Good morning from Cheltenham.

Cloudy at the moment, though I dare say sun will burn through. Chance of torrential thunderstorm later.

Rogue contractor has apparently tried watering the lawns. Luckily he'd only done 9 and 10 before he was stopped.

Today we have the Singles quarter-finals.

Robert Fulford v Mark Suter (lawn 6)
David Maugham v Samir Patel (L7)
Jamie Burch v Stephen Mulliner (L5)
James Death v Paddy Chapman (L4)

I'm not usually given to prognostication, but I have a bold and elegant prediction:
After these 4 matches, there will be nobody in both Singles and Doubles Championships.
The nicety is that there is exactly one player in each match still in the Doubles.

Jenny is also commentating. She will be doing the matches on 5 and 6, while I'll be doing 4 and twisting round to see 7. (I'm in manager's hut between 7 and 6, Jenny just outside.)

Lawn 4 has started.

T1 Death Yellow at hoop 5, bouncing off 6y SE of peg.
T2 Chapman Black just S of 2nd corner.
T3 Death Red misses Black (13y)
T4 Chapman Blue misses Black / Red. Not sure how far apart Red and Black were, sorry.

And on lawn 7

T1 Patel Blue 12y N of IV
T2 Maugham Yellow 1' S of II
T3 Patel Black at Blue from B-baulk, missing to 1' W of IV
T4 Maugham Red at Black from A-baulk. Hits.

Death has break on lawn 4.

T4 Maugham Red croquets Black to 5y SSE of 3, hits Blue, rolls up to 1 from E bdry, over-approaches (nearer corner than hoop), fires off into 2nd corner.
T5 Patel Blue misses Yellow (and sliver of Red) to E of Red
T6 Maugham Yellow tries to tap Red to get yard-line cannon, fails to get cannon.

T6 Maugham Yellow now approaching 1 off Black from about 5y. Gets in front, bounces off to 2y SW of hoop.

On lawn 4, Death has made 9 hoops with Red. Yellow is near 2nd corner. Blue and Black across 4th corner. Red into 3rd corner.

L7T7 Patel Black hits Yellow to near 1st corner. Red is near 2nd corner, Blue is W of 6. Plays roll, Yellow to 9yS of 2, Black cuts Blue 7y from 1, rolls up, angled hoop, through. Picks up break.

L4T6 Chapman lifts Black to B-baulk, croquets Red to 1... it's hit the hoop. Is it in the jaws? No, Chapman looking if there's somewhere on E bdry which does not give wiring lift.
Black hits Blue. Back to look at Red.

L4T6 Chapman rolls Black and Blue some yards North. Leaves long (4'+) rush for Blue to Yellow.

L4T7 Death looks at Yellow's target, now down to Red, has his mallet in the air. Maybe short break in Jenny's commentary. Wiring lift has been granted.
Death lifts Red to B-baulk, misses Black to 4th corner. Ref said some of Red was in jaws!

L7T7 Patel has failed hoop 4.

L4T8 Chapman Blue rushes Black 8 or 9y E of Yellow. Makes no progress this turn.

L7T8 Maugham misapproached 1, retired to N bdry
L7T9 Patel has 11-yarder, maybe technically wired by 5. Blue hits hoop 5, spins off near hoop 3.
L7T10 Maugham Red misses Yellow (11y), joining up.
L7T11 Patel Blue hits Red promoting (or rather demoting) Yellow into 2nd corner.

Lawn 4 (may have missed turn or two) Chapman Black has made 2, has 3-ball break. Yellow will need digging out of 4th corner.

Patel has manouevred Red 1' N of 2, wired from Yellow near 1. Blue has rush on Black nearish to 4th corner.
L7T12 Maugham Yellow hits Blue (19y).

L7T12 Maugham Yellow has 5' hoop 1... runs it to North boundary.

L4 Chapman has all the balls, and is through hoop 5.

L7T12 Maugham Yellow has 10' hoop 2, runs it onto lawn 6.

