at 4back

george noble justing beaten eugene chang 25tp in the last round of the swiss to qualify, he is playing very well this week

pete trimmer is looking for his hat after 'vaguely' looking for it over the past hour

mulliner might be going home having done a tpo against chgris williams who is now on a 3 ball break at 2back

maugham is making 1back with 2 peels to do, looks like he will be death rolling to 2back

trimmer is going home without finding his hat. a donations page for a new one will be set up soon, please dig deep.

reg making hoop 3 with 1 peel done, samir says its looking like a 'fairly standard regie position'

maugham turns down death roll, takes off to 2back pioneer, rushes back to penul
t having made 2 back

if youre lucky then eugene will appear and take over in a min having lost

shout out to marcus now, for going to get me a beer. he remembered to book the annual leave off work this week for the opens....but....forgot to enter and didnt realise until beast had posted the draw. laugh or cry!?!?!?!

maugham death roll to 3 back

reg ends up rushing his hoop 4 reception ball to 6, taking off to partner at 2back with hoop 5 pioneer close by

williams runs rover and pegs out. even reg waits to make a shot at 2back to clap...not sure if thats cos statto is through or cos mulliner is going home!

maugham making 4back with a straight
rover peel to do

just had to read my own commentary to remind myself (and mulliner) of the lucky loser situation

having stopped to clap williams, reg got hamped by the peelee on his rush to hoop five, made a roquet but didnt approach the hoop to somewhere he could run it so has gone to corner 2

openshaw has taken the lift, hits rothmans ball at hoop 1 but approaches so he cant run hoop 1, averys ball is in the middle of the lawn though so not great for joining up

maugham deals with the straight rover peel to win +24qd (2 pops by paddy)

+24qp*

openshaw shots at partner, missing to somewhere near corner 3

death, blue, misses hoop 5 put clips the peg, ends up near hoop 6
maugham, red, 6 inches north corner 4,
fulford, black, misses in to corner 4
chapman, yellow, roquets red and has to take off in to corner 4 to get a rush on black

rothman joined up with reg in corner 2, mark shot at them at missed
so;
blue (reg) for hoop 5 by corner 2
black (rothman) foor 3back by corner 2
red for hoop 1 corner 2
yellow for hoop 1 near corner 2

rothman rushes partner to somewhere near 3 back leaving red in corner 2, under approaches the hoop, looks difficult....
looks for a while....jumps through! punches a fist to celebrate. lays up in corner 4, giving reg a rush to corner 2

yellow (openshaw) moves to corner 1

good news...youre money is safe, trimmer has found his hat in the tea hut

rothman joined up with reg in corner 2, mark shot at them at missed
so;
blue (reg) for hoop 5 by corner 2
black (rothman) foor 3back by corner 2
red for hoop 1 corner 2
yellow for hoop 1 near corner 2

rothman rushes partner to somewhere near 3 back leaving red in corner 2, under approaches the hoop, looks difficult....
looks for a while....jumps through! punches a fist to celebrate. lays up in corner 4, giving reg a rush to corner 2

yellow (openshaw) moves to corner 1

good news...youre money is safe, trimmer has found his hat in the tea hut

rothman joined up with reg in corner 2, mark shot at them at missed
so;
blue (reg) for hoop 5 by corner 2
black (rothman) foor 3back by corner 2
red for hoop 1 corner 2
yellow for hoop 1 near corner 2

rothman rushes partner to somewhere near 3 back leaving red in corner 2, under approaches the hoop, looks difficult....
looks for a while....jumps through! punches a fist to celebrate. lays up in corner 4, giving reg a rush to corner 2

yellow (openshaw) moves to corner 1

good news...youre money is safe, trimmer has found his hat in the tea hut

rothman joined up with reg in corner 2, mark shot at them at missed
so;
blue (reg) for hoop 5 by corner 2
black (rothman) foor 3back by corner 2
red for hoop 1 corner 2
yellow for hoop 1 near corner 2

rothman rushes partner to somewhere near 3 back leaving red in corner 2, under approaches the hoop, looks difficult....
looks for a while....jumps through! punches a fist to celebrate. lays up in corner 4, giving reg a rush to corner 2

yellow (openshaw) moves to corner 1

good news...youre money is safe, trimmer has found his hat in the tea hut

some wifi issues

anyway, reg rushed from corner 4 to corner 2, rushed to hoop 5, made it getting a rush west, rushed it to south biundary a yard from corner 1, rolled croquet ball in to corner 1, getting a cut rush on yellow (in corner 1)
rushed to corner, promoted the other ball out to 2 or 3 yards in front of 2back!!!!
rushed partner to 6, took off to the ball near corner 2, made 1back
now approaching 2 back with peelee 3 yards in front of penult and his 3back pioneer at 4back???? not sure what the position is

scrap that.......not idea what that turn was all about....he has taken off from the back at 2back to 1back.....bounced off....
im bemused!!!!!
clips are
reg blue 1 back
rotham black 4 back
yellow and red both hoop 1

chapman finally ends his turn on 3 back having popped black, fulford to hoop 3
left red in corner 2
blue 7 yards north of corner 1
yellow in corner 4
black 6 yards sou
th of corner 3

fulford takes contact from red in contact 2 with black, christs off blue, lays up on west boundary by corner 1

bamford is back in, think yellow must have missed from 4 back to black in front of penult, leaving reg a 4 or 5 yarder to the west boundary.
he has now made 1back
rushed to 4back for the peel, with another ball close by
this balls turns in to the 3back pioneer which is left at 4back
takes off to pioneer at 2back

maugham getting distracted by management has realised its now his (teams) turn

recap (for me aswell)
maugham yellow for 1 in corner 4
blue for 1 and black for 3 on west boundary near corner 1
red for 4back
2 yards east of corner 2

hopgood more interested in how many readers we have than the croquet

sorry babe,
yellow in corner 4 is for 3back not 1
red in corner 3 is for 1 not 4back

death makes hoop 1 with blue
rushes to south boundary 10 yards from corner 4, tries to take off behind yellow in corner 4
goes off!

