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POWELL/BECKSTEAD FALTER
JUST ONCE AND LOSE IT ALL,
AS 1994 DOUBLES CHAMPS
MABEE/PHANEUF RECLAIM CROWN
by Nate Weimerskirch
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With doubles completed, all eyes are focused on the singles playoffs on the
five lawns of the Palm Beach Polo Club, national headquarters of the United
States Croquet Association. The climax of the seven-day tournament attracts
croquet fans as well as mainstream media, including this year, according to
tournament director Nate Weimerskirch, a camera crew from ESPN's
"Unbelieveable Sports." Believe it, ESPN! Weimerskirch, croquet pro at
USCA headquarters, has not only directed one of croquet's biggest spectacles,
with up to 140 games a day on as many as 13 lawns in four locations; he has
also found time to file these daily reports, for which CROQUET WORLD ONLINE
MAGAZINE and Internet fans of the sport are much in his debt. We'll give
you his stories on the final two days of the tourney, along with more digital
photos by New York croquet player David Gladstein.
For the second time in three years, the team of Carl Mabee and John Phaneuf
are the National Champions in doubles. Mabee and Phaneuf won the single-game
final 26-7 over previously unbeaten Richard Powell and Gar Beckstead. Mabee
finisned the game on a two-ball break from 4-back, after Phaneuf had taken a
break around from #3.
The game started slowly, as Powell and Beckstead picked up 5-ball deadness
with little reward. Beckstead picked three balls from the line to get the
Southern partnership back in the game, and Powell got clear when Phaneuf
caught a bad break on an old wicket hole at #2. Mabee, the workhorse of the
game, scored a wicket at a time until he could back-peel Phaneuf on a
three-ball break. Powell eventually made #4, but missed the roquet on a
scatter, leaving Phaneuf with the 3-ball he needed to get around.
Mabee and Phenuef had started the day with a critical win over John Osborn
and Doug Grimsley. They then lost to defending champions Rodoni/Mehas in a
tight contest, but then came back in the Semi-Final match to beat
Rodoni/Mehas with a 26-19 peg-out and advance to the finals. In this
critical game, Phaneuf ran an all-around break, rushing partner to #3 after
making #2, taking off to the north boundary to pick up red, stopping red to
pioneer to achieve the exchange, and finishing on a somewhat loose run.
NAJARIAN HERO OF THE DAY WITH LAST-TURN TWO-BALL BREAK
On the other side of the bracket, Powell and Beckstead's lucky red
hankies prevailed as they easily dispatched the surprise team of the
tournament, Bill Mead and Mark Najarian. Mead and Najarian suffered with
deadness problems throughout in a 22-11 loss. Najarian however, was the hero
of the day, in a 16-15 upset of Doug Grimsley and John Osborn.
In the waning moments, Osborn, Mead and Najarian were all for 1-back with
Grimsley at 4-back. Osborn, three times times dead with yellow, received a
favorable, controversial ruling on a block with Najarian in 1-back, but with
a difficult hoop shot with his ball on the north boundary near three.
The near 60-degree off-line shot was ruled makeable, so Osborn played to the
boundary in front of 1-back. Najarian, needing to avoid the second block,
backed out of the wicket, and after failing on his previous attempt, Grimsley
plunked Najarian's blue from the west boundary.
Grimsley left Najarian, who was partner dead, on the back side of 1-back and
sent Mead to the #4 corner, as last turns began. Mead hit in from corner to
corner, tried to roll both his own ball and blue to position, but left
himself short. After debating going after yellow on the line, Najarian told
partner to let him have a crack at the two-ball, and Mead rolled to about 12
feet beyond 1-back. Osborn ran for cover, then Najarian made his first
crucial hoop, a four-footer from a moderate angle. His rush was only barely
downcourt, and his long roll left him at a tough angle from 8 feet. To the
roar of the crowd, he scored 2-back, then pulled off a delicate shot to hit
black near the string. The subsequent long roll to 3-back left him another
6-footer from an angle, which he again drilled, finally catching a decent
downcourt rush.
Najarian's last rush of the game left him with a take-off from 20-feet which
he put straight on, but about four feet back, an easier shot than the others,
but a tester nonetheless. This was the point that counted. His final
stroke caught the hoop dead center and gave his team their 16-15
come-from-behind victory. Young Najarian's superb performance under
pressure in his National Championships debut marks him for a bright future in
the top ranks of the sport.
CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLES RESULTS, WINNERS BRACKET
| Mabee/Phaneuf | 25-15 | Osborn/Grimsley |
| Beckstead/Powell | 22-18 | Curtis/Shaffer |
CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLES RESULTS, LOSERS BRACKET
| Mehas/Rodoni | 18-16 | Hughes/Kroeger |
| Mead/Najarian | 23-17 | Dill/Ruby |
| Mehas/ Rodoni | 16-10 | Curtis/Shaffer |
| Mead/Najarian | 16-15 | Osborn/Grimsley |
CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLES SEMI-FINALS
| Mehas/Rodoni | 19-17 | Mabee/Phaneuf |
| Mabee/Phaneuf | 26-19 | Mehas/Rodoni |
| Beckstead/Powell | 22-11 | Mead/Najarian |
CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLES FINAL
| Mabee/Phaneuf | 26 |
| Powell/Beckstead | 7 |
KOENIG/STETTNER WIN FIRST FLIGHT DOUBLES ON THE BOUNCE-BACK
FIRST FLIGHT DOUBLE WINNERS BRACKET
| Bridges/K. Jones | 21-14 | Koenig/Stettner |
FIRST FLIGHT DOUBLES LOSERS BRACKET
| Morse/Summers | 17-13 | Mitchell/Wyatt |
| Spoonhour/Spoonhour | 20-7 | Yeilding/Connelly |
| Morse/Summers | 18-10 | Spoonhour/Spoonhour |
| Koenig/Stettner | 21-9 | Morse/Summers |
FIRST FLIGHT DOUBLES FINAL
| Koenig/Stettner | 19-9,18-15 | Bridges/K. Jones |
SECOND FLIGHT DOUBLES WINNERS BRACKET
| Kozusko/Maloof | 12-11 L. | Fusz/Ramey |
SECOND FLIGHT DOUBLES LOSERS BRACKET
| B. Birkhead/Parsells | 18-14 | McGonagle/Funk |
| B. Birkhead/Parsells | 17-16 L. | Fusz/Ramey |
SECOND FLIGHT DOUBLES FINAL
| Kozusko/Maloof | 26-22 B. | Birkhead/Parsells |
THIRD FLIGHT DOUBLES WINNERS BRACKET
| Cope/H. Stoy | 17-8 C. | Birkhead/Cassidy |
THIRD FLIGHT DOUBLES LOSERS BRACKET
| Horne/Pearson | 17-16 C. | Birkhead/Cassidy |
THIRD FLIGHT DOUBLES FINAL
| Cope/H. Stoy | 14-13 | Horne/Pearson |
Oklahoma City native Tad Cassidy missed an opportunity to pick up a few
pointers that may have helped improve his standing in the Third Flight of the
tournament. The previous weekend, his airline flight into Florida from
Houston had him sitting next to Wayne Rodoni, but he had no idea the stranger
at his elbow was croquet's defending national champ until the plane landed.
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