Sorry, not 10', maybe 3 or 4'. Where did I get 10' from? I think I was thinking,it's between 3 and 4', then randomly thought so between 3 and 4 yards then.

L7T12 Maugham Yellow has failed an angled hoop 3.

L4 Chapman has made 9 hoops, and has left balls in all 4 corners. Very nice. Yellow in I, Blue in (or near) II, Red in III, Black in IV.

L7T13 Patel has picked up break with Black.

L4 Death lifts Yellow into contact with Blue. Croquets Blue some yards S of 1, going to Red. Leaves rush to Black from 3rd corner.

L4 Chapman Blue misses Red / Yellow.

Sorry, my mistake, Chapman has hit Yellow. I'm no good at body language.

Chapman leaves Yellow nr 3rd corner, Red nr 4th corner, Black / Blue nr 2nd corner with rush for Black to 1.

Death Yellow misses Black.

L7T13 Patel's Black clip is on 4-back.
Contact leave: Black in 2nd corner, Blue in 4th corner. Yellow (for 3) 7yS of 3rd corner 1' in lawn, Red (for 1) 10y N of 1st corner.

L7T14 Maugham lifts Red into contact with Black, thick take-off to Yellow, tries to cut-rush Yellow to Blue but misses ball entirely. Yellow and Red close though.

L7T15 Patel Blue misses Red /Yellow to N bdry.

Lawn 4, Chapman Black makes 1 off Blue. Red is near 4th corner, Yellow near 2nd corner. Must have played brilliant croquet stroke to get rush on Yellow. Makes 2, rushes Yellow 8y N of 4th corner. Another excellent croquet stroke to get rush on Red, and he has chance of standard TP.

L7T16 Maugham Red rushes Yellow near Blue.

L7T16 Maugham Red has leave. Blue 3yW of 1, Black 1y E of 4, dolly rush for Yellow to 3 from nr 3rd corner.

L4 Chapman fails hoop 3.

L7T17 Patel Blue misses Red.

L7T18 Maugham Yellow makes 3, fails 4.

L7T19 Patel takes most aggressive shot of Blue at the 2/3 of Yellow he can see from 7y. Your correspondent umpires as Patel hits wire and goes off S bdry behind hoop.
Maugham has his break back.

L4 Death had leave, now has break. May be able to pick up standard TP.

L4 Death has ambitious and unsuccessful peel attempt after 3. After 4, he tried to rush ball near 3rd corner, but hoop 4 got in the way and the ball ended up near W bdry! Some good strokes re-established break, may be able to get in peel after 6.

L7T20 Maugham Yellow to 4-back.

If you're following live, the game on lawn 6 has got interesting. I won't mind if you switch to Jenny's commentary.

So lawn 7 is 1 and 4-back each. Contact leave is OK.

On lawn 4, Death had another speculative peel attempt. His would-be 2-back pioneer crashed into the peg, but he's coped with that.

L7T21 Patel's Black falls off lawn next to Maugham's Red.

L7T22 Maugham Red makes 1, but misses 10y return.

L4 Death has reached 4-back and peg.

L7T23 Patel Blue hits Black (12y). Good chance of break now.

Death has a defensive leave. Chapman misses 13-yarder.

Death plays good rush to 4-back from W bdry. I'd normally say "should finish now" but in these conditions he may finish now.

Conditions easier than yesterday morning. Lawns not mown overnight, still some moisture in the air.

Death wins Game 1 +14

L7T23 Patel lining up 4-back peel after 3. Peel is jawsed, striker's ball goes too far and is hampered by hoop / ball on his escape ball. Ref is on. Another ref is on. Player copes.

Patel Blue has rush-peeled black thru 4-back. Now approaching 1-back off partner from just behind. Attempts hoop and roquet, but insufficient follow through sees Blue stick in hoop as Black is "rushed" into A-baulk.

Sorry just east of A-baulk.

L7T24 Maugham Red is for 2, so should pick up break, and maybe standard TP.

