Good morning from Hurlingham.

It is not raining.
In fact the sun is threatening to break through the clouds.

The final is between Matthew Essick (USA) and Robert Fulford (Eng.)
Best of 5 match, lawn 4.

Essick and Fulford have never played each other.

And that's my first error of the morning, but it doesn't count as it was deliberate.
Essick and Fulford contested the Golf Croquet World Championship Final last year.
Essick won 3-1. And in the semi-final he beat Robert Fletcher, just as he did yesterday.

Essick is bidding to be the second player to win World Championships in both Association and Golf Croquet.
The first was Reg Bamford.

OK that's enough Golf Croquet.

Fulford has played in eight World Championship Finals, winning five.
Essick played in the last Final (2020, Melbourne), losing 1-3 to Bamford.

Fulford's last final before today was in 2005.
His last appearance in the event was 2013.

Even Statto would be impressed by these stats:

It seems that 2001 was the last time Fulford was last alphabetically of the world semi finalists: Bamford, Bulloch, Fournier, Fulford. That year was the last time Hurlingham hosted the championships.

The following year, 2002, was the last time Fulford was first alphabetically: Fulford, Garrison, Johnston, Wislang.

This year is the second time Essick was second alphabetically.
2020: Bamford, Essick, Fletcher, Wilson
2023: Balding, Essick, Fletcher, Fulford

Thanks to Joel for his research.

Both players are here, but they haven't started their warm-up.

Two of the consolation finals also involve an American and an English player.

The players are on the lawn.
Essick is checking out the hill at 6 / penult.

Let's hope for some exciting two or three ball endings.
Like Bamford v Wade on Wednesday, what a game that was.
There have been at least three TPOs attempted in the last two days, but none was completed.

Fulford is also re-acquainting himself with any dodgy hoop approaches.

Essick is practising rolling both balls to hoop 3 from 4th corner.
That shot gives you a chance of a standard TP when oppo misses the long lift.

Now an irish peel at rover is being essayed.
I expect we'll see a few of those today.

There's no urgency to start.
I guess with a notional 9:30 start time, the match starts about 10am.
Rather than a 10am start time, when we don't get underway till quarter past.

The toss has happened, the players shake hands and we're off.

World Championship Final 2023

Matthew Essick v Robert Fulford

G1T1 Fulford Blue 3y SW of peg.
T2 Essick Red 11y N of 4th corner.
T3 Fulford Black at Red from A-baulk. Hits!

Fulford's croquet stroke sends Red near 2, but Black has gone too far for a rush to 1.
He's now taking off to hoop 1 from near hoop 5.

Sorry not a take-off, but a roll.
That looks a long hoop. Eight feet maybe, I'm not in a good position to judge.

Fulford hasn't taken his stroke yet.
He walks to the end of B-baulk to see how much of Red is visible. Might not be much.

Fulford shoos away a pigeon that was also interested in first hoop.

At last the hoop stroke.
And it's a good one!
The hoop is run to the north boundary.

T3 Fulford Black has an 8-yarder at Red.
Hits.
The blue ball is 9y N of hoop 1.
Croquet stroke yields eight foot rush on Blue.

Fulford's rush is not as straight as he wanted.
He's now approaching 2 from 5 yards to the side.
A smattering of applause suggest he's in front.
Fulford runs three foot hoop 2 to the boundary, giving him useful rush.
The hoop 3 pioneer is 8y south of hoop.

T3 Fulford has short angled hoop 3.
Runs it by 2 or 3 feet.
Has hampered 6-yarder.
Ref is on.
Black snicks Red.
Fulford has three-ball break.

On lawn 3 Debbie Lines has had the first break v Kyle Maloof.

Fulford has just run 1-back with a nice pioneer at 2-back.

Lawn 3 is the Bowl Final (best-of-3)

T3 Fulford Black has made 9.
It's his usual leave after a 3rd turn ball round:
Blue is 14y north of 4th corner, with a one yard rush on Red to Black on the west boundary, 11y south of second corner.
Applause for a good start to the Final.

T4 Essick Yellow is shooting from B-baulk (19y)...

... Essick hits Blue.!

Yellow hit Blue on the right, so it's not too far from Red.
Essick Yellow rushes Red 2y north of Black.
His rush to hoop 1 ends up 3y south of hoop.
Essick is thru 1, with a rush to Blue.

In his 627 games, Essick has triple peeled the opponent 24 times, winning 17 of those games.

