What a great location for a tournament. Lake Macquarie is a magnificent backdrop to the Toronto Croquet Club who were the 2021 hosts for the NSW State Championships.
The 4 GB courts were all but swallowed up in the vast cricket oval. Perhaps a venue to be considered for an Australian Championships or at their new 2023 Glendale location?
GB players are prepared for all weathers and our gear was well tested on Friday for Day 1 of the Doubles. The cold wet day did not detract from the standard of play with a high level of skills and strategy resulting in some extremely close scores.
It was wonderful to see 4 pairs of Doubles representing South Australia, the ACT, and Queensland competing for the trophy. In an incredibly tight fought game the ACT pairing of Glen and Kristina Whitehead beat Geoff Crook (Woodville) and Barry Jennings (Hyde Park) 8 cb – 8 and the 2 Queensland teams finished 10 – 9.
In a nail biting finish Glen and Kristina pulled out a 12 – 11 score to beat Bruce McAlister and Peter Sweet.
On a warm and sunny Saturday Pam Durie, founder of the Toronto CC, opened the Tournament and awarded the trophy and badges to the Doubles winners.
Eight teams entered the Teams Championship. Many high scoring matches resulted in a finals contest between Canberra Mavericks on 6 wins/34 net hoops and Canberra Sparkers on 5 wins/25 net hoops. The Mavericks showed considerable skill and determination in their 17 – 6 win. In third place was the Queensland team from Southport, Rockhampton and Ipswich with 4 wins/17 net hoops.
The Sydney EPSTARS, made up of players from 4 Sydney clubs, improved their performance throughout the tournament and Strathfield benefitted from the strategy of Geoff Crook from the SA Woodville CC.
It was such a pleasure to hold this event at such a happy and welcoming CC where so many volunteers contributed to a smooth and efficient tournament.
All scores for this tournament can be seen in Gateball Scores at this link:
Judy Tier
Coordinator – NSW Gateball
Great …….enjoy the tournament and be safe from pandemic