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2023 Women’s Golf Croquet World Championship – Winner: Jamie Gumbrell, Australia

The 2023 WCF GC Women’s World Championship was held at the Sussex County Croquet Club, near Brighton England, between 7^th and 14^th August 2023.

Jamie Gumbrell - 2023 GC Women's Champion (taken by Chris Roberts)

Congratulations to Jamie Gumbrell, our 2023 GC Women’s World Champion.

For the full scores please go to Croquet Scores

To see the recorded live-streaming, all day every day, please go to the WCF YouTube channel GC Women’s Playlist

A huge thank you to everyone at the Sussex County Croquet Club for their hard work before and during the event. Everything ran smoothly and seamlessly as always when we visit Southwick. Thank you to the groundsmen, cooks, barbequers, bar staff, admin people, registration staff, car park attendants, shirt organisers, ball-boys, referees, and everyone else who contributed to making the players and officials feel so welcome. Specific thanks go to Mike Town for giving up so much time to manage the event, to Tim King as Director, to Alison Maugham who masterminded a whole week of live-streaming, to Jonathan Isaacs as Chair of the Organising Committee and to Ian Cobbold as the Tournament Referee.

The WCF is really appreciative of the time and effort by so many that went into making this event so enjoyable. We could not run these events without the time contributed by this host of volunteers. Well done and thank you.

17 countries were represented, with several countries sending competitors for the first time. The 56 players were divided into 8 blocks of 7 with 4 going through the blocks into a last 32 knock-out stage. Monday morning saw the start of the block play. The lawns at the club had been well prepared and were newly set with challenging Quadway hoops.

Qualifying Tournament

Thank you to the Compton Croquet Club in Eastbourne for hosting this event for us in the week prior to the Championship. Thank you to the Manager, John Low, the many referees and the club volunteers who helped maintain the lawns and feed the players.

Congratulations to the 4 qualifiers, who made it into the Championship: Bev Cardo (USA), Paz Gonzalez de Aguillar (Spain), Liz Drury (England) and Lynn Pearcy (England).

Liz Drury England qualifier in play, photo by Sarah Patton

Mary Berry cuts the croquet flag themed cake to Open the Championship

Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony went very smoothly with the flags duly positioned at the north end of Lawn 1, the John Solomon lawn. They looked great there for the rest of the week. A huge thank you to Mary Berry, our Guest of Honour, who came, cut a themed croquet cake decorated with flags from each country, and then stayed to mingle with the players.

Helen Covington leads the USCA team at the flag parade

The New Zealand team (photo Sarah Patton)

Mexico compete for the first time. Flag carried by lone player Vanesa Fernandez

The Knock-Out

Well done to Egypt for getting 10 of their 13 players through to the last 32 knock-out stage, and also to the 9 out of 11 from England who made it through, by far the best result from England so far in this event. Spanish players also did well with 4 of their 5 players making it through. This reflects the growing strength in depth in all these countries. Overall, players from 7 different countries were represented in the knock-out.

There were no major surprises in the first round of the knock-out with the best ranked players winning through as expected.

In the second round, Virgina Arney, Australia, had a great win, to beat the 2019 Silver Medallist Manal Khodeir. Other tight matches were Jayne Stevens vs Jamie Gumbrell – Jayne took the first but Jamie then stepped up a gear to win the next two games fairly easily. Debbie Lines took the second game against Rachel Gee, the 2011 Champion, and it was 5:5 in the third before Rachel’s superior hitting and hoop strokes won the day.

Susana Romero, Spain (photo by Sarah Patton)

Gerda Lambeck and Virgina Arney, representing Australia (photo by Sarah Patton)

In the Quarter-finals, which were best of 5 matches, both Rachel and Jamie played superbly winning both their matches in 3 games. A tight 5 game match between Maram Nabil and Pouline Salib was enjoyed by the crowds watching on lawn 5. Well done to Maram for winning the crucial 13^th ‘Golden’ hoop in the 5^th.