Black is currently at hoop 4, so I think the TPO unlikely here.

Essick is thru 3 with a 4-ball break.

Essick will be making 9.

Essick is leaving Blue at hoop 2, wired from B-baulk.

On lawn 3, Debbie Is on a delayed TP.

Lawn 4, Black is left at hoop 4, wired from A-baulk.

Yellow rushes Red off east bdry.
Rolls the balls 13y N of 4th corner, leaves 5' rush pointing west.

This is called a New Standard Leave.

T5 Fulford lifts Blue to B-baulk.
Shooting at Red (20y)....

... Fulford misses to just west of 4th corner.

Essick has disappeared.
Here he comes.

T6 Essick Red rushes Yellow 6y into lawn.
Takes off to Blue.
Here's the crucial croquet stroke...

... I give that 8 out of 10.
Blue is 3y north of 2,
Red has cut rush on Black.

Essick overcuts rush, he's taking off to 1 from six yards.

Runs hoop to north boundary.

After 2, Essick Red rushes Blue south of 5.
Blue is sent to 3, Red rushes Yellow 4 yards from Black, which is 2y W of 5.
Take-off slightly overhit, rush to 2 is undercut.
Another take-off approach from six yards.
Six foot hoop...

... is run to the boundary.

A couple of good rushes and he'll have a standard TP.

Sorry he hadn't got the rush on Black I thought he had.

He'll in fact need a couple of good rolls.

But he's not trying to roll to 3, settling for delayed TP.

Essick stops to remove a garment.
The sun is out.

Essick Red is makng 4 off Yellow.
He's setting up the 4-back peel before 6.

T6 Essick Red tries to peel Yellow thru 4-back before 6.
Yellow appears to stop in the middle of the hoop.

Debbie Lines completes her triple peel.
She's playing well this week, back to her peak form of the mid '90s.

T6 Essick rush-peels partner thru 4-back after 6.
He's got Black as a good 2-back pioneer.

T6 Essick Red gets forward rush after 3-back.
Red peels Yellow thru penult before 4-back.

Essick Red makes 4-back.
Yellow is 2y N of the peg.
Essick is lying down in an attempt to asses any hill.
He opts to croquet Yellow to rover rather than rush it there.
Does it wiell.

At rover, Essick has a deep ball and a side ball.
Peeling from ~18" in front.
Irish peel sees both balls thru.

Essick just needs to rush to the peg from 15 yards.

Two yard peg-out.

Essick wins game 1 +17tp v Fulford.

Best-of-5.

That was a tidy turn once he'd picked up the break,

Essick is pacing the lawn as Fulford returns from the house.

G2T1 Essick Blue 4y SW of the peg.
Fulford places Red on A-baulk, the goes to collect his cap.
He assures me he hasn't deemed!
T2 Fulford Red at Blue.
Misses to 2 or 3y east of 2nd corner.

T3 Essick Black at Red.
Misses on the left.
Leaves a target.

T4 Fulford Yellow at Red / Black from B-baulk.
Hits Black.

T4 Fulford Yellow runs hoop 1 by twelve yards.
Which is where he'd left Red just in case.
He has 4-ball break.

My expert predicts ball to 4-back.

My expert is correct.

T4 Fulford Yellow has made 9.
Diagonal spread with Blue at the peg.

T5 Essick plays Blue as it lies, he must be able to see some of Black.
Hits!

T5 Essick Blue takes off to Red / Yellow, hits hoop 2!
Has 13-yarder at Yellow, hits!
Yellow now 4 or 5y south of Red.

Duff take-off doesn't get rush.
Blue rushes Red off north boundary.
He's taking off to hoop 1.
This is the longest approach i've ever seen.
Blue ends up level with 1.
Back to black near 2nd corner.

T6 Fulford Red at Yellow (23y).
Misses to 4th corner.

T7 Essick Blue rushes Black near 5.
Takes off to Red.
Yellow is maybe a yard in-lawn, 10y N of 4th corner.
Takes off to Yellow, nice.
Undercuts rush.
Approaching hoop from five yards.
Little jump shot and he's thru.
Hits 6-yarder, rushing it to Red!

T7 Essick has cannon.in or near 4th corner.
The other ball is 10y south of 2.
The cannon sends Black to 3, red to south of 5.
A few reasonable strokes and he runs hoop 2 to boundary.