Lawn 6 is so interesting Alison is attempting live streaming:
https://www.facebook.com/AlisonJonesCroquet/

L7T24 Maugham Red peels Yellow thru 4-back after 3.

They've restarted on lawn 4. Chapman won the opening. Now has ref on for hampered shot after 1. Sweep shot, gets it. Work needed to establish break.

L7T24 Maugham Red runs 5 too well, but should be OK. May not get penult peel after 6 now.

Death missed something on 4,Chapman should pick up break now.

L7T24 Maugham Red attempts death roll peel of penult before 2-back. Pioneer is 5y N of hoop. Peel fails, 4y short of pioneer, misses it into A-baulk.

L7 clips: Patel Blue 1-back, Black penult; Maugham Red 2-back, yellow penult.

These matches are best-of-3, as I should have mentioned. They might have been even had the Doubles been completed.
4, 7, 10 time limits. I'm sure I remember they used to be 4, 7, 9. Though a recent (=in last 20 years) change in regulation has Time after time deducted from next game.

L7T25 Patel elects to make 2 hoops with Black.

L4 Death is on lawn. Blobs 1 off partner. Chapman hits the ball out of the hoop from 25 yards.

L7T25 Patel has cross-wired Maugham's balls at 1-back. and left himself a rush from 4y W of 4th corner.

Patel follows advice once given to me by David Openshaw, if you're anywhere & penult, make 2 hoops, powerful leave (no lift) and then finish...

L7T26 Maugham Red misses Black.

L7T27 And Patel may finish... he's through 1-back with the balls where they should be.

On lawn 4 Chapman has the first break in game 2.

Patel wins Game 1 +9

Lawn 4 clips: Death Red 1, Yellow 1; Chapman Blue 4-back; Black 3.
Contact leave: Black near 2nd corner, Blue in 3rd corner, Red & Yellow across 4th corner.

Both matches breaking for lunch.

I'm not lunching, lawn 6 is too exciting!

You may have read Sam Murray's email on Sunday:
"Conditions at Cheltenham, whilst not lethal, are certainly taxing.
I shall buy a bottle of champagne for anyone completing a sextuple during the tournament."

I think Sam's safe, unless Fulford or Death has an evening Z game.
I'm only aware of one SXP attempt, by Death on lawn 9. He failed 5 with peelee in middle of 2-back. Oppo rush-peeled thru 2-back, then a helpful error enabled Death to finish from 5 and 3-back.

Lawn 6 is now pausing for lunch, while both players revise their understanding of the Impasse regulations.

The Open Championships, and 2 quarter-finals break for lunch before finishing their first game!

About to resume on lawn 4. Death contemplating a cut rush to 3rd corner as the balls lie.

Reminder:
Lawn 4 clips: Death Red 1, Yellow 1; Chapman Blue 4-back; Black 3.
Contact leave: Black near 2nd corner, Blue in 3rd corner, Red & Yellow across 4th corner.

Death Red cuts Yellow 3y W of Blue. Takes off a few inches short of ideal, but able to cut Blue 6y from 1. Approach not good enough, back to mother.

Chapman Blue finesses near 4th corner.

Death Red rushes Yellow 5y S of 1 (from nr 3rd corner). Red makes hoop, no rush. Big roll putting Yellow N of 2, Red toward Black. Red has fallen off lawn next to Black.

Chapman Black makes 3 off Yellow, no rush. Red is 3y NW of 4. Big roll is overhit slightly. Misapproach, hits 8-yarder at Blue. Take-off approach to 4. Makes it.

Chapman Black fails 5.

Death lifts Red to A-baulk, misses Black but hits Yellow in the background. Makes 2 and has break.

Death Red fails short angled 3.

Chapman Blue hits 7-yarder.

And they've resumed on lawn 7.

T1 Patel Blue 8y N of IV
T2 Maugham Yellow 1' S of II
T3 Patel Black at Blue from A-baulk. Misses.

T4 Maugham Red hits Blue from A-baulk. Rushes Black into 2nd corner.

