Good morning from Cheltenham.

The sun is shining.

Compressed version of yesterday evening's Doubles semi:

Murray made 9 hoops
Chapman made 9 hoops
Maugham made 12 hoops
Chapman finished.

The match finished about 8pm, which was deemed too late to start the final.

So today we shall have David Maugham v Jamie Burch (best-of-3) (lawn 8)
with Maugham & Chapman v Mulliner & Suter to follow.

We shall also have the Y doubles final: Kibble & Jones v Grimsley & Cumming (lawn 4)
The Plate finals Gott v Giraud (1), Hayes v S. Murray(2), then play-off.
The Z: Semis: Myers v Wise (3), Taylor v Denyer (6)
And there is a 3rd place play off Suter v Death (7)

As I arrived, there were 5 people around hoop 4 on lawn 8.
How many players does it take to set a hoop?
Prize for the best punchline...

Burch and Maugham practising.

Good barbecue last night. It saves one a deal of money, as otherwise you'd eat out and drink too much.
Instead I did some research (ie looking at Statto's site).

David Maugham is World no. 9

He has won the President's Cup 5 times, the Men's 4 times, and the Open once.
He has won 34 "Regionals" (If I count aright.)
I am surprised to note that apart from his 2005 win, he has reached only one other Open Singles final, losing to Reg Bamford in 1993.

Jamie Burch is World no. 4.

He won the Men's in 2013, the President's cup in 2014.
Also 3 Southerns and 2 Westerns.
This is his first Open Singles final.

Burch & Maugham have played 26 ranked games, Maugham winning 15.

They have met once before at the Open, in a quarter-final here in 2016. Maugham won 3-1.

I was at a pub quiz once,and one member of the team was relied upon for 2 answers.
Both questions were True / False, he got both wrong.
I pointed out we'd have done better with a monkey.

I predicted 2 out of 4 quarter-finals, thus matching the monkey.
Yesterday I got 0 out of 2 semis.

So in order to beat the monkey, I need 3 predictions today.
I'm going with experience on each.
France, Djokovic, Maugham.

Handily Burch is practising lagging from 3rd to 4th corners, so I reckon that's about 12 Plummers.

Some inexpert guessing:
With the first break, both will be conceding contact. 9 hoops from Burch, maybe only 8 from Maugham?
From yesterday's play, both will be going for TPOs given the opportunity.

This is a best-of-3 match, as Maugham is also in the Doubles final.
They maybe about to start.

Open Final: David Maugham v Jamie Burch Game 1

G1T1 Burch Black 9y N of 4th corner.
G1T2 Maugham Yellow just S of 2nd corner.
G1T3 Burch Blue at Black from A-baulk. Misses to 1' N of Black.

G1T4 Maugham Red at Blue / Black from end of B-baulk. Not close. Red comes on 2 or 3y South of Black.

G1T5 Burch Blue rushes Black 3y S of Red. Stops Black into lawn.
Cut rush of Red has right direction but short, finishing 1y W of 2.
Take-off to Yellow, not hard enough to get rush.
Optimistic pass roll approach does not reach hoop 1.
Blue off E bdry, near Black.

G1T6 Maugham Yellow has 15-yarder at Red. Misses.

G1T7 Burch Blue bonks Black across lawn to within 3y of Red by 2.
Take-off to get rush to 1 is short. Cuts Red 8' NE of 1.
Takes off to 1y in front. Fails hoop.

G1T8 Maugham Red hits Blue out of hoop. Good approach. Runs hoop beyond Blue.
Black ball is 4y SW of hoop 2, Yellow ball just W of B-baulk.
Reasonable croquet stroke, Blue 5y SW of hoop 3.
Makes 2 off Black.

After 2, Maugham Red takes off to Yellow. A good croquet stroke and he now has break.

My only companion in the tea-room is Stephen Mulliner.
We are discussing unfinished Opens.
The last was 2010. The final game of the Doubles final was played at Surbiton, Mulliner & Robert Fletcher winning.
In 2003, Clarke&Fulford v Maugham&Avery reached Game-all Break all by dusk, then agreed to share the title. So nobody won it.
Some counting suggests that Suter is the 9th partner with whom Mulliner has reached the Open Doubles Final.