Jamie went on to beat Maram in 3 games the following day in the semi-finals. However, the livestream and spectators were treated to some excitement in the other semi-final between Rachel Gee and Soha Moustafa.

Soha was the defending Champion from 2019 and had been playing brilliantly throughout. Rachel won the first two games before Soha switched up a gear. In the next 3 hours, during games 3 and 4, she didn’t miss a shot and took the match to the 5^th game. It seemed to be going well for Soha. Rachel missed a couple of roquets and a longish jump shot early in the game but then made a come back before Soha went into a 6:4 lead. Rachel dug deep and fought back, winning the last 3 hoops with some great long clearances and positional play.

Soha Mostafa during the semi-final (photo by Sarah Patton)

The Championship Final: Rachel Gee versus Jamie Gumbrell

Jamie controlled throughout, with a display of technical excellence. Her centre ball clearances, long hoops and good jump shots, were consistent through the 4 games.

Rachel Gee during the 2023 GC Women's final

Rachel fought back after going two down, but in the 4^th game Jamie didn’t miss anything and won 7:2. Commiserations to Rachel who played brilliantly throughout the week. This is only the second time Rachel has competed and she now has a silver to add to her previous gold medal.

Well done to Jamie Gumbrell, who at her first appearance, is our new GC Women’s World Champion.

The Plate

Jessica Bullen carries the flag for New Zealand at the Opening Ceremony (Photo by Sarah Patton)

The plate was won by Jessica Bullen from New Zealand who beat Cheryl Bromley, USA, 2:1 in the final. Jessica was the youngest play in the event at 18 years old and her play was excellent all week. She narrowly failed to get through to the knock-out. I am sure we will see her again in the future.

Managers Invitational Doubles

Instead of a 'Z' the Manager ran an Invitational Doubles for those out of all other events. Congratulations to Silvia Short and Vanesa Fernandez on their win.

The Bowl
Judith Hanekom, the 2016 Champion, played Kate McLoughlin from Australia. Judith went 5:1 down in the first game but held her nerve to take the Bowl.

The Shield

Perihan Elwy lost the first game to Debbie Lines who cleared better in the first game. However, Perihan’s consistency and straight shooting, especially under pressure over the last two or three hoops in each game, was excellent, and she came through to win the second and third games, both on the golden hoop.

Qualifying Competition
A Qualifying Tournament will be held from 3^rd August to 5^th August 2023 at Eastbourne, Sussex.

Director: Richard Bilton
Manager: John Low
Format: tba after closing date 9th July

~~How to enter~~ * Now Closed*
The qualifier can be entered via the English CA's Online Tournament Entry System, which is found on the Compete page of the CA Website. To enter you must first register for (or renew) a Reciprocal Rights Account. If you have any problems, you can contact the CA Office (caoffice.org.uk) for assistance. Once submitted, the office should take approximately one working day to provide the necessary access so that you may enter online.

Main Event Format

The 56 players will form 8 blocks of 7 players each generated in accordance with WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 4. All matches will be best-of-3 13-point games. Matches will generally be single-banked, with double banking only used if scheduling so requires. Except in emergency conditions, games will be played without time limits.

Qualification for Knock-Out Stage: the top 4 players from each block will qualify for the WGCWC Knock-Out Stage. Ties on match wins for qualifying places will be resolved in accordance with WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 6. Non-qualifiers will be eligible for the Plate Event.

Knock-Out Stage: the Knock-Out stage will be drawn and seeded conforming to the WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 7 Section B. It will be single-banked, except in emergency conditions, and played without time limits. Knock-Out Round 1, 2 and quarter-final matches will be best-of-3 13-point games. Semi-final and Final will be best-of-5 13-point games.

The Plate: this will be played in accordance with WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 8 paragraph 2 and will consist of block play followed by a knock-out stage.

The Bowl: this event is open to all players who lose in the first round of the Knock-Out Stage and will be played in accordance with WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 8 paragraph 4.

The Shield: this event is open to all players who lose in the second round of the Knock-Out Stage and will be played in accordance with WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 8 paragraph 5.

