On lawn 3, Death has a 4-ball break to finish from hoop 6. Bamford took a very aggressive last lift against 6 and peg, leaving his 4-b ball on hoop 6.
None of the other qfs which feature all 8 of the seeds have started.
Reports are that the hoops are much more difficult today

Burch v Patel starts on lawn 2.
Burch has hit partner 3rd turn and is trying to go round from a Duffer.
Approaches hoop 1 from 5 yards West- a bit too far and he retires to C4

Death takes the first +17 against Bamford

Patel hits a 12 yarder from B-Baulk.
Patel fails hoop 1
Burch misses from h2 to h1
Patel picks off his 6 yarder and has a break
Patel fails hoop 2
Burch can't see very much of it and opts to shoot at partner near h4.........misses
Patel runs h2 and shoots at partner at h3........hits
Patel goes to Burch's balls near h4 and gets a rush to hoop 3. Needs to run a 5 foot straight hoop........fails
If it takes me as long to adjust to lawn conditions, our doubles semi won't be pretty.
Burch misses from h4 to h3
Patel makes hoop 3 and needs to rush to h4 from 5yards NW of h6. Does well and has made hoop 4 - his h5 pioneer is at the peg.

On lawn 1, Fulford appears to have laid a 15yard Duffer NW of the peg

Patel now has a 4-ball break and will probably go to 4-b.
I can't see C4 on lawn 1 and it appears all 4 balls and Mulliner are in that area

Mulliner has made h1 and has a good chance of a break.
Overcuts hist rush to h2 and needs to approach from 4 yards straight- good shot - should be away now

Mulliner seems to have missed a 7 footer after h2.

Fulford misses from h2 to h3 at partner

Mulliner shoots from 4y S of h2 to partner near C4.....................misses
Fulford has a 9 yarder at partner ..............hits, rushing it 7y E of c2

Death v Bamford game 2.
1. Death 10y N of C4
2. Bamford just S of c2
3. Death shoots at partner from C3......misses to just W of C4 - Bamford could shoot at that fairly safely.
4. Bamford goes to B-Baulk and shoots at partner.............hits quarter ball

Patel has reached 4-b with a contact leave

Fulford appears to have failed to take croquet from Mulliner in C4 - don't know whether he missed or take-off the lawn.
Mulliner is playing his h3 ball

Bamford fails to get a rush to h1 ad is making a leave.
Burch v Patel breaks for lunch
Mulliner has made h3

Mulliner rolls from h3 trying to send partner behind h4, but it hits the hoop and may be in the jaws!!

Mulliner croquets Fulford towars h1 and gets 4-5 foot position at h4. Looks at changing to Solomon grip for the jump, but turns it down and plays halfway to the boundary.
Fulford shoots from S of h1 to N of h2 at partner.........misses

The crowd gasp as Death shoots from S of h1 at Bamford near C2 and misses by nothing

Bamford turns down the c2 cannon and plays for a tight rush to h1 - that's what I would do

Bamford rushes 2 foot N of h1 - you have to rush south in these conditions

Mulliner's rush to h5 goes 4 yards past it. He approaches to 1 yard straight................he's through
Bamford runs h1 by 1mm to get a forward rush

Mulliner goes to 1-b
Fulford hits the lift

Burch does well to pick up a break off the contact, but fails h2.
Bamford is going round

I expect Fulford to go to 4-b trying to pop Mulliner to h3

Bamford has reached 1-b with a spread.

Happy birthday to Martin Murray!!

Patel is still lunching

Bamford lays up for his h1 ball - a sextuple or a mental error?

Lawn 3 is easier than lawn 2 where he declined a sextuple yesterday

Death lifts the Westerly ball and takes the long lift........hits

Patel shoots from h2 to h3 and hits with his 4-b ball
Death approaching h1 from 7 feet E..........perfect. How many hoops will be make? 8 or 9 with 2 pops is my guess

Patel lays up near c4 with Burch SW of h1 and NE of h2

Fulford look like he's going to give contact and not do any pops
Death pops h1 on the way to h4
Burch shoots at Patel who has moved 12y N of C4...................misses

Fulford treating these playing conditions with plenty of respect. They are excellent.
Death attempts the 2nd pop before h6, but it fails. Should be fine to peel after 1-b
Fulford is going to 4-b and giving contact.