Maugham coming to end of his break.

G1T8 Maugham Red has made 9 hoops. Yellow ball nr 2nd corner, Red in 3rd corner, Black 3yW of 4th corner, Blue ??y N of 4th corner (Burch has already picked it up!)

G1T9 Burch Blue plays thick take-off from Yellow going to Blue.
Take-off trying to get rush on Black, goes off lawn 2y E of Black.

Sorry more like 8' E of Black.

G1T10 Maugham Yellow at Red (23y). Hits centre-ball.

G1T10 Maugham Yellow taking off from 3rd corner to Blue. Leaves 4- or 5-yarder. Hits.
Stops Blue into lawn. Rush on Black to 1 good, maybe 1y too hard. Runs 1 beyond Black.

After 1, Maugham Yellow rushes Black off S bdry. Croquets Black to 4, Yellow stays on lawn by 6".
Has two yard rush on Blue, trying to cut it to 3rd corner(?).
Misses Blue entirely.

Blue and Black are cross-wired! Wyliesque stuff from Maugham.
Red is 2y W of 3rd corner, Yellow 3y W of B-baulk.

G1T11 Burch Black plays off S bdry.

G1T12 Maugham Yellow at Red (14y). Misses

G1T13 Burch Black knocks Blue a bit more into lawn. Take-off to Yellow. Rushes Red to 1, stops 2y NE of hoop.
Approaches to 1y. Black takes a fair bit of wire, but it's thru with a useful rush to Yellow.
Now has long hoop 2, 5 or 6'. Makes it.
Blue is only a yard or 2 in lawn near 4. Not a good enough pioneer for Burch to try TPO.

G1T13 Burch Black is in full control. Has reached 6. Aiming for 9 hoops.

Yellow is for hoop 2, so usual ploy of leaving partner ball near 2nd corner would be foolish.
Burch has spotted this, so it's the Yellow ball that's rushed into 2nd corner after 1-back.

G1T13 Burch Black makes 2-back off Blue.

After 3-back, Burch has 4y "rush" on Red to 4th corner. Doesn't middle it, but maybe it was never going to 4th corner?
Burch Blue croquets Red to peg-high, 2y in from E bdry. Blue into 4th corner, Black into 1st corner.

Not a great leave. Maugham has chance to roll out of 4th corner getting rush on Red.

Clips; Maugham Red 4-back Yellow 2; Burch Blue 1 Black 4-back

G1T14 Maugham Yellow takes contact on Blue. Roll is short. Approaching 2 from 12 yards. 7' hoop...

Maugham Yellow fails hoop into jaws. May well be runnable next time.

G1T15 Burch Blue swinging toward Yellow (16y). No umpire, so Yellow not in jaws after all, sorry.
Blue hits Yellow off W bdry

G1T15 Burch Blue croquets Yellow 3y SW of 2, rushes Red into B-baulk.
Thick take-off sends Red to 3, Blue then hits 7-yarder at Black.
Can he approach 1 from 1st corner?

Not really, has 3-yard hoop, bounces off.

G1T16 Maugham Yellow has 16-yarder at Black. And indeed Red. Chooses to shoot at Black. Misses.

G1T17 Burch Blue taps Black, takes off to Yellow on S bdry. Taps Yellow.
Stop-shot approach. Blue 1y in front of hoop, but Yellow is croqueted into Black, so no hoop 2 pioneer.
Blue runs 1, with rush on Black toward 3 ish.

G1T17 Burch Blue ignores Yellow for now, rushes Red to 2y NE of 2. Makes 2.
The Yellow ball is 11y W of peg. Some good shots now would set up standard TP.

Red, the hoop 4 pioneer, is 5y NW of 4.
Yellow is rushed behind 2.
This isn't perfect, but it may be good enough.
G1T17 Burch Blue lining up peel of Black thru 4-back after 3. It's best part of 2 yards from hoop.
Burch forgoes rush on escape ball so he can play the peel straight (ie without pull).
Peel goes through.

