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Io Campionato del Mondo
di Golf Croquet
by Dave McLaughlin
Competitors in the first World Championship in Golf Croquet represented many
countries, including Egypt, England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Switzerland,
Wales, and the United States. Organized by the World Croquet Federation
and hosted by "Le Robinie" Golf Club at Solbiante Olana, near Milan, the
event, as characterized by our reporter, featured hard hitting by the
Egyptians and serious indulgence in food and wine after the games. The games
were single-banked on three full-sized, regulation courts. Results tables
at the end of this article show that fully half the players to reach the
final rounds were Egyptians. Dave McLauglin, editor the official Web site
of the Scottish Croquet Association, has favored us with a personal account
of his adventures in Italy.
SOME TIME IN JULY......
I began my preparations for this trip well in advance. Did I practise
golf croquet? No (well, not much). Instead, I went out and bought the book,
the cassettes and the workbook of the BBC's "Buongiorno Italia."
Unfortunately, I lost interest after the first two chapters.
WEDNESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER
I flew Heathrow to Milan Linate. I was slightly apprehensive about
being met by an Italian croquet player who might not speak English, so I
was quite surprised when I emerged from the customs hall to hear someone
calling "Dave! Dave!" It was my old friend from Ireland, Charlie von
Schmieder (good Irish name, that).
Charlie, Fred Rogerson (Chairman of the World Croquet Federation, also an
Irishman) and I piled into Giamberto Chiappella's car and then spent about an
hour travelling through Milan and along miles of toll road to get to the club
where the competition was to be held. I was glad I hadn't hired a car.
In the first place, I would have got horribly lost; in the second place,
Italian drivers make French drivers seem positively sedate.
After a drink in the clubhouse, we were joined by all the other players
and officials, and the president of the Italian Olympic Committee, Carlo
Farioli. We had a superb meal, Carlo Farioli introduced everyone, and
Chris Hudson (Secretary General of the World Croquet Federation)
led an explanation of the laws under which the competition was to be
played. The laws were those published by the English Croquet
Association, ratified by the Australian Croquet Association and the New
Zealand Croquet Council. All this time, Chris spoke English, Carlo
alternated between French and Italian, and Rita Lualdi (Italian Croquet
Association staff and linguist extraordinaire) attempted to
translate everything.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
I lost my first game, to Fabio Truglia (Italy), 7-6, having been 4-2 up.
We had a nice tactical finish. His blue took hoop position with yellow
nearby and red hard against the wire on the non-playing side. All I
could do was block black's path to yellow. Black then blocked yellow's
path to blue. I contemplated trying to block the hoop from a rather
nasty angle, but decided to try rushing black onto blue. A very slight
cut was required: I over-cut it. FInito. Finito.
My second match was against Peter Payne (Switzerland), and I felt under
some pressure to win. Much of the talk over dinner the previous night
had been about the formidable Egyptians, and my only remaining game in
the block was to be against one of them. Although all players would go
through to the next round, the block placings would decide the
seedings. If I lost all my block games, I would meet the winner of one
of the other blocks, and probably go no further.
Peter peeled me through one of the early hoops, helping me to a 6-3
lead. He then came back strongly to 6-all, before peeling me through
the decider!
This game also saw an incident that I subsequently learned was being
repeated elsewhere. Peter was contemplating attempting a very hard cut-
rush on a ball an inch from his own. When he asked if I wanted a
referee, I said "Yes, if you're hitting it hard." Chris Hudson was
called, and told Peter there was no danger of any fault, and no need for
a referee! I confirmed that Chris was RoT [official Referee of the
Tournament] and that, therefore, his decision was final - not entirely
satisfactory, but I had to accept it. Such things are inevitable if golf
croquet tournaments are to be refereed by people with only a passing
acquaintance with the laws of the game.
"Association Croquet is something of a novelty in Egypt, but Golf Croquet is
taken very seriously. There are 27 lighted courts in Cairo!"
My next opponent was Khaled Younis. He's the 1996 Egyptian Champion. I
was subsequently to learn that he plays only two games a day, because
any more and his wrists hurt. He sure hits the ball hard! The result
was never in doubt: 7-2.
That evening we had a very long dinner. By the third course, everyone
had already eaten their fill. We were then presented with plates of
meat, with side-dishes of vegetables scattered around. When more joints
of meat and dishes of chips appeared, it was just too much.
Over dinner, Salah Hassan gave us some indication of why the Egyptians
are so good at this game. Association croquet is something of a novelty
there, but golf croquet is taken very seriously: there are 27 lawns in
Cairo alone - all of them floodlit! Salah himself has been playing for
14 years, at his peak practising four hours a day!
The wine was also too much, the grappa was downright stupid, and Fred
Rogerson's suggestion that we go on to a pub was idiotic beyond the
imagination. Gregg Brodarick (USA), an architect, told us he really
needed to check out the new lighting in a pub he'd been working on. My
will-power was drowned in ethanol, my legs still worked (after a
fashion), and soon I was admiring the discreet under-bar lighting
through a pint of Beamish.
FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
Like myself, Don Beck (English player) had a free day, so together we set off
to see Milan. Il Duomo is magnificent, La Scala is closed in the mornings,
the Last Supper is closed in the afternoons, and the art gallery we visited
is nothing to write home about. That evening, we had another splendid
dinner, where we were joined by John and Barbara Solomon, after which I
retired early.
SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER
The "plate" was to be a doubles event, with partners drawn at random. I
was paired with Don Beck (Sorry, Don). We didn't do terribly well.
Saturday night saw the official dinner in the club-house, with the
Egyptian ambassador as guest of honour. Barbara Solomon played piano,
we had a good time, and I didn't go on to a night-club afterwards (Fred,
how do you do it?).
SUNDAY 29 SEPTEMBER
The final was a one-sided affair. Khaled Younis (Egypt) beat Hisham
Abousbaa (Egypt) in three straight games of a best-of-five. Hisham,
apparently, was very tired and was never really in the match. Khaled,
on the other hand, was in top form, Egyptian style. In the second game,
for example, he ran hoop 5 from the boundary and with his next ball
attempted hoop 6 from beside 5, bouncing off the wire. It seems to me
that, not playing Association rules, the Egyptians are less afraid than
the rest of us of attempting long hoops.
After the final, Salah Hassan talked us through the Egyptian laws of the
game. These are more complicated than the internationally agreed code,
but are less open to (mis)interpretation. Whenever a ball has run a
hoop, any balls that are on the wrong side of lines marking the mid-way
to the next hoop are replaced at set points on the boundary or by the
peg, unless their position was reached by a rush. Jump-shots are
allowed, provided the ball does not pass clear over another ball (half-
jumping an adversary's ball in the jaws of a hoop can lead to tricky
refereeing decisions as to which ball cleared the hoop first!) We were
then treated to a demonstration of the Egyptian game.
"It seems to me that, not playing Association rules, the Egyptians are less
afraid than the rest of us of attempting long hoops."
All in all, we had a good time. The weather was fine, and many thanks
are due to Carlo Farioli and all the Italians for the superb
hospitality. The management could have been better: double-banking
would have allowed more games, but it was the first event of its kind,
and lessons will be learned. At the dinner on Saturday night, Egypt
declared their wish to host next year's event, as well as the WCF World
Championship in 1998.
BLOCK X
| X1 | Salib Eryan (Egypt) | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| X2 | Ahmed Sayed (Egypt) | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| X1 | Salib Eryan (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| X3 | D. A. Fattah (Egypt) | 4 | 5 | - |
| X1 | Salib Eryan (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| X4 | Fred Rogerson (Ireland) | 4 | 4 | - |
| X2 | Ahmed Sayed (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| X3 | D. A. Fattah (Egypt) | 5 | 3 | - |
| X2 | Ahmed Sayed (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| X4 | Fred Rogerson (Ireland) | 5 | 4 | - |
| X3 | D. A. Fattah (Egypt) | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| X4 | Fred Rogerson (Ireland) | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| 3rd | Fred Rogerson (Ireland) | Won 2 | Lost 5 |
BLOCK Y
| Y1 | Salah Hassan (Egypt) | 3 | 5 | - |
| Y2 | Khaled Younis (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| Y1 | Salah Hassan (Egypt) | 7 | 3 | 7 |
| Y3 | Charles von Schmieder (Ireland) | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| Y1 | Salah Hassan (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Y4 | Andrea Pravettoni (Italy) | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| Y2 | Khaled Younis (Egypt) | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Y4 | Andrea Pravettoni (Italy) | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Y3 | Charles von Schmieder (Ireland) | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Y4 | Andrea Pravettoni (Italy) | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 3rd | Charles von Schmieder (Ireland) | Won 3 | Lost 5 |
BLOCK Z
| Z1 | Hisham Abousbaa (Egypt) | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Z2 | Giampietro Donati (Italy) | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| Z1 | Hisham Abousbaa (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| Z3 | Arthur Addis (England) | 1 | 3 | - |
| Z1 | Hisham Abousbaa (Egypt) | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Z4 | R. R. Edwards (England) | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| Z2 | Giampietro Donati (Italy) | 7 | 7 | - |
| Z3 | Arthur Addis (England) | 6 | 3 | - |
| Z2 | Giampietro Donati (Italy) | 7 | 7 | - |
| Z4 | R. R. Edwards (England) | 3 | 4 | - |
| Z3 | Arthur Addis (England) | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| Z4 | R. R. Edwards (England) | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| 3rd | R. R. Edwards (England) | Won 3 | Lost 5 |
QUARTER FINALS
| 1Z | Hisham Abousbaa (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| 2R | R. R. Edwards (England) | 4 | 4 | - |
| 1X | Ahmed Sayed (Egypt) | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| 1R | Charles von Schmieder (Ireland) | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| 2Z | Giampietro Donati (Italy) | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| 1Y | Khaled Younis (Egypt) | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| 2X | Salib Eryan (Egypt) | 3 | 6 | - |
| 2Y | Salah Hassan (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
SEMI-FINALS
| S1 | Hisham Abousbaa (Egypt) | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| S2 | Charles von Schmieder (Ireland) | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| S3 | Khaled Younis (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | - |
| S4 | Salah Hassan (Egypt) | 3 | 4 | - |
3RD PLACE PLAYOFF (best three of five)
| Charles von Schmieder (Ireland) | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Salah Hassan (Egypt) | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
FINAL
| Hisham Abousbaa (Egypt) | 5 | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| Khaled Younis (Egypt) | 7 | 7 | 7 | - | - |
PLATE FINAL (doubles)
| Fabio Truglia (Italy) / Charles-Eric Vilain XIIII (Belgium) | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| Jonathan Lamb (Belgium) / Mahmoud Abdel Fattah Doreya (Egypt) | 6 | 7 | 7 |
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