Entries are coming in quickly for the first organised competitive croquet of the year at Albert Road — Caversham’s round of the Charity One-Ball event.
Within a few hours of the reminder being published in the club newsletter, five players had signed up for the tournament on Saturday, April 15th. So don’t miss out!
The entry fee will again be £8. We can organise our heat however we want but it will probably be in the ‘Swiss’ format of two blocks playing into a final.
We are permitted to send two players to the final if we raise £125 and three if our donation passes £200.
It costs £50 to send one qualifier to the final at Surbiton on May 7th, so we will need to find at least seven players. However, it won’t work very well unless we have an even number.
Sadly, one player who won’t be in the line-up is last year’s champion, Gareth Hobby, who will be representing the club in the Champion of Champions AC tournament at Hamptworth.
Gareth said: “I was really looking forward to defending my one-ball title this year and trying to return to Surbiton, but it clashes with the champion of champions day, which I have already committed to.
“I am a big fan of the one-ball, had a lot of fun at the Caversham qualifier last year and would credit the finals day in Surbiton for elevating my interest and level of play. It was all conducted in a perfect spirit and I would recommend it to everyone, particularly fellow beginners at the club.”
This year’s charity is UNHCR, the UK arm of the United Nations Refugee Agency (www.unrefugees.org.uk), who have a lot on their plate at the moment. Most of their work was being concentrated on helping refugees from Ukraine until the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria led to an even bigger call on their services and funds.
Any contributions will obviously be welcome, so entering our tournament would be a start. So that we can gauge the possible level of interest an early email to davedibbo@gmail.com would be helpful.
Details of start time, format, handicaps etc will be announced nearer the date. Players will be urged to wear something blue on the day, in the shade of the UNHCR logo (above).