After 3, an excellent croquet stroke from Burch rewards him with full control.

G1T17 Burch fails 6.

Clips: Maugham Red 4-back Yellow 2 ; Burch Blue 6 Black penult.

Red has a very short roquet, but Yellow has a 6-yarder for the finish.

G1T18 Maugham Yellow hits Red.

G1T18 Maugham Yellow croquets Red to 3, knocks Blue thru 6. Rush to 2 is OK, he's through, standard TP coming up.

G1T18 Maugham Yellow peels Red thru 4-back after 3.

Maugham Yellow gets no rush after 4, and croquets Black nearer 2 than 6.
He does get forward rush after 5.

A few good strokes overcome the poor hoop 6 pioneer.
G1T18 Maugham Yellow peels Red thru penult after 6.

G1T18 Maugham Yellow tries to peel red thru rover before 3-back.
Red is in jaws, Yellow goes a bit far so now approaching 3-back from 8'.
Runs 3-back by 1'. Calls for ref. The good doctor is on.
Sweep shot. Blue is 3 yards away. Tricky...

Maugham Yellow misses Blue.

G1T19 Burch Blue hits Yellow

Clips: Maugham Red rover Yellow 4-back ; Burch Blue 1-back Black penult.

G1T19 Burch Blue croquets Yellow to 2-back, rush to 1-back isn't great.
Rolling up to 1-back from 7y. Makes it.

After 1-back Burch rushes Black near penult, takes off to Red, rush-peels Red thru rover.
Burch will be trying to finish here, with pegging out Red as a fallback.

G1T19 Burch Blue peels Black thru penult before 4-back. Peelee thru to peg-high.

There are two alternatives here. Some players rush peelee to rover, and take off back to penult.
Others rush peelee north of penult, and stop-shot it back to rover.
Burch is a member of the first group, at least on this occasion.

G1T19 Burch Blue has the balls where you'd want them, deep ball, side ball, and 1' in front of rover.
Peelee goes well thru to near deep ball, Blue stops in jaws.
Just needs rush to the peg...

Rush looked pretty close to rover, and he's about 10' away.

Burch wins Game 1 +5

G2T1 Burch Blue 9y N of 4th corner.
G2T2 Maugham Yellow just S of 2nd corner.
G2T3 Burch Black misses Blue from A-baulk.

I thought the other aspect of SuperAdvanced rules ("No supershots") was meant to promote different openings...

a variety of openings is what I meant.

Black must be closer to Blue than in Game 1, as Maugham is shooting from A-baulk.
G2T4 Maugham Red hits Black.

G2T4 Maugham Red rushes Blue to about 4y from 1. Approaches to 6'. Rejection.

G2T5 Burch Blue is about 9y from Red, so instead shoots at Black (20y). Misses.

G2T6 Maugham Red misses Blue (17y)

G2T7 Burch Blue stops Red 4y shy of 6, rushes Black into hoop 4.
Good roll-up gives him chance of hoop 1.
Rejects to 2y N of 1st corner.

G2T8 Maugham Red at Yellow, misses (23y).

G2T9 Burch Blue has 8-yarder at Black. Hits, rushing it 5y NE of 6. Takes off to Red.

G2T9 Burch Blue rushes Yellow 4y N of 1. (not due North). Takes off to 6 or 7'.
Runs hoop to N bdry.

Blue is only 2y W of B-baulk, so has 8-yarder at Black. Hits.
Good take-off yields rush on Yellow. Blue rushes Yellow 5y S of 2nd corner.

Take-off from Yellow to Red a bit short. Copes. Hits 5y return roquet on Red (Yellow obviously a bit too far away.)
Ignores Yellow for now. Good croquet stroke gives Burch 3-ball break.

G2T9 Burch Blue seems to stick in 3, but no it's just through. And he can see Black. Lucky boy.

G2T9 Burch Blue has 3-balled round past 1-back. Now swaps Black for Yellow.

Yellow is the 3-back pioneer, but it's well short, a yard or so East of rover.
The Black ball is 3y E of 2nd corner.