One presumes a repeat of G1T4, ie just a ball to 4-back.

Lawn 3: Debbie Lines is going for another delayed TP.

Back to lawn 4, and Essick has inadvertently rushed a ball into the peg.
This means he won't have a pioneer at 1-back.

Essick Blue has four foot rush of Red to 1-back from by the peg.
Three yard approach and he's fine.

But the episode may compromise his leave somewhat.

Essick Blue is making 2-back off Black.
Red and Yellow are near 3-back.

T7 Essick Blue has made 9.
Leaves Yellow at 4, wired from A-baulk.
Red is 6y SSW of 2.
Black is 12y N of 4th corner.
Essick is disappointed about something.
Blue retires to 2nd corner.

I can only presume that Yellow is visible from A-baulk.

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

T8 Fulford lifts Yellow to B-baulk, shooting at Red.
Misses (14y).

T9 Essick Blue at Red (13y) Hits!

And rushes it off south boundary.

Essick Blue croquets Red to 3y SE of 2nd corner.
Hits Yellow. (at middle of west bdry)
Rolls Yellow 2y ENE of 1st corner.
Hits Black.
Leaves rush for Black to 1, I guess single ball for Yellow.

T10 Fulford Red at Black / Blue (28y)....

... Fulford misses.

Debbie Lines completes another TP to win the Bowl.

Her efficiency means that the Plate Final can go on lawn 3: Robin Brown v Nick Parish.

T11 Essick picks up break. Standard TP is beckoning to him.

T11 Essick Black peels Blue thru 4-back after 3.

Essick gets forward rush after 5.

Essick Black jawses Blue in penult after 6.

Essick is lining up rover peel before 2-back.
It's through!
Applause from the crowd, maybe 50 people.

Essick wins game 2 +17tp, leads Fulford 2-0.

Best of 5.

I'm getting hungry, but clearly the players aren't as we're cracking on.

G3T1 Fulford Black 4' WNW of 5.
T2 Essick Red just north of 4th corner.
T3 Fulford Blue at Red (13y).
Hits!

Excellent croquet stroke for Fulford and he has three ball break.

T3 Fulford has reached hoop 5 in full control.

T3 Fulford Blue has made 9.
Black is 13y N of 4th corner, with 1y rush on Red to Blue on west bdry 9y S of 2nd corner.
Same as game 1.

T4 Essick Yellow at Black from B-baulk (20y)....

... Essick hits!

Rushes it to 7y N of 4th corner.

T4 Essick takes off to Red, rushes it 2y N of Blue.
Yellow rushes Blue to 3y in front of 1.
Through hoop for the break..

Essick gets a little lucky sending his hoop 3 pioneer, it hits hoop 6, but flicks off to a few feet SW of hoop.

I mean hoop 3.

Essick has four-ball break.

Excitement! Essick is planning a 1-back leave.

Essick fails to get desired rush after 6.

Nice roll and he should get the leave he wants.

Blue is 4y S of hoop 1, Black 1y N of hoop 1.
Red is 2y Wof 3rd corner, in a bit.
Yellow is 3y SW of Red.

James Death has won the Shield.

T5 Fulford Black at Yellow (29y).
Misses.

Essick has made seven sextuples in his career.
So maybe he'll be concentrating on TPO.

T6 Essick Red croquets Black 3y E of 6, rushes Yellow off south bdry.
Yellow is sent 2y N of 1-back.
Red makes 1 off Blue.

T6 Essick Red rolls Blue to 3 going to Black.
Rushes Black off north bdry.
Makes 2 off Yellow.

Essick Red is lining up peel of 1-back after 2. Yellow goes thru by two yards.
Black is sent 3y east of 2-back.
He's definitely going for the sextuple!

After 3, Red rushes Blue off north bdry in font of 1-back.
Blue is croqueted within a foot of Black, but it's not in the way.
Doesn't get posi for 2-back peel before 4.
Makes 4 off Black.

T6 After 4, Essick Red sends Black to 1y NE of 6.
Lining up to peel Yellow thru 2-back before 5.
The peel is successful.

T6 After 5, Essick Red rushes Blue to west bdry 5y N of 1st corner.
Blue is sent 4y NW of 3-back.
Rushes Yellow over, three yards shy of 3-back.
Take off to Black.
Makes 6.

After 6, Essick Red rushes Black off south bdry, 11y W of 4th corner.
Sends Black to 3y N of 2-back, getting little rush on Yellow.
Rush is underhit so no peel attempt here.
Reasonable rush to 1-back, good approach.