Z Event: the TM or a deputy will manage a Z Event for all players who have been eliminated from all other events but wish to continue to play.

Hours of play: players should be available to start play at 9.30 am each day. There are no floodlights at the club but at this time of year the light will be good enough to play until at least 8.00 pm.

Practice: players will be able to practice from 9.15 am each day on their allocated court and for 5 minutes before the first game of each match.

Lawns: SCCC has 11 full size croquet courts available. A speed in the range 10-12 Plummers is anticipated assuming normal weather conditions.

Hoops: the hoops used will be ~~Aldridge Competition~~ Quadway hoops [6.3.23 please note change to hoop type that will be used], set as specified in the WCF Sports Regulations (as close as possible to, but not less than, 1/32” clearance). Hoop alignments, widths and firmness will be checked prior to the start of play and at the beginning of main event matches. Players themselves will be permitted to firm up the hoops by gently tapping with a suitable mallet before playing a hoop stroke.

Balls: Dawson balls will be used.

Practice: players wishing to practise before the event starts will be welcome at SCCC between 11 am and 2.30 pm on Sunday, 6^th August, though some lawns may be unavailable at times for maintenance and hoops will not be set to tournament standards.

Opening Ceremony: A formal opening ceremony will be held at SCCC on Sunday 6^th August with a light finger buffet.

Accommodation and Travel: SCCC is easily accessible by train or car from London or Gatwick Airport. SCCC is close to Brighton and Worthing which are large urban areas with a wide range of hotels bed and breakfast and rental properties. A list will be put on the event website with contact details. The area attracts a lot of visitors in the summer. Players should be aware that early booking of accommodation is essential.

We anticipate that most players will stay in accommodation in the Brighton to Worthing area and so will be able to reach SCCC by public transport if they have not hired cars. It is suggested that players find accommodation within 20 miles (32 km) of SCCC.

Catering and Social: SCCC, has a long-established tradition of providing good quality home cooked lunches with kitchen facilities in the club house and a team of volunteers who cater throughout the season.
Morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea would be available for sale to all players at all venues. SCCC also has a bar that will be staffed throughout the Event.

Internet, publicity and Communications
Wireless internet connections will be available. Live streaming is expected to be arranged on some days. A dedicated website for the event will be available a few months before the event starts.

Main Event Key Dates
Invitation Date	07/11/2022	This is the date that Members will be formally invited to send players to participate in this event.
Response Date	07/01/2023	This is the date by which Member nominations for Ranking and Wild Card places must have been received by the WCF Management Committee. Members must also specify the number of Membership Places they wish to take up and RCO's should advise if they would like to request a Membership Place.
Allocation Date	21/01/2023	The World Ranking List to be used to determine the initial allocation of Ranking Places is that published at the end of the Allocation Date.
Announcement Date	04/02/2023	By this date the breakdown of places will be advised and players awarded an Initial Ranking Place or Wild Card will be announced.
Closing Date	14/03/2023	This is the last date Members can nominate players for their Membership Places. Within 1 to 2 days the MC will announce recipients of Membership Places and Replacement Ranking Places.
Player Contact Details & Bios	14/04/2023	This is the date by which players are asked to provide their contact details, bio's and a headshot photo.
Entry Fee Due Date	16/04/2023	Per Sports Regn Appendix 2 6.1. Any players awarded a place on the Announcement Date will lose their place if they have not paid by this date.
Main Event Cut-off Date	22/06/2023	This is the date after which returned places are generally filled by creating extra Qualifier Places instead of Replacement Ranking Places.

Qualifier Key Dates
Qualifier Entries open	na	Entries will open upon publication of the CA Fixtures Book (on-line and in print)
Qualifier Allocation Date	01/06/2023	Entries received by this date will be accepted in ranking position order as shown in the Qualifier Ranking List.
Qualifier Closing Date	19/07/2023	Last date any players will be accepted into this event.