reg has made 3back with a straight double to do but partner behind 4 back
rushes 3 or 4 yards in front of penult, gets peel
makes 4back, ends up with croquet on north boundary
makes penult with a straight rover peel to do

paddy rolles blue to in front off hoop 1
christs off black
approaches 3back,
runs it hard getting lucky and roqueting black
rolls black to in front of 2 back going to blue
leaves pretty perfect tea lady with both balls on the north boundary

death shots, misses in to corner 3 so daveo has a tp to do

reg pegs out to win +26tp
the sound makes it sound more clinical than it was!
so +4 +26tp to bamford and rothman

maugham puts blue(death) to 4 yards east of 3, rushes yellow in to blue (!) takes of to red at 1, goes past it, backward take off, no probs, makes hoop, makes roquet, takes off to yellow, croquet it to 3 getting a rush on blue to hoop 2, makes 2, rushes to south boundary in front of 1, croquets blue to four and now rushing black to 3 for standard tp

mountfield pegs out vs wilkinson, so goes through. no lucky loser as wilkinson now has to play alain giraud in round 11

apparently......if wilkinson had won then mountfield would have been the lucky loser vs giraud!

maugham has told(whilst in play jawsing partner in back) giraud and wilkinson to crack on on lawn 11. wilkinson is ready with his double banking blinkers on......sorry i mean dennis taylor style sun glasses.

Maugham has rush peeled 4b on the way to H6. He's sent black deep near the end of B baulk, and has roqueted blue a yard SE of H6.

Blue and yellow are a yard west and west south west of H6 respectively. Dave runs H6 to the boundary, picks up black and sends it towards 2b, getting a rush on yellow in to peeling position

I hear Giraud and Wilkinson couldn't start straight away because the balls for lawn 11 had already been cleared away. Looks like their game could be finishing in the darkness...

The shadows are starting to lengthen across lawn 6 from our commentary box, as Maugham runs 1b with the penult peel done after H6

On lawn 3, Richard Smith is finishing his triple vs Cumming to qualify - just needs to rush peelee towards peg and pegout.

Wilkinson and Giraud have found their balls and theirs will be the last match starting tonight. Just a few bar faithfuls left watching the games

Dave Maugham does a tidy take off peel to get his partner ball (yellow) through the final hoop. Now approaching 3b

Richard M Smith beats Cumming +21TP to qualify.

Lawn 11, final qualifying Swiss game. Giraud playing red, goes to E boundary level with H4. Wilkinson hits blue to C2. Giraud centre balls partner, takes off to C2, and roquets.

Maugham goes through the motions. The commentary box discusses the lucky loser options that might have been. It was between Chang and Mounfield, and Mounfield had the higher AOG (average opposition grade) by just 1.something points (taking in to account Wilkinson). Meanwhile, Richard M finds his jumper to great relief.

D Maugham and P Chapman beat R Fulford and J Death +24tp +23tp to advance to the Opens Doubles Finals.

Giraud send black down to west boundary peg high, and joins with partner. Wilkinson shoots at oppo balls from the end of A baulk and hits yellow. He sends yellow towards H4, then rushes red to black.

Sorry, it was +24QP, +23TP in the Doubles, my bad.

Discussion about what time everyone is starting tomorrow. Dave seems to be in a good mood.

Wilkinson is on a break with blue ball, currently approaching H2.

The commentary hut is emptying as various spectators feel the urge for satiating their hunger. Dave Maugham is working out the draw for tomorrow. Apparently exactly 24 people have qualified.

Seeding for the Opens Singles has been decided: 1st Bamford, 2nd Fulford, 3rd Chapman , 4th= Maugham/Death 4=, 6th= Trimmer, Rothman, Avery
.

Patel and Dawson have missed out on seedings, as have a number of other big names who fell before the qualification hurdle

Wilkinson has gone to 4b with a contact leave. No signs of the axe coming out just yet

List of those who have qualified:
Aiton, Avery, Bamford, Brown, Burrow, Chapman, Dawson, Death, Fulford, Goacher, Grimsley, Higgins, Hopgood, Kibble, Maugham, Mounfield, Noble, Patel, Rothman, RM Smith, Trimmer, Wicks, Williams, and the winner of Giraud/Wilkinson.

The commentary hut fills again as everyone reading our commentary in the bar realises that Maugham is doing the draw. Each draw is being greeted with some excitement.

Giraud taking the contact with yellow from C3, rolls going to C2 ball and sending croqueted ball SW of H2. He is short of C2 and misses in to corner.

Wilkinson playing black, rolled yellow E of 2 and ended up near H2 hampered from blue and called a ref. Gets the roquet and does a great pass roll to approach H1.

The draw has been completed and will be announced on the CA website shortly. There are some interesting matchups...!

Wilkinson is trying to get his break and TP under control to take the last qualifying spot. Wixy and I will leave you here for tonight, as everyone is disappearing for food. I will try and run some commentary tomorrow morning as I am no longer in the main event. The Plate games will start sometime in the afternoon once some lawns become free. See you all tomorrow around 10!