After 1-back, Essick Red rushes Blue off east bdry 9y N of 4th corner.
Rolls to Yellow.
Rushes it (almost?) into the jaws.
Thick take-off sends Yellow a yard or two north of peg-high.
Red isn't ideal on Black, but he copes, running 2-back off the boundary.

Blue is 5y NW of 3-back.
Essick will need a straight triple peel to finish his sextuple.

Essick Red makes 3-back off Blue.
Yellow is a yard in front of 4-back.

After 3-back, Essick Red rolls Blue 3y W of 4-back.
Rushes Black near Yellow.
Black is sent 2y NE of 4-back.
Yellow is knocked to a foot in front.
Yellow goes through, but so does Red by an inch.
Yellow is the only ball Red can hit.

Yellow is in B-baulk, maybe 10y W of 3rd corner.
Essick lining up a very optimistic peel of penult.
He can play it straight.
Yellow misses penult, finishing near hoop 1.
The sextuple has died.

Essick is approaching penult from 4 yards. Short angled hoop, nice little jump.
He will concede contact at the end of this turn

T6 Essick Red makes rover off Black, rushes Black off west boundary. Leaves it there.
Rushes Yellow off east bdry near Blue.
Yellow sent to peg-high on east bdry (in-lawn by inches)
Blue is rushed to 4th corner.
Takes off, hits off in second corner.

Clips: Essick Red peg, Yellow penult; Fulford Blue 4-back, Black 1.

T7 Fulford lifts Blue (to the crowd's surprise).
Taking croquet off Red.
Takes off to Black.
Leaves rush for Black to 1 from 4y south of first corner.

T8 Essick Yellow to just west of 4th corner.

T9 Fulford Black makes 1, rushes Blue into Red.
No cannon, Blue is just east of Red.

T9 Fulford plays little take-off, rushes Red 2y SW of 2.
Sends Red east, runs 2 to boundary.
Hits Blue (5y). That was not centre-ball.

Nice croquet stroke from near 2nd corner.
Angled hoop 3 leads to 6-yard return roquet, copes.
Takes off from near 3 to Yellow in 4th corner.
Four-yarder, restalks, hits.
OK roll out of corner, makes 4 off Blue.
.

Fulford needs a delayed TP to win game 3.
Red is already an OK escape ball at 4-back.
After 4, Black croquets Blue to two yards in front of 4-back.
Makes 5 off Yellow, forward rush.

Fulford Black peels Blue thru 4-back before 6. Only by an inch or two.

Fulford Black runs hoop 6 off the lawn.
He scrutinizes the Blue ball.
Black rushes Red a few yards SE of 4-back.
Red is sent 5' NNW of penult.
Blue is roqueted (thru the hoop i think), and sent to 2-back.

On lawn 3, Brown failed a delayed TP, now Parish is trying a standard TP.

Fulford Black is making 2-back off Blue.
After the hoop, he rushes Blue a few feet SSW of penult. Yellow is nearby, Red a good 3-back pioneer.
Now taking off from Yellow to Red.

Fulford Black gets forward rush after 3-back.

Fulford Black peels Blue thru penult before 4-back. Blue goes 2y S of peg.
4-back is run to the boundary.

Fulford opts to send blue to rover via a croquet stroke rather than a rush.
Blue goes 2' west of rover (ish).

After penult, Red is sent 4y south of rover.
Yellow is rushed near Blue.
Little promotion of Blue.
Little rush, Blue is 9" in front of rover.
Both go thru, black by not much but yellow is at the side.
Can he see Yellow?
Ref is on.

The balls are marked.
That didn't look too difficult.
Now needs to rush Blue to the peg from 15 yards.

Blue is rushed about two yards from the peg.

Fulford wins game 3 +4tp, Essick leads 2-1.

Best of 5.

Lunch.

G4T1 Essick Black 3y SW of peg.
T2 Fulford Yellow 3y Se of peg.
T3 Essick Blue dribbles at Black, drifting past a couple of yards.

T4 Fulford Red at Black / Blue from A-baulk.
Hits Blue.

T4 Fulford is thru 1 with a break.
He has had the first break in all 4 games!

And Essick has hit the ensuing lift in the 3 games so far.