Key Personnel
Chairman of Organising Committee	Jonathan Isaacs
Tournament Director	Tim King
Tournament Manager	Mike Town
WCF Event Lead	Debbie Lines
CA Event Lead	Ian Lines
Tournament Referee	Ian Cobbold
Webmaster	John Low

2023 European Under 21 Championship, Latvia – starts 16th August

2023 European Teams Championship: Winner England

This was the first time this event has been held under the management of the European Regional Committee. The event had been held many years ago by the previous European Federation.

For this inaugural event, 9 countries convened at Cheltenham, England for 4 days of mixed AC and GC matches. Each team had one AC player and 2 GC players in a format designed to test both versions of our sport.

Thank you to the Cheltenham Club for hosting and to all the volunteers and officials who organised the event.

Congratulations to the English team who beat Wales 3:0 in the Final

Aston Wade (Captain), Stuart Smith and Euan Burridge.

Full results can be found on Croquet Scores

Block results by country

AC Test Results

GC Test Results

2023 AC World Championship – Winner: Robert Fulford (ENG)

Robert Fulford wins AC World Championship for the sixth time

The 2023 WCF AC World Championship was held across 7 clubs in London, England between 15^th and 23^rd July 2023. The event was sponsored by Rockwell Hurlingham Waterfront developments, Howard Sosin and the Hurlingham Club. 18 countries were represented, coincidentally matching the 18^th time this event has been held. There were 9 competitors who had played in the first Championship in 1989, also based at Hurlingham, a testament to the evergreen qualities of croquet players.

The 80 players were divided into 8 blocks of 10, and block play started on the Saturday morning. To the delight of the players, the forecast rain never materialised. Players spent the first 3 days at one of the 7 clubs around London, and the WCF would like to thank all the clubs and their members for not only giving up their lawns during the event, but for the huge volunteer effort preparing beforehand and looking after the players during the event. All the lawns were in excellent repair, many prepared to a much higher quality than previously seen. So, a huge thank you to the Hurlingham Club, Surbiton Croquet Club, Dulwich Croquet Club, Ealing Croquet Club, the Roehampton Club, Woking Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club and a ‘new’ club for the English AC tournament circuit, the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club at Wimbledon. Many players were delighted to be able to play at this historic venue.

The blocks proceeded and resulted in just 4 play-offs needed on the Tuesday, fitting nicely onto Hurlingham’s front lawns. To the Manager's delight these were all completed by late afternoon and the draw for the 32 player KO completed on schedule. After the draw, there was an evening BBQ, which was sponsored by Howard Sosin, during which players were treated to a demonstration of Colour Order AC.

Congratulations should go to three of the qualifiers who made it through to the knock-out, despite being ranked 9^th in their respective blocks - well done Mark Ormerod, Rob Wilkinson and Euan Burridge. Euan, a recent convert from GC, did extremely well to get through, especially given he hasn’t yet had a Triple Peel. I’m sure he will rectify this very soon! Also of note was the excellent performance of the USCA team, with 8 of their players making it into the knock-out, a quarter of the field. This included 16 year-old Blake Fields, a wild card entry, who looked very impressive at his first AC World Championship. Over half of the knock-out were English, reflecting the strength in depth that England continues to demonstrate.

The Knock-out
The first surprise result was the departure of Reg Bamford, beaten in the second round by Alain Giraud. The results show the high quality of play with a TP in all five games. The proliferation of TPs in all the results was remarkable, and reflected the high quality of play throughout, aided by excellent lawn conditions.

However, Alain went out in the next round to an on-fire Tom Balding from the USA. Tom made it into the semi-finals where he lost to Robert Fulford, but he came away with a well earnt bronze medal.

The other semi-final was Matthew Essick, runner up in 2020, versus Robert Fletcher, the 2013 Champion. Matthew came through in 3 straight games, with 3 solid triple peels.

For the finals we were greeted to a mild, sunny day with little wind, ensuring that the spectators and players alike had an enjoyable day. The Hurlingham front lawns were kept full all day with the final stages of the various consolation events, as well as the Main Championship final.

