Tomorrow sees the start of the 15th World Championship and second staged at the National Croquet Centre (NCC) in West Palm Beach, Florida.

From the low scores in the qualifiers it suggests the conditions are likely to be pretty similar to 2009 too. Fairly fast lawns with challenging ‘super hoops’. Jumping through a hoop is particularly tough compared to a normal hoop. (So players need to adjust where they approach to a little to err more on the side of long and straight rather than short and angled.) Good hoop running will be essential to make much progress.

Last time the event was here in 2009 Reg Bamford won beating Ben Rothman 3-0 in the final and without being taken to a decider in any earlier round. Reg went on to win the next world champs in Adelaide in 2012 taking his total to 4, but lost last time out at Surbiton in 2013 in the semis to Paddy Chapman.

Reg is arguably the greatest player ever to pick up a mallet, with a machine like execution and precision. There are no signs of his powers diminishing. With no other past winners in the event, if he can get to the final you would expect Reg to have a big psychological advantage for getting past the winning post compared to the other finalist. With the withdrawal of holder Robert Fletcher, Reg is strong favourite to be crowned world champion.

Runner-up last time Paddy Chapman had a good season last year in England winning the President’s Cup and finishing runner-up in the Opens. Paddy has a great temperament and his win over Reg in 2013 will give him confidence if they meet. Paddy plays with a really nice rhythm and will be one of the best players to enjoy spectating at the event.

If Reg and Paddy fall the field looks pretty wide open.

David Maugham starts with the second highest ranking in the field just ahead of Paddy, but David’s record in this event speaks against him with just a bronze medal back in 1997 to show from all his appearances, despite frequently being seeded in the top 4.

James Death is the most flamboyant player in the tournament capable of the most outrageous brilliancy and power, but with usually some errors thrown in too. James is a fun player to watch, but get there early. Blink and you might miss him. James took Reg’s scalp at last year’s Opens and Reg (and any of the other top seeds) will breathe a sigh of relief if the lowly ranked James isn’t in his part of the draw.

Stephen Mulliner and Samir Patel are England’s strongest other players. Stephen has been runner-up a couple of times most recently in 2008 and is good at raising his game against strong opposition. Samir has some history of doing well in major knockouts having reached the final of the Opens twice.

The US’s best hope is Ben Rothman. Ben was still a pretty raw talent when he got to the final back in 2009. Ben has had a lot more success at the NCC since then and will certainly feel at home in the conditions. I’ll be interested to see how the US’s newest hope Matthew Essick and former prodigy, Sonoma winner Jacques Fournier go in the event.

Australia’s competitors include Ian Dumergue the 2015 NZ Open Champion and their current Open champion Greg Fletcher.

The first hurdle for the 80 competitors is 3 days of block play. There are 10 blocks of 8 players with the top 4 progressing. Generally 6 wins/9 games will get you straight through to the knock out, but if you are unlucky a play-off might still be needed. 5/9 is likely to put you in trouble either knocked out or in a play-off, though some fortunate players qualify outright. 4/9 will normally see you eliminated, but last time at the NCC in 2009 Chris Farthing reached that total, luckily finished in a multiple tie for 4th in the block, survived two rounds of play-off and then made it all the way to the semis and a bronze medal.

New Zealand’s two rapidly improving youngsters Felix Webby and Edmund Fordyce are good bets to perform at a much higher level than their block seeding suggests.

Good luck to everyone competing.