The Toronto Croquet Club recently played host to some of the best players in the state.
The Lake Macquarie City Games and Gateball NSW State Championships, officially opened by mayor Kay Fraser, included competitors from not only the region, but Canberra, Orange, Urunga, Wollongong and a number of Sydney clubs as well.
Three days of golf croquet, featuring 32 players, were soon followed by gateball, which is a Japanese born mallet sport.
The first tournament was divided into four blocks according to handicaps, with doubles starting ahead of singles in a round-robin format.
Toronto’s own Bruce Glasgow was the star of the show for the local outfit.
He finished runner-up in the Block A singles division and captured a similar result in the Block A doubles with team-mate Robert King from Coogee.
Afterwards, Toronto Croquet Club president Marion Davies and games captain Robin Irwin made the presentations.
Golf croquet results –
Singles –
- Block A: winner Simon Fisk (Canberra); runner-up Bruce Glasgow (Toronto)
- Block B: winner Malcolm Powys (Marrickville); runner-up Catherine Waters (Urunga)
- Block C: winner Sue Patterson (Orange); runner-up Marion Morahan (Macquarie City Croquet Club)
- Block D: winner Paul Yardy (Mt Sugarloaf); runner-up Leone Robertson (Macquarie City Croquet Club)
Doubles –
- Block A: winners John Mitchell (Urunga)/Peter Waters (Urunga); runners up Robert King (Coogee)/ Bruce Glasgow (Toronto)
- Block B: winner Ronald May (Bateau Bay)/Malcolm Powys (Marrickville); runners up Lynley Mitchell (Urunga)/Sandra Jones (Mt Sugarloaf)
- Block C: winner Glenda Yardy (Mt Sugarloaf)/Robyn Sim (Wollongong); runners up Jenny Cahill (Orange)/Pat Foster (Macquarie City Croquet Club)
- Block D: winner Paul Yardy (Mt Sugarloaf)/Jennie McNamara (Bateau Bay); runners up Carolyn McNamara (Bateau Bay)/Rhonda McDiarmid (Bateau Bay)
Meanwhile, the weather gods turned on the organisers for the first day of play for the Gateball NSW State Championships, featuring 12 pairs of doubles.
The wet day did not detract from the standard of play with a high level of skills and strategy resulting in some extremely close scores.
In a nail-biting finish, Glen and Kristina from Canberra pulled out a 12-11 score to beat Ipswich’s Bruce McAlister and Peter Sweet from Southport.
Founder of the Toronto Croquet Club Pam Durie opened the tournament and awarded the trophy and badges to the doubles’ winners.
Eight line-ups also entered the teams’ championship.
Many high-scoring matches resulted in a finals contest between the Canberra Mavericks and Canberra Sparkers.
The Mavericks showed considerable skill and determination in their win.
In third place was the Queensland combination from Southport, Rockhampton and Ipswich.
The trophies were presented by Davies and Gateball NSW coordinator Judy Tier.
Gateball chief referee Bruce McAlister also handed Toronto Croquet Club duo Irwin and Davies with their referees’ badges, in a proud moment for the organisation.
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