Tense singles finals at Ryde Croquet Club

Ryde Croquet Club held its singles championship two weeks ago, with 16 players available for this competitive event. In the morning players were divided into four all-play-all groups, with eight proceeding to the main knockout and eight entering the plate tournament.

The plate was won by Martin Brandom in fine style, beating Sue England in the final.

In the knock out semi-finals Jim O’Keefe beat top seed, Andrew Larpent, 7-6 and Nick Westmore beat second seed, Pam Sim, 7–5; in a one-game shoot out, one slip or one great shot can turn the game. The final proved to be a tense, tactical and thoughtful game testing each player to the limit, with Nick edging Jim out on the deciding 13th hoop to take the championship 7–6.