Chapman made 2 points in his turn, one for Blue, one for Red.

T4 Maugham Red needs to approach 2 from 2nd corner. Overhits it, retires to E bdry.

Death has hit something with Yellow. Ends up failing 1 off partner

T5 Patel misses long shot.
T6 Maugham Yellow hits Red (5y)

T6 No hoops made.
T7 Patel misses 18-yarder

Death now playing Red. Optional approach to 4. Rejects badly.

T8 Maugham Red now has 7' hoop 2 for a break. Makes it.

Chapman now in with Black.. He's thru hoop 5. May be able to organise penult peel after 6.

Chapman's 1-back pioneer is deep. It is not improved when it is rushed into rather than beyond. The Blue ball is hovering by penult, but no peel attempt yet.

Maugham has reached hoop 6 in full control.

Maugham has blobbed hoop 6.

L7G2T9 Patel has 4-ball break with Blue.

Chapman going for penult peel before 4-back. Not through yet.

It is starting to rain.

Chapman hoping for straight double peel finish. Irish peel goes well.

Chapman Black doesn't get position for straight rover peel. Leaves the Red ball in front of rover. Yellow is near 4th corner. Blue with rush on Black to rover from middle of West bdry.

Not sure what's happened to my fellow-commentator. Fulford has won the opening in Game 2 on lawn 6.

Patel has reached hoop 6 in full control.
Well it's only fair I try to reciprocate the commentator's curse.

Death lifts Red to A-baulk, misses Yellow

Chapman wins game 2. Decider to come.

L4G3T1 Death Yellow 9y N of IV.
T2 Chapman Black just S of 2nd corner.
T3 Death Red misses Yellow from A-baulk.

The rain is steady, not torrential as yet.

T4 Chapman Blue at Red / Yellow from B-baulk. Makes it a target. Misses.

L7G2T9 Patel made 9 hoops, usual sort of contact leave

L4T5 Death red makes 1 off Blue, hoop and roquet.

L7T10 Maugham makes a leave.
L7T11 Patel misses 30-yarder

L4T5 Death has made one hoop and a leave.

Sorry had to visit main hut, so not sure how many turns have elapsed.

L4T7 (probably) Death has break with Red.

L7 Clips haven't moved, Patel's probably missed a shot or two.

Patel misses shortish (6y, but not whole ball) roquet.
Clips still:
Patel Blue 4-back, Black 1; Maugham Red 6, Yellow 1

Death making 2-back

Death Red to 4-back. Yellow in 2nd corner, Red in 3rd corner.
T8 Chapman lifts Black into contact with Yellow. Take-off to Red, croquets Red into the peg. Black hits Blue, leaves rush from 4th corner.

Maugham in with Red, fails 2-back.
Patel misses 8-yarder.

Rain has eased, but there's just been some thunder not too far away.

Maugham makes 1 with Yellow, then misses a 4-yarder at his hoop 2 pioneer.

Death returns from hut.

Death takes aggressive shot: Yellow from 2nd corner at Red by peg. Hits.

Patel misses something, Maugham misses 9-yarder.

Now the rain is really starting.

Death has made 2 with partner ball at 3.

Lawn 7 is pausing for the rain.

Death has finally decided to pause / don waterproofs. No, I misinterpreted that, he's carrying on.

Lawn 6 clips; Fulford 1 & 4-back, Suter 1 & break (4 now).

On lawn 5, Burch won the first, and is on the lawn. Fair amount of interactivity.

Death Yellow has rush-peeled Red thru 4-back after 6.

Eugene is filming in the hut. I think it must be on the internet somewhere. I'm not good at technology.

Death Yellow has just made 4-back. I think 2 peels have been done.

Death wins with a triple peel.

Suter has equalised with OK contact leave.

So the first part of my prediction is fulfilled. I thought it a bit risky to bet against the World Champion, but hey. Other matches going as predicted, except for Fulford v Suter.

A drenched but happy Jimbo enters the hut.

So this rain means farewell to testing lawns. It was fun while it lasted.