G2T9 Burch Blue has made 9 hoops. After 3-back, rushes Yellow south.
Yellow now 1y W of 4th corner, Red 7y N of 4th corner. Black ball is 3y E of 2nd corner, Blue into 3rd corner.
Except that Blue hits corner-peg on E bdry, so that it comes on sufficiently South for Maugham to have rush.

Maugham wasn't paying attention, but realises in time where Blue is.
G2T10 Maugham lifts Yellow to 3rd corner, rushes Blue to Red, Red to 2nd corner.

G2T10 Maugham Yellow rushes Black 4y past 1. 4' hoop...

... runs 1 by 18", hits 4-yarder at Black. Croquets Black to 3, Yellow to Red, a tad short with both balls.
Take-off approach to 2, runs it too cleanly for rush on Red.
Blue is still 7y N of 4th corner, so difficult to set up standard TPO.

G2T10 Maugham Yellow has short angled 3, runs it too well, hits 9-yard return.

After 3, big roll from N bdry sends Black near 1 (for POPping purposes) and Yellow within 5y of Blue. Hits Blue.

G2T10 Maugham Yellow fails to POP Black thru 1 before 5.

For the first time this week we have POP tactics. (The early tricky conditions rendered them unnecessary.) (POP = Peeling OPponent, other than with a view to pegging out)
To put it simply, it's easier to finish from 1 & 4-back than 2 & 4-back, and 3 & 4-back makes it a lot harder - no time to set up standard TP.
Maugham will be hoping to POP Burch to 3 & 4-back

G2T10 Maugham Yellow rush-POPs Black thru 1 before 6.

G2T10 Maugham Yellow POPs Black thru 2 after 1-back.
This POPping makes achieving a contact leave trickier.

After 2-back, Maugham Yellow rushes Red into 2nd corner. That sorts out the leave problem.

G2T10 Maugham Yellow rushes Black off 8y S of 3rd corner.
Makes 3-back off Blue, rushes Blue back to S bdry, 3y W of 4th corner. Takes off, Yellow into 1st corner.

Clips: Maugham Red 1 Yellow 4-back ; Burch Blue 4-back Black 3

G2T11 Burch lifts Black to Yellow in 1st corner. Croquets Yellow 3y WSW of 3, snicks 7-yarder at Blue.
Take-off approach to 3, excellent line, 3 yards past.
Runs hoop to within 9y of Blue, misses Blue.

G2T12 Maugham Yellow back to 1st corner.

An expert suggests that one virtue of POP tactics is to instil confidence in the player.
Also a careless opponent might not notice and approach the wrong hoop.

Burch has dolly rush to 4.
G2T13 Burch Black makes 4, rush to 5, runs 5 to 1' in front of 6!
Can't hit Blue by the peg, so runs hoop to boundary, hits Red in 2nd corner (15y).

G2T13 Burch Black plays good croquet stroke from 2nd corner to get rush on Blue.
Rush a bit wide. Just runs 1-back. Hand on hip. Can't hit Blue. Retires to 4th corner.

Clips: Maugham Red 1 Yellow 4-back ; Burch Blue 4-back Black 2-back

G2T14 Maugham lifts Red, taps Yellow out of 1st corner. Big roll, Red stops 1' shy of Blue.
Now pass-roll approach to 1. I think Red caught up with Blue. Anyway he has viable hoop, 5' 15 deg.

Maugham fails hoop 1.

G2T15 Burch Blue rushes Red thru 1. Good croquet stroke yields rush on Yellow to 4-back.
Aiming to make 3 hoops here.

Yellow is left 4y NE of peg. Red is rushed off 2y S of 2nd corner. Blue off 4' N of Black (which is in 4th corner)

Clips: Maugham Red 2 Yellow 4-back ; Burch Blue peg Black 2-back.

Expert thinks these are most challenging conditions for an Open final for 10 years.
Imagine if it hadn't rained on Friday!

G2T16 Maugham lifts Red to A-baulk. Shooting at Black (13y).
This is what is known in the trade as a "last shot".

Maugham Red hits Black.

G2T16 Maugham Red makes 2 off Yellow. Black is 2y NW of 4th corner. Apparently that's sufficient to go for the standard TP.

