Author Archives: John Park

Australian Gateball Championships. Day 2

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Saturday’s program saw the first few rounds of the teams event and the doubles finals.

At the end of the day, the Macs from NSW were leading pool A with 4 wins while following close behind were Moreton Bay and Southport Red with three wins apiece. In pool B, Canberra Mavericks and Kew share the lead on 4 wins apiece.

The doubles semifinals and finals saw quality games. The final was between Glen and Kristina Whitehead of Canberra and the Macs pairing of David Hughes and Ruth Mulvaney. David described their game as follows:

“In a game which saw two doubles pairings soldier through the knockout stages, the final game was a clash of skill and fierce tactics which came down to the final shot. In what could be considered a game of who could keep control of Gate 2 longer, Glen and Kristina assumed control early, only to lose control soon after from a bit of luck (thanks to the lawn) with a long touch. The middle stages of the game were a see saw affair and required us to keep our focus and cool in order to maintain control and solidify our line 2 strategy in front of Gate 2. As always when playing such high quality opposition in Glen and Kristina, the game was a thrill and Ruth and I were lucky to escape and hold on to win the inaugural Australian doubles championship.”
 
While Glen and Kristina’s view was:
 
Kristina and I had a good start winning the toss and getting ball 1 in front of gate 2. However, two long shots by David, one early and one late, kept us at bay. On our last turn we had a chance to put 5 on the goal pole and equal the scores but we also needed 6 off the court, as it had a certain gate 2 on the final turn. We weren’t able to quite make the bombard. Congratulations to Ruth and David on winning a very enjoyable final.
 
Spectators ageed it was a thrilling game!
 

 

 

Australian Gateball Championships: Day 1.

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Australian Gateball Championships Day 1

Today, the first day of the Australian Gateball Championship was held under a miraculously blue sky!

Those on the coast preparing for the event had been anxiously weather watching. At a meeting at the centre on Wednesday, contingencies considered included using tapes and delaying the start to Friday midday. However, the weather changed and as the GA team arrived at the venue on Thursday, the courts had already been painted by centre staff! All that was required was for gate and goal pole positions to be marked.

The rainy weather had posed major challenges for several participants. Some driving up from down south had experienced delays due to the  closure of the Pacific Highway and one NSW couple passed cars with water up to their windows and had to divert though Beaudesert, well inland of the venue.

As well as weather setbacks, sickness affected one of our teams and replacements had to be found in a hurry.

Friday began with three rounds of the knockout inaugural Australian Open Doubles. Participants are looking forward to Saturday’s semi finals between the mother and son pairing of Maxine and Alec Maclachlan and Glen and Kristina Whitehead . On the other side of the draw, Ruth Mulvaney and David Hughes of the Macs take on Andrew Davies and Ralph Richardson of Canberra.

The rest of the day involved all teams in individual practice games and  two practice games against teams they would not face in their respective  pools in the teams competition. Well received coaching and refereeing sessions were also conducted. 

The surface of the Gold Coast Performance Centre provided a special challenge, which our leading doubles teams managed to adapt to better than most.

At the opening ceremony late in the day, 100 players stood in traditional team line ups and balls were stroked through the ceremonial gate. Rob Molhoek, MLA for Southport, Pat Habner, CAQ President, Greg Bury, Manager ACA Academy and Jim Nichols, ACA President, did not miss a shot. Jim Nichols impressed us all with a backwards between the legs shot worthy of Nick Kyrios (without the tantrums!) A BBQ meal provided at the Centre completed the day.

 

Entering the Australian Gateball Championships 1-3 April 2022

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Entries  for the Australian Gateball Championships, 1st  to 3rd April  2022,  are invited from Australian and any overseas teams that can visit Australia. The deadline for entries will be COB on Monday 14th March. Entering team information before the deadline will assist with administration for the event. Download an entry form here

As well as the regular Teams Championship, an Inaugural Open Doubles Championship will be held. Teams that enter the main teams event may nominate one pair for the doubles. If more than one pair wish to nominate, the club team submitting the entry should hold a play off to determine which pair will be nominated. Wildcard entries may also be proposed and additional pairs may be included in the event. Teams and doubles pairs need to include either a referee or referee in training.     The  entry form and detailed conditions of entry for the doubles  and teams event are posted on the  ACA website at this location. Payment by credit card is required once all information has been submitted. If you are not ready to complete the form until closer to the deadline, please email info@gateball.com.au to let us know you intend to enter a team.

Emergency Contact information for team members. Team captains need to collect this information for their team and keep it with them at the event. The entry form also asks players with First Aid qualifications to be listed

Games will be played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday’s program will also include an opening ceremony, BBQ, practise sessions, friendly team games and coaching/refereeing workshops. 

Future International Representation. Players also need to note that anyone interested in representing Australia in 2022/3  at World Gateball Union, Asian Gateball Union or Asia Pacific GU events should indicate their interest on their entry forms. Final selections will be made when Australia is asked to nominate teams. The Captains of the 3 best performing clubs will be core members of the GA Selection Committee and will select from nominating players to build a team in a club’s name. The committee is obliged to produce the strongest teams possible to represent Australia. Check ACA Selection Committee Terms of Reference and  ACA Selection Policy for details. 