On lawn 5, Mulliner has pegged out Burch (but not himself!), both other clips on 1.

Lawn 7 has restarted. Maugham has failed 3-back.

Lawn 6, Fulford had leave off contact, Suter has missed 22-yarder.

Still raining, but not as hard.

Burch has approached 2 from 2nd corner, made it, tonked toward 3, underapproaches, copes. If he can approach 4 from 4th corner....

Fulford played nicely to set up break for Red. Sadly Red is for 4-back, Yellow is for 1. Oppo intervenes after Fulford goes through 1.

Burch fails 4.

Fulford's only consolation is that he's joined up with Suter's forward ball (Black).

Mangler's back in the hut. Might save twisting my neck to see lawn 7 for a bit..

Mulliner seems to have tried hoop 2 and missed it entirely. I could be wrong...
Burch runs 4, hits Red on the N bdry.

Suter has leave, Fulford corners.

Burch's rush to 5 has a not unfriendly bounce off the peg. He's through hoop 5. Can he hold this 3-ball break together?

Suter has stuck in 1. Fulford hits 20-yarder.

Burch doesn't get rush after 1-back. Pretty good croquet stroke, but he's still approaching 2-back from 4 yards. Good shot.

Fulford misses ball in hoop from a difficult position. Suter makes hoop, can turn round and hit Yellow, and can rush Black to 2.

Burch has reached penult.

Suter has made 2 and is wondering how and when to dig Red out of 3rd corner.

Burch wins game 2 +13 and the match 2-0.

Suter plays pretty good croquet stroke out of 3rd corner. Possibly could get peel after 3. Not if he sticks in it though. Suter looking at it suspiciously. Asking for a referee.

Maugham is on as referee, testing for wedge. No wedge. Ball is replaced, and Fulford is in with Yellow (for hoop 1).

Fulford Yellow has cut rush on Red from near 4 to 1. Good shot.
In his prime this game would be good as won.
Standard TP coming up...

Lawn 7 clips:
Maugham Yellow 2, Red 3-back; Patel Black 1-back, Blue rover.

Fulford Yellow peels Red thru 4-back after 3.

Off for some tea.

Fulford has arrived at a straight rover peel. Copes.
Fulford wins game 2 +14tp. 1-1. Decider.

Meanwhile Maugham has taken advantage of the easier conditions, going to peg with 2 peels.

Oops, Maugham fails to approach rover.
Clips: Maugham Red penult, Yellow rover; Patel Blue rover, Black 1-back.

Still raining.

L6G3T1 Fulford Yellow 10y N of IV
T2 Suter Blue 18" N of IV
T3 Fulford Red from B-baulk. Misses Yellow / Blue to 2' E of IV
T4 Suter Black at Red from A-baulk. Misses into IV.

T5 Fulford Red calls for ref to see if he gets a yardline cannon. I reluctantly emerge.
"Are you going to hit it hard?"
"Not really."
It in fact did not reach the boundary! (It's slow now.) No cannon
T5 Fulford Red makes 1 off Yellow, too much wire, but copes with roquet. Yellow croqueted to 5y S of 3, Red to Black. Blue is peg-high, 2y in from E bdry.
Thick take-off looks reasonable. 4' rush. Has to tonk it hard - that would have been in the hedge 3 hours ago. Thru 2 and has break.

L7 clips have moved a bit.
Maugham: Red rover, Yellow rover; Patel Blue peg, Black rover

Fulford fails 3.

T6 Suter Black misses Blue (6y).
T7 Fulford can resume break with Red.

Patel's final croquet stroke sends Red off lawn.
Maugham misses 20+ yarder.
Patel hits 7-yarder. May finish.

Patel fails 1-back.

Fulford still going round. Won't be going to penult now, as he did this morning.

Mangler's machine is playing tunes. ELO's Mr Blue Sky at the minute. And there are indeed patches of blue, just not above us. Rain almost stopped.

Fulford has left Yellow near 2nd corner. Red has made 9 hoops.