Death fails 1-b from inches.
This gives Bamford all the balls with his h2 ball, but he needs to do some work to be able to peel 1-b after h2

Surprisingly, Patel opts not to rush to h1 with partner and is getting a better h2 pioneer. This will mean that the standard tp will be tricker, but if he overhits his rush to h1, he'll be on a better line (as well as having a good h2 pioneer). Patel rushes to 3y SW of h1..........slightly underapproaches.........runs h1 firmly taking plenty of wire.........ideal.
Bamford has played a couple of good strokes and now has a standard sextuple. The downside is that he's having to rush-peel Death through 1-b

This should be an interesting turn from Reg. I fancy him to finish -he is really good when in standard positions. Probably 65% I would estimate

Patel has made h2, but without a rush. He's sending partner to h4 -sound tactics to focus on a 4-ball break and ge 2 breaks up. One peel on partner is much handier at super advanced than normal.
Bamford peels 1-b by 15 yards
Mulliner appears to have played a good shot off the contact and has a rush to 1-b and a ball at 2-b.
Bamford peeling 2-b from 5 feet straight before h4..............gets front of jaws - rush peelable,but angled
Mulliner didn't get a rush on 2-b pioneer and needs t approach from 3 yards...........1 yard straight hoop.....bad miss.

Bamford rushes 7 feet E of h4, approaches to 2 feet straight and clubs it off the lawn.
Fulford should have all the balls in the world for a standard tp

Patel has now set up for a delayed tp - obviously feeling more comfortable. A poor stroke sends his 1-b pioneer 3 yards too far and fails to get a rush on peelee. He'll now be peeling from 5 feet 15 degrees.
Bamford rush-peels 2-b

Patel fails the 4-b peel leaving a longish rush to h6, which he hits a yard too far, but copes
Reg now peeling 3-b going to his h6 pioneer which is 7feet WNW of he peg
Fulford has made h1, but left himself a 6 yarder a partner near C3, which he hits

Patel abandons the tp and tries to maximise his chances of making 1-b
Bamford sends his 1-b pioneer into the poeg and it finishes a yard E of the peg. Peels 3-b by 10 yards, but doesn't get a rush to h6. Needs to approach from 3.5 yards......good shot 3 foot straight............crashes it through off the boundary.

Reg makes 1-b and has his 2-b pioneer at 4-b for the peel
Patel now going to the peg with no peels
Fulford did not get the 4-b peel after h3....now has a delayed tp.
Bamford peels 4-b and rushes well to 2-b

Bamford peels penult before 3-b - really good stuff
Patel has reached the peg and left one of Burch's balls on h6 and the other is in the middle of the E bloundary with him near c4 - that's an excellent leave, good turn

Burch shoots with his h1 ball in the middle of the E boundary from where it lies at Patel..............misses. Patel just needs to rush to 4-b for his finish

Patel rushes to oppo at h6 6 and now has to roll up to 4-b from 3 yards...........a bit short........fails 4-b

Bamford peeling rover from 1 foot almost straight. Needs a stop shot peel and jump because he hasn't got a side ball. Bad shot finishes in the front of the jaws and he's quite close for the jump.......jumping.........copes but hits his deep ball. He has a ball 7 feet NNE of rover so should be able to get the bombard peel

Burch fails h2

Bamford needs to bombard peel at 45 degrees from under 2 feet. Fails to peel, peelee finishes in the jaws. It's going to be an awful leave from here. I've seen Bamford peg himself out from here which is even worse
Fulford peeling rover straight to finish his tp............+19tp

Patel joins near 4-b, wired from Burch
Burch shoots from h2 to c4...........misses
Patel rushes partner to penult and takes off to c4.Nw needs to rush to 4-b

Patel rushes 2 yards W of 4-b, approaches to straight but slightly long.................smashes it through
Bamford still hasn't played another stroke

Bamford croquets partner 2y NW of penult and pegs himself out. I really don't like this.
Death should be able to get a 3 ball break to the peg, lay up guarding c1 and Bamford is in all sorts of trouble

Patel runs peniult by 9 yards and has a 2 yarder or a 5 yarder. Hits the 5 yarder, but then fails t get a rush to rover. Approaching from 4 yards straight..........2.5 feet at 10 degrees..............seems to hit it off the bevel and hits the outside of the left hand wire!!!!
A really bad turn from Death sees him fails to get in front of his hoop. Bamford is at h3 and Death is at h1. Bamford has a hampered stance.

Bamford plays to c4

Burch fails to get a rush to h1 from all the balls and now needs to approach from 5 yards............rolls to 2 feet 20 degrees...............runs it smoothly.
Death has made hoop 1 without a rush. He'll be rolling towards c2 for a leave

Death lays up on the N boundary near C2
Bamford shoots - max distance.......................misses

Death gets a cannon with his h2 ball and now has a 3-ball break

On lawn 2, Burch is going to peg Patel out giving contact when Patel is for rover and peg. This is unusual.

