Gateball in Geneva

Posted on July 27, 2019 by Maggi Williams

The Swiss classic teams event was held at the CERN croquet club over the weekend 6-7 July 2019, with practice on the Friday.

Five teams competed, with 2 from Japan, 1 Swiss team and 2 composite teams. We played with Bernard from Belgium and Priska from Germany. It was also great to see our son Peter back on the gateball field and even better to hear that he enjoyed the tournament.

A double round robin was to be held, but this morphed into two single round robin tournaments with the winners of each to play off. It will be of little surprise to you, dear reader, that the two Japanese teams dominated proceedings, with the team from Tokyo winning both round robin events.

Overall we had three wins, but the highlight was the second game against Tokyo.

The score was 8-9 going into the final turn, and if ever there was a lesson against changing your mind as captain, this was it. Our ball 7 touched 3 in front of gate 2 and my first instinct was to bombard ball 8 sitting tight to the line near gate 2. Instead, we sparked 3 through gate 2 and followed with 7. An excellent slide by Priska off ball 9 allowed gate 3 to be made and the pole was narrowly missed. The score was now 11-9, with only 8 to play. Unfortunately, ball 8 made gates 2 and 3 and also agari, so we lost by 2 points.

The tournament was played in a very friendly spirit, with fantastic catering and was great fun. Thanks to Dave Underhill and the Swiss team for organising such a fantastic event.

Geoff Crook
Woodville Croquet Club

Two Candidates for Level 2 Referee Qualifications in Queensland

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Barbara Northcott

At Southport’s Mallet Sports on the Broadwater on Saturday 29th June, two Gateball players were supervised for their Theory Examination for their Level 2 Referee Qualifications by Margaret Barnard, QLD Director of Gateball Refereeing. Congratulations go to Margaret Dickensen from Toowoomba Croquet Club and Brian Mullins from Southport Croquet Club on successfully passing the theory exam. Their Practical Examination will be conducted throughout the QLD State Gateball Teams Championship to be held at Toombul Croquet Club 17th-18th August

Just a reminder to all Referees to complete their form for Reaccreditation and give it to Margaret.

https://gateball.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ref-Reaccredtation-Card-2019.pdf

Southport Doubles Tournament at MSOB

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Barbara Northcott

There were ten pairs of gateball players who enjoyed a lovely afternoon playing in the Gateball Doubles Tournament. With two Block of 5 pairs, it was quite a busy time with playing a game followed by umpiring a game etc. Block A was won by Gaye Pitman playing with Lee Wentworth- both from Southport. Second place went to the Caloundra player Pat Burton and Sandra Reynolds from Toowoomba. Block B winners were Julia Tai and Ethan Chilton from Southport. In second place was Barrie Barnard from Broadbeach who partnered Peter Sweet from Southport.

In a very exciting Final, the dynamic mother and son combination of Julia and Ethan won on a countback against Gaye and Lee. Third place went to Peter and Barrie. A long standing Club Sponsor, Lesley Shepherd, Manager /Owner of Select World Travel and Cruises, made the presentations.

Lesley Shepherd with the winning pair of Ethan Chilton and Julia Tai

Second place went to Gaye Pitman and Lee Wentworth.

Third placed was Barrie Barnard and Peter Sweet with Lesley Shepherd

Southport’s Gateball Teams Tournament at MSOB

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Barbara Northcott

On the 29th and 30th June there was a very happy atmosphere at Southport Croquet Club because 8 Gateball Teams and 10 Gateball Doubles Teams were playing in the annual Mallet Sports on the Broadwater. Dodging the showers on the Saturday, all of the games were finished on time and we all stayed dry.

All team members at Southport

One player, Geoff Crook, flew up from Adelaide to participate. Such dedication! He played with the Southport Red Team. The local club also fielded 2 more teams-Southport White and Southport Stripes- while providing 2 players to the Mx ‘N Match Team. The other teams came from Broadbeach, Caloundra, Pine Rivers and Toowoomba. A very friendly atmosphere was experienced by everyone there and remarked upon by many of the participants.

There were a few games that were won on a countback and most games were closely contested with no huge difference in scores. By the end of Sunday morning, the teams representing Pine Rivers, Southport Red and Southport Stripes had each won 5 games. With a big number of ‘Net Hoops’, the winning team was Southport Red. The presentation was made by Mr. Hare, son of the Sponsor of Southport CC- Vision Michael Hare Eye Care and Optometrist.

Southport Red wins the MSOB Gateball Tournament

It was good news for the team from Pine Rivers Croquet Club whose team made its first appearance at the MSOB Gateball Tournament. We hope to see them return next year even more competitive after they gain experience playing together.

Second Place went to Pine Rivers Croquet Club

Southport Stripes came third

In third place was the Southport Stripes team made up of mostly newer players to the game but who play other codes of croquet.

Newcastle Fun Gateball Carnival 2019

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Maggi Williams

The one slight shower of rain on the Saturday afternoon did not put a dampener on the great weather for the recent Fun Gateball Carnival held in Newcastle from Friday 29^th June to Sunday 30^th June.

It was a “Fun” Carnival because we did not stick to all the formalities before and after the game, we needed to keep to a tight timetable. Only six pairs entered for the Doubles competition on the Friday afternoon so there was a single block, giving each pair five games. With only five minutes between games it was a tight programme but with great co-operation from the players we finished before dark only five minutes behind schedule. The winners were Judith Squelch and Margaret Gray from Newcastle with runners-up Ruth Mulvaney and Allan Graham from Toronto.

On the Saturday there were only four entries for the Teams event so again we had only a single block with each team playing each other team twice to give six games for each team. The winning team was Epstars with Newcastle the runner-up.

Sunday was a “Rotating Doubles” competition where nobody played with the same partner twice. Of the sixteen entrants there were some novice players and so the otherwise random draw was seeded to ensure these players did not play together but had the benefit of playing with more experienced partners. Again, each player was allocated six games. Points were awarded for wins and net hoops to each player and at the end of the day the winner with most points was Greg Deakin from Epstars. Second place went to Judith Squelch from Newcastle, followed by Marion Davies from Toronto.

It was a very busy weekend but thanks to the ready co-operation of the players and all the helpers it appeared everyone had a good time. Special thanks to our sponsors Aveo, to John Park for acting as Tournament Referee and to all the others who helped to make it a very enjoyable weekend.

Alan Gray
Newcastle National Park Croquet Club