Sorry, cocked up clips a minute ago. Black is for 1-back on lawn 7.
Maugham has made rover, pegged 2 balls off. Red is in jaws of rover. Black is 5y in front of 1-back.

Patel attempts 1-back, not bad but spins to the side.

Maugham equalises.
Decider

L7G3T1 Patel Blue bounces off 5, 2y NW of hoop.
G3T2 Maugham Yellow to middle of E bdry
G3T3 Patel Black at Yellow from near 3rd corner. Misses into 4th corner.

G3T4 Maugham Red at Yellow from A-baulk, misses.
G3T5 Patel Blue hits Red (15y)

T8 Suter has had leave.
T9 Fulford Yellow hits 25+yarder at Black (target?)

T9 Fulford Yellow overhits cut rush of Blue to 1. Approaching from 4y. Good shot. Rushes Blue most of the way to 3rd corner. (Did I mentioned the lawns are slower?)

T5 Patel Blue ends up approaching 1 from 4th corner. Black goes off N bdry.

T9 Fulford Yellow takes off to 2 from N bdry. Runs hoop to bdry. Misses 6-yarder.

T6 Maugham misses 7-yarder.

T7 Patel Blue hits 20-yarder. Chance of break.

T10 Suter Blue hits short roquet near 3rd corner. Rolls Yellow 3y E of 2. Hits Black to end of B-baulk. Red ball is 3y SSE of 3.

T7 Patel fails to get going.

T10 Suter rolls Black to 8y E of peg, fails to get good rush on Red. Approaching 1 from 2y W of 4th corner. Not in front.

T8 Maugham misses long shot.

L6T10 Suter sends Blue off to middle of E bdry.
L6T11 Fulford Red into 4th corner.

L7T9 Patel Blue blobs 1 off Red
L7T10 Umpire on. Maugham has 4-yarder at ball in hoop. Misses ball and hoop.

L6T12 Suter Blue is approaching 1 off Yellow from 7y E of hoop. Short. Back to mother (N of 2)

Patel fails 2.
Maugham mksses 23-yarder.

misses

L6T13 Fulford Yellow into 3rd corner.

Patel Blue makes 2, hits Yellow in 2nd corner.

L6T14 Suter Blue rushes Black 3y W of hoop 4. Rolls Black toward E bdry, hits Red. Approaches 1, overhit this time. Back to mother.
L6T15 Fulford Red at Black / Blue. Hits hoop 5, goes off 10y W of 4th corner.

OK I shall try to adopt Jenny's convention and have one game in italics. The one on lawn 7. Let's see if I can remember how to do it.

Patel Blue has 4-ballbreak, is at hoop 6 at the moment.

Hey that worked. I'll probably mess it up soon.

L6T16 Suter Black approaches 1 off Red, makes 6' hoop. Needs good croquet stroke now. (Red is 8y S of 2.) Not bad, rushes Red 2y W of 2.
Only just runs it, but he's lucky. Similar posi to last game, needs good stroke out of 3rd corner. Excellent!

Patel has reached 4-back with OK contact leave.

L6T16 Suter Black has speculative peel attempt on Red after 3. Red bounces off to 1' E of hoop.

Maugham has leave

L6T16 Suter Black still intent on TPO. He'll be having a go before 6.

Patel Blue at Yellow (20y). Misses

L6T16 Suter Black after 5 rushes Blue too close to Red, so can only stop it 6y W of 3 (his 1-back pioneer). Peel fails.
Now approaching 6 from 4y E, croqueting other ball to 1-back. Angled hoop, copes. Now thinking.

Maugham Red makes 1 with chance of break.

Sunshine!

L6T16 Suter Black is making 1-back, thus conceding contact.

Maugham approaching 2 from 2nd corner, has 5' hoop, runs it to boundary. Maybe TPO?

L6T16 Suter Black has made 2-back off Blue. Red ball is still on wire of 4-back. Cannot see how he can get contact leave before 4-back, so maybe conceding lift to posi??