On lawn 1, Fulford has had the first break against Mulliner

Death's break is becoming slightly ragged. His 4-b pioneer is just N of 4-band he doesn't look like he'll get a rush out of 3-b

Death is approaching 3-b from a foot North and is playing for hoop and roquet.......does well, rushing it 3y NE of the peg. He's taking off the the poor 4-b pioneer

Approaching 4-b from 5 feet East,,,,,,,,,a bit short......slams it through

Burch has pegged Patel out. He has left Patel near the middle of the E boundary and has placed his balls just N of c4 and in c2
Death reaches the peg and has laid up guarding c1 with Bamford near c3

Will Bamford shoot? It's a long shot and it should lose the match if he misses............Bamford thinks

Bamford is shooting...........to stay in the Championship............

Snicks it!!!!!!!

Patel rolls up to rover from near c4 and hits h4 - dreadful.
Tries to take position from 5 yards- good shot, but probably open for Burch.
Burch takes the 9 yarder................hits. This should be interesting from here. He's hit with his h2 ball and could even finish!!

Bamford finishes + 7 to take the match to a decider

Burch makes a leave
Patel is shooting - this is aggressive with multiple lifts to come..............misses
Game 3
1. Bamford 9y N of h4
2. death just S of c2
3. Bamford shoots at partner from -Baulk.......hits in the middle.

3. Bamford goes to the ball in C2, but rolls it way too far, leaving a 15 yarder from A-Baulk. I'm surprised he's joining up.
4. Death takes his 15 yarder at partner from A-Baulk..............middles it

Patel reports he had a huge double

Burch overcuts his rush to h3 and has a 2 yards side approach............good shot

Death has made h1 ad has a 4-ball break
Burch has a perfect 3 ball break to take the first having been rover and peg down

On lawn 1, Mulliner is starting a tpo
Burch takes the first +3
Death has gone to 4-b 4th turn in the decider

Bamford does well to make h1 off the contact and now has a long forward rush with balls just out of c2 and c3. Hits his rush mid-pace to 3y SE of h2. Approaches h2..........slightly short..........he has played to get a rush to c2 after the hoop rather than take a 6 yarder at Death's h1 ball. Slams through h2 to the boundary and has a cut-rush to c2 - rushes 3y S of it. Needs more good shots to get a break

Bamford continues niggling the balls into the lawn. He'll be going to 1-b again I think

Bamford makes h3 and all the balls are within 6 yards of the N boundary

Burch won the first +2, not +3. They are playing a c2 opening in the second and Patel has missed partner 3rd turn

Mulliner completes all the peels of the tpo before 3back and then walks after a 9 inch hoop stroke at rover and blobs. Fulford now has a lift to position with 4 ball between rover and peg

This has been a top turn from Bamford who is now on hoop 5 with all the balls

Burch hits 4th turn and has made h1 without an easy chance of making h2

Fulford is continuing his 4 ball break for the match

Bamford reaches 1-b with a spread. Can death hit and finish? Bamford has laid up for his h1 ball to sextuple.

Burch rolls off h2 from c2 - really good shot......followed by a really bad hoop stroke that doesn't threaten the hoop.
Patel misses 6 yarder.
Burch takes 11 yarder at partner........misses

Death lifts his h1 ball on the W of the lawn and takes the long lift..............hits
Patel takes a 25 yarder at partner..............misses

Burch takes an 11 yarder at partner.............hits
Death has a standard tp if he can make h1. He's rushed 4 yards SSE of it.........approaches well and runs it with a rush. That should be the match

Death jawses the 4-b peel after h3
Burch has a break

Death goes back to peelee after h4, but finishes N of it and opts to rush it back S of h5 to croquet back up

Fulford win +15 to take the match

Death has left his 1-b pioneer at 4-b as an escape ball

Death rush-peels 4-b after h6, croquets it to penult getting a rush to 1-b and rushes perfectly to 1-b

Death turns down the eponymous roll before 2-b and has good control

Burch has reached 4-b with a contact leave

Death rush-peels penult before 3-b - this is looking solid

Straight rover peel to finish. How close can he position the peelee? Sending it to rover from between 4-b and penult...............5 feet in front

Good deep ball. Good side ball. Rushes to 15" straight..............

Doesn't irish!!!! Peel jawses and he needs to go vertical. Fails the hoop, getting the peel. Reg has all the balls for a sextuple, but there's plenty of pressure on that as a turn

Bamford plays his h1 ball. Makes no attempt to set up the balls for a 1-b peel before hoop 2. Fulford v critical.

Bamford peels 1-b to 4y NE of c1 after h2

Chapman reaches the semi beating Maugham +16tp +18tp.

I'll need to recharge my battery now.

Bamford failed 1-b with 3 peels done and Death finished +11

Burch is on 2-b with 1 peel of his tp completed

Burch finishes +26tp

that's all from me today