Anyone wishing to join a composite team to participate in the event should email info@gateball.com.au if they have not been able to build a team from their own contacts 

Accommodation is available at the northern end of the Gold Coast near Runaway Bay where the Gold Coast Performance Centre is located. Most are closer to Labrador and Southport but are not within walking distance. 
 
The closest, private  accommodation to the Centre is the Runaway Bay Motor Inn. which is about a 20 minute walk from the Sports Centre. There are many places that are overlooking the Broadwater in the suburb of Labrador. 
 
Food. Lunch boxes for will be available and distributed early in the day.  Contents can be consumed for morning and afternoon breaks as well as lunchtime. While there are café facilities on the site, queueing at times of peak demand will be an issue. A barbeque will be held early on Friday so that local players have time to drive home. Individuals need to order and pay for their own food by Friday 18th March. This is done through the ACA website . Please note that this needs to be done by each individual and not on a team basis. Credit card payment is required after information is entered.

Balls for sale! 8 sets of new balls with three numbers will be used. They will be offered for sale after the event for $140. The sale of these balls will be handled by Gateball Solutions. Any club represented at the event may offer to purchase a set.  Please email gateballsolutions@gmail.com if your club is interested in purchasing a set. If more clubs nominate to buy these balls than there are sets to sell, names will be drawn at random.

Please post any general questions below or email info@gateball.com.au if they are more specific.

 

European Gateballers Come Together in Paris

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Near Paris on  the weekend of 18th-19th September 7 teams from across Europe met for the first time in a series of Gateball tournaments arranged by Europe en Sport for 2021. This grouping only play 5v5 so it needed some adjustment of thinking by the German team from Gransdorf in the Eifel who normally play in the European Gateball League events of singles and doubles. What took even more adjustment was playing on artificial grass … very slippery sparking!

Most other teams had only recently started playing again, after months of Corona-induced lethargy and one team of youngsters had only been introduced to Gateball two months ago so that, while they mostly sailed through gate 1 their tactics were poorly developed.  Indeed only one other team managed to arrange a pass-touch in their games whilst Gransdorf was frequently able to destroy their opponents’ positions by creating pass-touch opportunities.  We lost in the round Robin games against the Italians from Sardinia with 15 points each but they had 2 Agari against our 1, a great game. In the final we met them again but the gransdorf team fell apart. Cagliari were consistently better than us at judging distance to the line… they play outdoors winter and summer.

The overall standard of refereeing was amateur despite my passing around the “what if” guide developed by me and checked by Bruce McAlister … maybe it was my version in French that was distracting them. The others need to practise their gestures as refs.

Anyway, it was a great weekend and at last a chance to build some bridges between them and us; I plan a triples tournament which should be a halfway house they find acceptable between pure 5v5 and Gateball with more playing time.

(Thanks to John Swabey for sending us this story. Australian Gateballers may remember that John and his wife Bettina played in the 2017 Australian Gateball Championships at Bateau Bay in NSW. Gateball Australia enjoys hearing from its overseas friends and is looking forward to a time when we can play together again. Some Australian players may also remeber the EGU players that many of us met in Brazil in 2018 )

Play Virtual Gateball

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At the launch of the Australian Croquet Academy this week,  mallets sports simulations also featured. At this point in time, the Gateball and Golf Croquet games are playable but creator Gareth Denyer wants feedback to enable him to perfect the games. He already has a list of improvements generated through his previous consultation with a couple of GB players. Gareth stresses that we are at a stage where we have product that is good enough for people to experiment with but it is very early in the development process There is a very high chance that he will  be able to act on good suggestions in a timely manner

He also tells us he knew virtually nothing about Gateball a couple of weeks ago. This makes his progress outstanding. Thanks are extended to Gareth and the ACA for including this development in conjunction with the launch of the  Australian Croquet Academy

To get started, check Gareth’s introductory Picture Based Guide,  Power Point and Youtube presentations. Then try the simulation.

The picture at the top of the screen shows some aspects of the simulation. You will notice that there is both a 2D and 3D view of the court. An information panel shows up and when a touch is made, the smaller touch screen clarifies what has happened. Gareth explains that the platform he has used for this “gets the physics right.”  During the Croquet Academy presentation, he demonstrated a bombard which showed that the stroker’s ball had to be hit a bit harder and how carefully the lining up has to be done. Those annoying bombards, where the sparked ball stops dead because it has been hit too straight, with be faithfully reproduced by the simulation! We can all learn from this game, as well as have a lot of fun with it, especially during lockdown!!!

Gareth also recommends trying out some set pieces like bombards, pushouts, gates and touches and slides . This will test out the simulation. Do remember to send him any thoughts you have 

The central aspect of the Croquet Academy presentation was also to show aspects of the online coaching platform. Manuals, videos, log books, booking forms and certificates will all be available through this medium. A brief introduction to the Croquet Academy is available on Facebook, while a lengthier video can be found on the ACA website  More details will be forthcoming.