G2T16 Maugham Red peels Yellow thru 4-back after 3, gets pretty good rush South.

News from lawn 4 - Y Doubles final (best-of-1, superAdvanced)
Kibble pegged out Cumming with both other clips on 4-back.
Significant interaction thereafter. Not yet finished.
Apparently 4-back is rock-hard on a sheet of glass. One player failed to approach from 2".

Maugham approaching 4 from 3y to the side, sending Black to 5.
Good approach, tries to run hoop to boundary, goes thru by 18". Can still hit Blue.

G2T16 Maugham Red trying to bombard Yellow into peeling posi before 6. Good shot earns applause.
After 6 Red clubs Yellow back out of peeling position.

G2T16 Maugham Red peels Yellow thru penult before 3-back.

An unwanted hoop-and-roquet after penult means Maugham has just 3 balls with which to organise straight rover peel. Should cope though.

But peel only just goes through, so Maugham is forced into hoop-and-roquet.
Trying 12-yard peg-out...

Maybe he couldn't see peg, but he's croqueted Yellow within twelve inches of peg!
Now Red rushes Blue about 4' from Yellow.
Lining up combination peg-out....

Maugham has placed his mallet to indicate where Blue should hit Yellow.
But peg-out fails.
Thinking....

Maugham Red plays scatter on Blue.

Clips: Maugham Red peg Yellow peg; Burch Blue peg Black 2-back.

Balls Blue 5y E of A-baulk, Yellow 3y S of 6, Red 11y N of 4th corner, Black irrelevant

G2T17 Burch lifts Black to A-baulk, rushes Blue 3y N of 4th corner.
Blue is croqueted to 3-back, Black bit shy of Red.
Take-off to get rush on Yellow is poor.
Overcuts / underhits rush.
Approaching 2-back from 4y SW of peg.
Good shot, one yard hoop....

G2T17 Burch Black runs 2-back to boundary.

Burch now needs 4 hoops on a 4-ball break to become Open Champion.

Much crowd discussion of Maugham's options at the end of his last turn.
Most seem to think pegging out Blue was called for.
Possibly pegging out Blue going to Black, so he can still go for combination peg-out with Black.

Burch fails 4-back from nowhere.

G2T18 Maugham has trivial finish.

Maugham wins game 2 +5

Players having brief lunch. Hoopsetter is on.
I'll just finish my pudding and then try to find out what's happening in the various consolation events.

Hoopsetters paying particular attention to hoop 3 (aka 4-back).

Plate: Draw Final: Alain Giraud beat Daniel Gott +5
Process Final: Sam Murray beat Sarah Hayes +7

Z: Two chaps didn't turn up so it was a straight final:
Joel Taylor beat Andy Myers +10

Y doubles paused for lunch. Currently rover (Jones) & peg (Kibble) v 4-back (Grimsley) and box (Cumming)

Suter is 1-0 up on Death in the third place play-off.
That match will only continue until the end of the Singles final, as Suter is in the Doubles final.

The only time I as a Mangler ever persuaded two chaps to have a 3rd place play-off was the Men's Championship 1997.
It was Robert Fulford v David Maugham, and is noteworthy as Fulford won with 3 sextuples, the first ever such match.

At the Worlds 2005 here I wanted to persuade James Death and Jonathan Kirby to have a 3rd place play-off, with the winner taking the last place in the upcoming MacRobertson Shield team.
They weren't interested (and Kirby got the Mac place).

Speaking of the Mac, I imagine Suter has played himself into contention for the next England team. Next Mac is 2021.

Daniel Gott has also impressed this tournament.

David Maugham v Jamie Burch, third and deciding game

G3T1 Maugham Yellow 13y N of 4th corner.
G3T2 Burch Black duffer tice, 1y NE of 6.
G3T3 Maugham Red at Yellow from B-baulk. Misses (just) into 4th corner.

G3T4 Burch Blue at Black (9y). Hits, rushing it 4y ESE of 1.

G3T4 Burch Blue approaches 1 directly. 4' hoop, 20 degrees...