The Manager's Invitational
This event was arranged by Mike Town, the Tournament Manager, to provide more games for players and featured those ranked 9^th and 10^th in their blocks. It was won by Sandy Greig, representing Ireland, who beat Joakim Norback from Sweden +4.

The Plate
Players who did not make it into the knock-out compete for the WCF Plate.

This year’s finalists were both from England, featuring Robin Brown and Nick Parish. Robin had beaten Jenny Clarke from New Zealand in his semi, the third game finishing in the morning, whilst Nick beat Callum Hyland from Australia, also in three games, the evening before. Well done to Robin Brown who beat Nick in two games, the first a close +4, the second +26TP.

The Bowl
This event is for the 16 players who lose in the first round of the knock-out. Debbie Lines, England, who did well in her block to win 8 of her 9 games, continued to play well and reached the final against Kyle Maloof from the USA. Kyle has only been playing AC for about 3 years and the quality of his play is impressive. It was unclear who was favourite on paper, both having had a string of TPs to get to the final, however, on the day Debbie won the opening in both games, Kyle’s shooting was not quite working, and Debbie won with two delayed triple peels, +26TP, +26TP.

The Shield
The second-round losers play for the Shield and were scheduled to play at Wimbledon, much to their delight. Only 5 players competed, resulting in a slightly lopsided draw. Gabrielle Higgins from England, who was this Championship's most successful woman player, making it into the last 16, beat Stephen Morgan, USA, in the quarter-finals +5, +10, but then lost an extremely close semi-final match to James Death, England. Gabrielle won the first with a TP, but in the second finished with clips on Rover and Peg. James hit his ‘last’ shot and proceeded to have a sextuple, then had another in the third game to reach the final.

In the final he met the USA’s Zach Watson who had beaten England’s Harry Fisher +26TP, +10. James failed both his sextuple attempts in the final, but came through to win +21, +17.

The Championship Final

Robert Fulford vs Matthew Essick

Matthew Essick - iin play during the final

Robert won the opening in all 5 games, and went around to 4b, sometimes on the third turn and sometimes on the 4^th turn. However, Matthews superb shooting often reclaimed the innings, making this an extremely close and hard fought best of 5 match.

In the first game Matthew hit fourth turn and went round to 4-back. Robert missed the lift and Matthew went round perfectly, completing a sixth turn TP.

In game 2 Matthew missed a 10 yarder third turn and Rob hit and went to 4-back. Matthew again hit the lift but didn’t immediately get going, however, Robert missed a long shot and Matthew went to 4-back. After a few leaves, Matthew had another TP to take a 2–0 lead.

In game 3 Robert again went to 4-back third turn. Matthew hit the long lift shot (again!) and this time made just six hoops before laying for a sextuple. Matthew failed to finish it, ending his turn for penult and peg. Robert didn't try to make a break, but instead had a good defensive leave from which Matthew cornered. Robert finished his triple peel to start his come-back, it’s now 2-1 to Matthew.

Game 4: a supershot opening by Matthew, but his second ball leaves a double which Robert hits and goes to 4-back. Matthew again chooses to take the long lift but misses. Robert completes a solid delayed triple peel to take us into the 5^th and deciding game.

Robert Fulford - on his final 3-ball break to win

In the final game Robert opens with another supershot, Matthew goes to 19 yard position on the East boundary which Robert then misses, but Matthew also misses fourth turn. Robert goes to 4-back and Matthew misses the long lift down the east boundary. Those watching now expect Robert to complete another triple peel to win, however, he gets hoop 1 in the way after making it and can’t get close to his pioneer at hoop 2. He misses the 6 yarder he is left with, and Matthew immediately hits a 12 yarder. Matthew decides to go for a delayed TPO, which he completes extremely well, and he leaves a ball in 1^st and 4^th corners. Robert takes contact from the ball in 4^th corner, splitting it to 3 going to the ball in 1^st corner. He then tries to approach hoop 2, but despite getting one yard position, just puts Matthew's ball off the lawn. Some in and out play ensues. Eventually, Matthew two balls it around to hoop 6 and tries to cut his ball to Roberts ball which was hidden in corner 2. If successful, a simple corner canon would ensure him an easy break to the peg and a win, but he misses the cut. Robert hits a 9-10 yard roquet and takes his 3-ball break around to win the championship.