Jonathan Kirby asks about the conditions.
The lawns are running about 12 plummers.
Would have been more bar yesterday's rain.
On Friday the hoops on the front 4 lawns were changed to Quadways, which are definitely a bit trickier.

Fulford will be making 9.

T4 Fulford Red has made 9.
Diagonal spread with Blue at the peg.
I don't think Blue can hit Black this time! (Unlike Game 2.)

Yellow is about 11 yards north of 4th corner.

T5 Essick lifts Black to B-baulk.
Shooting at Yellow (22y)...

... Essick misses!

Into 4th corner.

T6 Fulford Yellow has 4' hoop 2. Runs it off the lawn.
Black is still in 4th corner so TP will be delayed.

T6 Fulford Yellow peels Red thru 4-back before 6.

Fulford's rush to 6 was not the best, approaching from 3y, has it gone too far?
Little flip of a jump shot and he's OK.

After 6 Yellow hits Black, croquets it near 6 going to Red, sends Red to 2-back.

I like the way Fulford prefers to place balls with croquet strokes, rather than leaving 20 yard take-offs.
He is just placing the escape ball for the penult peel like that.

T6 Fulford Yellow peels Red thru penult before 4-back.
Red is 3y N of the peg.

T6 Fulford Yellow runs 4-back off the lawn.
At times it has been suggested that that shouldn't be allowed!

Another short straight rover peel.
It goes well. Peelee finishes in the yard-line area.

Another long rush to the peg...

...three yard peg-out...

Fulford wins game 4 +26tp, match tied 2-2 with Essick.

We have a decider!

Robin Brown has won the Plate.

In 2016 Stephen Mulliner came back from 0-2 down to David Maloof to win the World Championship.
Can Fulford repeat the feat?

G5T1 Fulford Black 3y NW of 5.
T2 Essick Yellow 13y N of 4th corner.
T3 Fulford Blue at Yellow from B-baulk, maybe 1y W of 3rd corner.
Blue misses Yellow to 3y N of 4th corner.

T4 Essick Red at Yellow from A-baulk (19y).
Misses to the left.

T5 Fulford Blue at Yellow (10y, maybe only 9).
Hits!

Not the best rush to 1, but he's through and has first break again.

I cannot see any reason why Fulford should vary his tactics here.
Nine hoops and a diagonal spread.
Maybe Essick is wishing he hadn't adopted 1-back tactics in game 3!

Yellow is the early 2-back pioneer.
Most players aim to have partner at 2-back, but not Fulford.

We may have ninety spectators here.

After 1-back, the partner ball is sent to the peg.

There has not been a proper error yet.
A couple of poor leaves, but no-one has broken down.

T5 Fulford Blue has made 9.
Diagonal spread with Yellow at the peg.

Black is 11y north of 4th corner.

Essick strides around the lawn assessing his options.
This time he lifts Yellow from by the peg to B-baulk.
Shooting at Black (22y)...

... Essick misses, to just west of 4th corner.

Red is 3 or4y in from the west bdry.

T7 Fulford Black rushes Blue to Red, Red to 1.
He's through but without a rush.
He's thinking whether to go to Yellow now.
Blue is 3 or 4y south of 2.
He's ignoring Yellow for now.
Red is sent to 3, but Black hasn't gone down the right line. I dare say he'll cope.

I'm wrong, Black misses Blue. Four yards, he would have wanted to cut it.
That's our first big error!

T8 Essick Red hits Black (11y).

T8 Essick Red rushes Blue 4y north of 1, take-off approach, runs it by nine yards, hits return roquet, rushing it near first corner.

Big roll shot, pretty good.
He's thru 2 with a break.
Yellow is still in 4th corner.

T8 Essick Red is taking off to Yellow from Blue after hoop 3.
Roll out of the corner is a bit short for both balls.
Runs 4.
What's this?
He's thinking of delayed TPO!
Not quite sure why he's varying his tactic for the first two games, ie equalizing and hoping oppo misses.
But this is a crowd-pleaser!

T8 Essick Red peels Blue thru 4-back before 6.

After 6 Essick rushes Black near 3rd corner, sends it to 2-back.
Blue is now 3y E of penult.
Red makes 1-back off Yellow.

Blue is 7 or 8' in front of penult. Essick is trying death roll before 2-back...

Blue bounces off right hand -wire to 6y SW of penult.
Red avoids the ricocheting Blue, makes 2-back off Black.

Essick will now have to do the penult peel before 4-back.

