Croquet players travel from all over country for Sidmouth tourney

The Sidmouth June Mid-Summer Tournament attracted 19 entrants from as far afield as Bury and Edinburgh.

Julie Horsley managed the competition smoothly under favourable playing conditions.

In the Challenge Cup, Brian Shorney (Kington Langley) was pitted in the final against last year’s winner, Richard Mills (Sidmouth), both having scored 5 out of 6 in their group. The winner was Brian (+6) in what turned out to be an uninspired game, with the weather turning rather cold and windy.

The Fortfield Cup saw a three-way tie between Ken Wallman, Brian Pollock (Budleigh Salterton) and Mike Taylor all with four wins.

Ken and Brian went through to the final on the tiebreak rule, with Ken winning +9.

In the third block, playing for the Dwerryhouse Cup, Derek Powell and Rosemary Bradshaw (Budleigh and Fowey) reached the final, with Derek winning a closely fought game +4.

The Handicap Knockout final was between Rosemary Bradshaw and Brian Pollock, with the considerable bisque allocation ensuring a +3 win for Rosemary.

Jamieson Walker (Edinburgh) and Geoff Young (Bury) were the Egyptian Competition finalists, with Jamieson winning +12.

Derek Powell won the fastest game prize and handicap reductions were recorded by Brian Pollock (7), Mike Taylor (9) and Rosemary Bradshaw (14).