Congratulations to Robert Fulford on winning his 6th World Championship.

See the WCF Roll of Honour and the Championship Archives, to see his other wins!

Live-streaming
Lawn 4 at Hurlingham was filmed every day and the quality of both the camera work and the commentary teams was excellent. Thousands of people from across the World have tuned in to enjoy watching. The WCF would like to thank Steve Allen and his team who were in charge of the streaming. Hurlingham built them a wooden hut to house the equipment and cameras were mounted on posts around the lawn. All the streaming can be watched on the Croquet England YouTube channel, links to which as usual are also to be found on the WCF YouTube AC World Championship Playlist.

For the full results, go to event results on Croquet Scores

Thank you to all the players for coming, to the many officials who worked hard all week to support the players, and the many volunteers working in the background to ensure the event proceeded smoothly. Especial thanks to Mike Town, Tournament Manager, who worked tirelessly to ensure we kept to schedule, to David Openshaw, Tournament Director and to Hugh Carlisle for chairing the Organising Committee.

The next WCF AC World Championship is scheduled for October 2025 in the USA.

Robert Fulford - 2023 AC World Champion, during his final break to the peg.

Debbie Lines presents James Death, winner of the Shield, with his salver.

Annabel McDiarmid, winner of the Qualifier

Sandy Greig, winner of the Managers Invitational, on the Wimbledon lawns

Matthew Essick, finalist, with his silver medal.

Debbie Lines presents Tom Balding, semi-finalist, with his bronze medal

GC Country Rankings as at 30th June 2023

Position	Country	Average	Players
1	Egypt	2,572	6
2	England	2,507	6
3	USA	2,416	6
4	New Zealand	2396	6
5	Australia	2,388	6
6	Spain	2,369	6
7	South Africa	2,272	6
8	Ireland	2,174	6
9	Wales	2,151	6
10	Germany	2,081	6
11	Sweden	2,061	6
12	Switzerland	2,060
13	Latvia	2,031	6
14	Canada	2,025	6
15	Scotland	1,985	6
16	Norway	1,888	6
17	Czech Republic	1,865	6
18	Mexico	1,784	6
19	Finland	1,752	5
20	Austria	1,972	4
21	Portugal	1,832	2
22	Belgium	2,238	1
23	France	1,879	1
24	Uruguay	1,805	1

2023 AC World Championship – Places updated 13th July

13th July Update - Qualifier Results

The successful 5 qualifiers are: Annabel McDiarmid, Alison Maugham, Mark Ormerod, Euan Burridge and Robert Wilkinson.

23.6.23 Update - Now 5 places in the Qualifier

Following a withdrawal after the cut-off date, there are now 5 places available from the Qualifier.

Breakdown of Places and Player List as at 23.6.23

8.6.23 Update

Following several withdrawals over the past week, please see the updated player list as at 8th June.

The file also includes a breakdown of the places by country and type and the Replacement Ranking List.

Breakdown of Places and Player List and Replacement List at 8.6.23

10.5.23 Update

Following another withdrawal, please see the updated list. Also an updated Replacement Ranking List.

Breakdown of Places and Player List 10 May 23

10.5.23 Replacement Ranking List

16.4.23 Update

Following another withdrawal, please see the updated list. Also an updated Replacement Ranking List.

Breakdown of Places and Player List as at 16.4.23

16.4.23 Replacement Ranking List

9.3.23 Update

Following two more withdrawals, please see the updated list. Also an updated Replacement Ranking List.

2023 ACWC Breakdown of Places and Player List 9.3.23

2023 ACWC Replacement Ranking List as at 9.3.23

4.2.23 Update

Following another withdrawal on 2nd March, please see revised Player List below. The new top 5 on the Replacement Ranking list is also shown.

2023 ACWC Breakdown of Places and Player List 4th March

25.2.23 Update

Following a request to see the full Replacement Ranking List, I have run it fresh this evening.
Please note: nobody else has withdrawn. The list of players in the event remains unchanged.