Maugham Red attempts peel of Blue thru 4-back after 3. Fails. My observer reckons his heart wasn't in it.

L6T16 Suter Black will not be making 4-back. Croquets Red 2y shy of 2nd corner. Blue is 5y N of 1st corner, in lawn a bit. Black off 1' N of 4th corner.

Maugham Red peels Blue thru 4-back before 6, despite pull. Then grovels thru 6, can only hit peelee (Blue), misses.

L6T17 Fulford lifts Yellow to 1st corner, takes on 5y "rush" of Blue toward 2. Blue is hit, but goes off 10y N of 1st corner.

Patel misses 7-yarder.

L6T17 Fulford Yellow takes off to Red, short. Has leave between 3 and 3rd corner.

Maugham Red hits something, makes 1-back.

L6T18 Suter finesses Blue near 2nd corner.

L6T19 Fulford Yellow makes 3, rushes near Black, approaches 4 putting black to 5. Fails 4' hoop.

Maugham Red makes 3 hoops, has sort of NSL.

L6T20 Suter Black hits Yellow (6y). Takes off to Red, rushes it just N of 1st corner. Tries to stop it 2 or 3y in lawn, wired from Yellow. Joins up.

Clips: Fulford Red 4-back, Yellow 4; Suter Blue 1, Black 4-back.

Patel lifts ball not at 4 to A-baulk, misses.

Maugham Red 4-back, Yellow 1; Patel Blue penult, Black 1.

L6T21 Fulford Red misses between Blue and Black. The Yellow ball is 5y E of 4, and a bit North.

L6T22 Suter Blue does something technical, and is now approaching 1 off partner. Through with a rush. Potentially finishing turn.

Maugham also has potential standard TP.

Just had a quick squint at Yellow, it's nearer boundary than I thought, less than 1' in-lawn.
L6T22 Suter Blue makes 2 off Red, then rushes Red close to Yellow.

Maugham Yellow has peeled Red thru 4-back after 3.

L6T22 Suter Blue has 5' peel attempt on Black after 3. Hoop 4 pioneer is halfway between hoop and E bdry, so he'll be wanting rush on escape ball, which means pull.
Peel looks to be jawsed.

Maugham Yellow has peeled Red thru penult after 6.

Sam Murray has just started a plate game with David Goacher, so the doubles semi won't be resuming this evening, even should these two turns both finish. Goacher is still in both halves of the Plate.

L6T22 Suter Blue fails to get Northward rush after 4, and after 5, so good croquet stroke from near 5 required. And good it is.

Maugham Yellow fails to peel Red thru rover before 3-back.

L6T22 Suter Blue rush-peels Black thru 4-back before 6. Hoop 6 pioneer is 3y E of hoop. Has angled peel attempt after 6. Again looks to be jawsed.

Maugham just has to negotiate straight rover peel.

*Maugham's peel goes thru by 8 yards. Just needs decent rush to peg. That should be good enough. Eight or nine feet away...

Maugham wins game 3 +16tp.*

I told you I'd mess up the italics.

L6T22 Suter Blue rush-peels Black thru penult after 1-back.

Suter's 3-back pioneer not ideal: 4y NW of hoop. Thick take-off rover peel ends just in front of hoop.

The Mangler's deadline for the Doubles has passed anyway.

L6T22 Suter Blue doesn't get rush after 3-back, sensibly ignores Black for now. Penult pioneer a bit deep, but he's good at 4-back.

L6T22 Suter Blue continues to ignore Black. Makes angled penult off Yellow.

L6T22 Suter Blue irish peels rover from the jaws, with third ball beside. Black went about 3y through. Rush to the peg....

L6T22 Suter Blue has an 8' peg-out.

Suter wins game +14tp, match 2-1.

Suter dumps Fulford out of Opens for 2nd time. First was in 1987!

Lawns a lot easier now, but if Manager goes for best-of-5 in the Singles semis, he himself may have 14 games to play! But it's always unwise to second-guess the Mangler.

Bye for now, 10am start tomorrow.