T8 Essick Red jawses Blue in penult before 4-back.

After 4-back, Essick sends Black 3y SW of peg going to Yellow.
Now Blue is in the middle of penult, Red taking croquet off it.
Blue misses the peg and is about 2' in front of rover.

After penult, Essick leaves yellow near the peg.

Black is to the side of rover.
Red irish peels blue thru rover.
Taps Black, takes off to Blue.
Pretty good.

Not the best rush though.
Four yard peg-out...

Essick removes his red cap to line this up.
Blue hits the peg!
Red just misses the peg!

Red rushes Yellow 2y N of 4th corner.
Red stops Yellow into 4th corner.
Red into 1st corner.

Good turn!

Clips: Essick Red peg, Yellow 1; Fulford Blue box, Black 2.

T9 Fulford takes croquet from Yellow.
Squarish split sends Yellow 5y SE of 3, Black seven yards from Red.
Black hits Red.

T9 Fulford is trying to roll to hoop 2 from 1st corner.
Ref is on for some reason. Hole on the corner spot?

Here comes the roll...

... Black finishes 5' in front.
BUT Red is just off the lawn.

T10 Essick Red hits Black (8y)

Red has rushed Black off the south boundary.
Takes off to Yellow, pulls up inches shy of Yellow.
Rushes Yellow off north boundary.
Yellow is 1y W of 3rd corner.
Red is 7 or 8' SW of Yellow.
We think Red is wired from Black.

This is the first TPO in a World final since Fletcher beat Bamford +12tpo in the first game of the 2012 final.

T11 Fulford to middle of east boundary.

Fulford beat Clarke +12tpo in game 2 of the 1995 final.

T12 Essick Yellow rushes Red 6y west of 1.
Looking to leave a wired rush from the west bdry.
We think he has done so.

T13 Fulford to 4th corner.

Clarke beat Fulford +12tpo in the first game of the 1994 final.

T14 Essick Yellow makes 1 off Red.
Leave: Yellow is just east of 2nd corner, Red 4y to the South-East.

T15 Fulford to 1st corner.

T16 Essick Yellow makes 2. Now strides to 3rd corner to see where he wants to leave the balls.
Yellow is left 2y S of 3rd corner, Red 2y W of Yellow.

My conclusions are:
This is the fourth TPO in a world final.
All previous games have ended +12tpo.
All three TPOers went on to lose the match.

T17 Fulford Black to second corner.

T18 Essick Yellow makes hoop 3.
Has 10' rush which he does not middle.
Rolling to 4.
Eight foot hoop.
Runs it off the lawn!

T18 Essick Yellow has rush to 5.
Makes 5.
Has three yard rush to 6, not bad.
Makes 6.

T18 Essick Yellow has 10' rush after 6.
Misses it entirely!

I guess Essick was aiming to cut Red for a corner cannon, which should have meant an easy finish.

T19 Fulford Black has 8-yarder for a potential finish.
Second re-stalk.
Hits Yellow (8 or 9y).
As a bonus cuts it in-lawn.

Yellow is 5y west of 3.
Black has made 2 off Red.
Here's the big croquet stroke.
Black has 4 foot rush on Yellow.
He's thru 3 without a rush.
Another good croquet stroke is required.
Maybe a 5 foot rush on Red.

Fulford is approaching 4 on a three-ball break.
Two foot hoop, maybe less.
Run to the boundary.
I expect Fulford to finish now.

Thru 5, again no forward rush.

Fulford for hoop 6 now.
Rushes pioneer into hoop.
Just as well it didn't go thru!

Red is a good 2-back pioneer.
Black is thru 1-back, no forward rush.
Another big roll...

Yellow goes a bit deep, three yards past 3-back.
Black is close to Red, taps it, little approach.
Black runs 2-back, rushes Red near end of A-baulk.

Another good croquet stroke gives rush on Yellow.
Red is 6 or 7y south of 4-back.

Fulford gets forward rush after 3-back.

A lot of wire at 4-back, but Fulford is still set to finish.

Fulford gets forward rush after penult.
Trivial finish.

Fulford wins game 5 +8otp, and the match 3-2.

Fulford is World Champion!

Robert Fulford has now won six AC World Championships, one more than Reg Bamford.

The crowd is asking, was this the best world final ever?

This is the first time the same player has been runner-up in consecutive finals.

That's all folks.
Maybe see you in the USA in 2025?
Cheers, Andrew