2023 ACWC Replacement Ranking List as at 25.2.23

16.2.23 Update

Following another withdrawal, please find attached the latest list of players. The new top 5 players on the Replacement Ranking list is also shown.

2023 ACWC Breakdown of Places and Player List 16.2.23

10.2.23 Update

There have been two further withdrawals. The file below has been updated to reflect the current 76 players in the event. The new top 5 on the Replacement Ranking list is also shown.

2023 ACWC Breakdown of Places and Player List 10.2.23

The closing date for Members to nominate players for their Membership places was 5th February 2023.

The file below shows the Membership Places, Wild card places and the Ranking Places, giving us 75 players. One member has released their place so I am currently liaising with the top player on the Replacement Ranking List to see if he wants to accept the place.

2023 ACWC Breakdown of Places and Player List 6.2.23

There are four places remaining which will be awarded to the qualifiers from the Qualification Event. This will take place between 10-13 July 2023 at the Sussex County Croquet Club in Sussex. It will be open to 32 players. Entry will be via the English CA online Fixtures Entry system (when this goes live soon).

Entry Fees

The entry fee of £153 per entrant is now requested and must be paid by 8^th March 2023

Per WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 2, clause 6, players who fail to pay by the due date will lose their place. The relevant sections of the regulation are below for your information:

6.1 Subject to paragraph 6.2, failure to pay the entry fee by the due date will lead to automatic disqualification and the place will be filled in accordance with paragraph 7.
6.2 Before disqualifying a player for failing to pay their entry fee on time, at least two reminders must have been sent to the Member which nominated the player and all reasonable efforts must have been made to contact the player directly.

All players who can pay by bank transfer are encouraged to do so. This avoids the WCF incurring costly PayPal fees. Players should be notified how to pay via bank transfer by their Member.

If unable to pay in this way, you can pay by PayPal, details for which can be found on the link below:

How to pay your entry fees by PayPal

Player Information

The following information is requested from all the above competing players by 6th March 2023 (or sooner please if available).

- A recent well-lit photograph (ideally headshot)
- 150-250 words of biographical details
- Contact email and mobile phone numbers for during the event (for use by the Tournament Manager

The easiest way to send this information is online via Google Forms. Please click on this link:

2023 AC Worlds Player Information Form

Please note, the photo and bio may be published on the event website and on the WCF website. Players should expect some live streaming and the press may be present taking photographs. Players should note that their results will be published on Croquet Scores. The contact details will be held by the WCF S-G and Tournament Manager for use during the event.

Withdrawals

If for any reason a player cannot now take up their place, please notify me as soon as possible so that a replacement can be found. Per the Sports Regulations, the following process is followed in the event of a withdrawal:

Players who have received a Membership Place: when a player withdraws, the Member has 14 days to nominate a replacement; if no player is nominated a Replacement Ranking Place is awarded. If the 14 days expires before the Qualifier closing date of 25^th June 2023 the place becomes an extra qualifier from the Qualification tournament.

Withdrawal by a player who received a Ranking or Wild Card place: when a player withdraws, if this is before the cut-off date of 11^th June 2023, then the next most highly ranked player on the Replacement Ranking list at the end of that day will be offered the place. After the cut-off date, the place becomes an extra qualifier from the Qualification tournament.

After the Qualifier Closing date, all withdrawals from the main event become extra qualifiers from the Qualification tournament.

Further details regarding the venue and programme, will be published on the WCF website and on the Championship website over the coming weeks.

2023 Advantage GC Amendments now published

2023 Advantage GC - new tables now published

As some of you may have spotted Croquet England have had slightly revised documentation and tables on their website since February. This has meant that the WCF and CA information has not matched.

The proposed minor amendments to the tables and rules of AdvantageGC have to be approved by the WCF GC Rules Committee. Until this was done, it would have been incorrect to publish the revision.

I'm pleased to say that they have now approved the proposed amendments.

We should now match.