G3T4 Burch Blue makes hoop 1, rushes toward 2, fails hoop 2.

G3T5 Maugham Yellow hits Red (12y).

G3T5 Maugham Yellow fails to get good rush to 1 with Blue.
Approaching from 10y W of 4th corner. Short. Back to 4th corner (with Red). Leaves useful rush.

G3T6 Burch Blue misses Red (and maybe a sliver of Yellow) (20y).

G3T7 Maugham Yellow makes 1 off Red.
After 1, has rush to Blue nr 4th corner, but horribly overcuts it, so ignores Blue for now.
Nice croquet stroke and he is in good shape.

G3T7 Maugham Yellow digs out Blue after 4.

Y Doubles final: Cumming & Grimsley beat Jones & Kibble +3

G3T7 Maugham Yellow has reached 1-back.

I think the Plate play-off (Giraud v S.Murray) is on lawn 6.

G3T7 Maugham Yellow is making 2-back off Blue, with Black at 3-back and Red nearby. No balls in corners yet then.

G3T7 Maugham Yellow fails 3-back.
This leaves trivial pick-up for Black.

Clips: Maugham Red 1 Yellow 3-back ; Burch Blue 2 Black 1

G3T8 Burch Black taps Red, takes-off to Yellow, but touches it in the croquet stroke - disaster!
Now has to play croquet stroke from jaws. Elects not to peel Yellow, so no LQPO.
Makes 1 yard hoop 1, but nothing resembles a hoop 2 pioneer.

G3T8 Burch Black is now rushing Red to 2 from near 4, with peg in play. Excellent result.

G3T8 Burch Black is thru 3 with a 4-ball break.

G3T8 Burch Black misses short return roquet after 3.

G3T9 Maugham Red hits a 10-yarder.

I'm sending a runner to discover how short Burch's miss was.

Almost nobody saw the miss, but someone thinks a couple of yards.

G3T9 Maugham Red has run 1 with good chance for a break.

Hard to see a way back for Burch, I fear.

G3T9 Maugham Red has 5-yard return roquet after 2.
Copes, and has correct parity to attempt quadruple peel.

Maugham's first hoop 5 pioneer went too deep, about 4y past, so he puts out another.
Might make the 3-back peel more difficult...

...especially as he has a 4-yard return at it.
Maybe Maugham was never thinking of the quadruple.
Just make sure of the twelve hoops.

G3T9 Maugham Red fails 6.

Clips: Maugham Red 6 Yellow 3-back ; Burch Blue 2 Black 4

G3T10 Burch misses 3 or 4-yarder. Sad to see.

G3T11 Maugham Red can resume 4-ball break.

G3T11 Maugham Red has reached 4-back.

There is a table outside laden with trophies.

G3T11 Maugham Red has reached the peg.
Black is croqueted 10y NNE of 3-back. Trying to put Blue cross-pegged from 9" away.
Red rushes Yellow off W bdry. Leaving rush from a few feet N of peg high.

Clips: Maugham Red peg Yellow 3-back ; Burch Blue 2 Black 4

I've been outside for a quick squint, and it's not a perfect leave.
Blue can hit Black as it lies, but not all of it.
Burch has lifted Blue, to B-baulk for some reason.
Surely it's a shorter shot from A-baulk?
G3T12 Burch Blue misses Red. (20y)

Maybe Burch thinks the West boundary is dodgy?

G3T13 Maugham Yellow taps Blue, stops it in lawn, good rush on Red, good rush on Black.
He is thru 3-back, and will surely finish.

Through 4-back...

Through penult...

Through rover...

Maugham made rover off partner ball, so still needs to rush to the peg from eight yards.

David Maugham beats Jamie Burch -5 +5 +22

David Maugham is Open Champion for the second time.

Mark Suter and James Death shared two games, and third place.

The Doubles Final will be starting imminently.
No there'll be a prize-giving first.

I shall be commentating on the Doubles Final.
(I booked to stay in Cheltenham tonight as I wrongly assumed the football would be an evening kick-off.)
I shall start a new commentary.
So bye for now, see you in a few minutes on a new page.