Please see the new updated page by clicking this link: Go to page: AdvantageGC

AC Country Rankings as at 30th June 2023

Position	Country	Average Grade	Players
1	England	2556	6
2	Australia	2530	6
3	New Zealand	2501	6
4	USA	2382	6
5	Wales	2150	6
6	Scotland	2126	6
7	Ireland	2096	6
8	South Africa	1967	6
9	Canada	1904	6
10	Sweden	1689	6
11	Austria	1576	6
12	Germany	1551	6
13	Czech Republic	1342	6
14	Latvia	1254	4
15	Switzerland	1766	3
16	Spain	1760	3
17	Iran	2166	1
18	Jersey	2134	1
19	Luxembourg	1993	1
20	Mexico	1761	1

Dame Mary Berry to Open the 2023 Women’s GC Championship

Dame Mary Berry has kindly agreed to attend the Opening Ceremony as Guest of Honour.

Dame Mary is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. She studied in France at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, before working in a number of cooking-related jobs. She has published more than 75 cookery books, including her best-selling Baking Bible in 2009. Her first book was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook in 1970. She hosted several television series for the BBC and Thames Television. More recently, she was a judge on the television programme The Great British Bake Off until 2016.

The Opening Ceremony will commence at 3.45pm on Sunday 6^th August and play will commence on Monday 7^th August culminating in Final’s Day on Monday 14^th August.

The event is being contested by most of todays top Women players. Egypt’s Soha Mostafa will be defending her title which she won in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand in 2019. Soha is one of 13 strong Egyptian players competing for the trophy. Home contenders include Rachel Gee, Debbie Lines & Gabrielle Higgins. Rachel Gee is the current holder of the European Golf Croquet Championship as well as a previous winner of the Women’s World Championship. Debbie Lines is the current holder of the Association Croquet Women’s World Championship and Gabrielle Higgins is the current runner up in the same event. Other strong contenders include Jenny Clarke from New Zealand and a previous finalist and Judith Hanekom from South Africa, the 2014 champion.

Spectators are most welcome.

One day Entry Fee £10 or whole tournament pass £25 payable at the gate.
(Children up to age 12 FREE, over 12’s half price).

Free parking available adjacent to the club in Kingston Lane, Southwick BN43 6YW.

Light lunches, refreshments and a licensed bar available throughout the Championship.

For further details visit the Women’s GC World Championship Website: www.gcwomensworld2023.org

June 2023 Newsletter

Congratulations to Rachel Gee - winner of the 2023 European GC Championship

This European event was held between 25-28th May at the Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club in Devon, England. A field of 32 keen GC players attended the event.

Rachel Gee beat Aston Wade, last year's winner, in the final in 3 games 7-3, 6-7, 7-2.

Full report to follow soon.

For the results see: Results in Croquet Scores

New WCF President required from 1^st January 2024

Ian Burridge has indicated that he does not intend to stand for a second term when his current 4-year term as WCF President finishes at the end of this year.

Those interested in developing our sport are invited to get in touch now to find out more about what is involved. Please email the Secretary-General at secretary@worldcroquet.org for more information.

The formal process for applications is via Member nominations and this process will start later in the year.

Qualifier Entries:

The AC World Championship still has spaces but the GC Women’s is now full (although you can be added to the Reserve List).

To enter either qualifier go to the English CA Fixtures Calendar, which is found on the Compete page of the CA Website. To enter you must first register for (or renew) a Reciprocal Rights Account. If you have any problems, you can contact the CA Office (caoffice.org.uk) for assistance. Once submitted, the office should take approximately one working day to provide the necessary access so that you may enter online.

Later this year

GC Over 50 World Championship

The GC Over 50 Championship will take place in Bunbury, Western Australia, between 14-21 October. This will be the last Over 50’s event following a recent decision that in future the minimum age will change to 60.

This event also has a Facebook page: GC World Over 50 Bunbury 2023

There are two qualifiers, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. See this post for more information and how to enter: O50's Qualifier entry information

WORLD CROQUET FEDERATION

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