[<<] [>>] by Abdul Ahmad.
20th May 2003 (GC)

The Championships were held in the picturesque grounds standing at the Ripon Spa Hotel on Friday16th, Saturday17th and Sunday18th May 2003. Conditions were very testing. It rained continuously on Friday. Prolonged showery periods occurred on Saturday. Mixed conditions were experienced on Sunday. Lawn 2 was partially flooded on Saturday. The ladies didn't allow this to distract them from playing quality croquet and responded well in completing a tight schedule.
On Friday the 19 players were divided into 3 blocks. The matches were concluded by mid-afternoon on Saturday. The top two finishers in each block together with two best performing third places went forward to a second phase of block play. These 8 players were allocated to 2 blocks. Winner of each block contested the play-off finals for the title. Those who didn't qualify for this phase of singles were paired off and contested for the consolation doubles event.
Finalists were determined by Sunday lunch- time. The final was played in mostly bright warm conditions. Samantha Curry kept Freda Vitty at bay for most of the game to win for the second successive year. Although Freda played a high number of successful clearances from varying distances she was unable to break Samantha's iron grip around the hoops.
The Championships was efficiently co-ordinated by Syd Jones who was ably assisted by Keith Smith.

Open Singles Results

Prelimnary Stage

Single best of 13 points games. Time Limits 1 hour

Block A

1st S Curry 6/6 beat I Wedderburn 7/2; F Rogers 7/2; P O'Regan 7/3; P Duke-Cox 7/2; R Pimlott 7/0; M Williams 7/2.
2nd F Rogers 4/6 beat I Wedderburn 7/6; P O'Regan 7/2; R Pimlott 7/; M Williams 7/5.
3rd P Duke-Cox 4/6 beat I Wedderburn 7/6; P O'Regan 7/5; F Rogers 7/5; M Williams 7/6.
4th= I Wedderburn 2/6 beat I Wedderburn 7/6; P O'Regan 7/2; R Pimlott 7/2; M Williams 7/5.
4th= M Williams 2/6 beat P O'Regan 7/5; R Pimlott 7/3.
6th R Pimlott 2/6 beat P O'Regan 7/5; P Duke-Cox 7/4.
7th P O'Regan 1/6 beat I Wedderburn 7/6.

S Curry, F Rogers and P Duke- Cox qualified for the 2nd Phase.

Block B

1st F Vitty 4/5 beat J Morton 7/4; J Pringle 7/5; J Hand 7/3; J Blake 7/1.
2nd R Longbottom 4/5 beat J Morton 7/3; J Pringle 7/6; F Vitty 7/3; J Hand 7/6.
3rd J Hand 2/5 beat J Morton 7/3; J Pringle 7/6.
4th J Blake 2/5 beat J Hand 7/4; R Longbottom 7/6.
5thJ Morton 2/5 beat J Pringle 7/6, J Blake 7/6.
6th J Pringle 1/5 beat J Blake 7/2.

F Vitty and R Longbottom qualified for the 2nd Phase.

Block C

1st E Martin 5/5 beat C Taylor 7/6; J Old 7/4; I Burns 7/6; L Keable 7/4; M Ansell 7/3.
2nd J Old 4/5 beat C Taylor 7/4; I Burns 7/5; L Keable 7/6; M Ansell 7/3
3rd Taylor 2/5 beat L Keable 7/3; M Ansell 7/5.
4th M Ansell 2/5 beat I Burns 7/1; L Keable 7/2.
5th I Burns 2/5 beat C Taylor 7/6; L Keable 7/1.
6th L Keable 0/5

E Martin, J Old and C Taylor qualified for the 2nd Phase.

Second Phase

Single best of 19 points games. Time Limit 1.25 hours

Block 1

1st S Curry 3/3 beat R Longbottom 10/2; J Old 10/3; C Taylor 10/8.
2nd R Longbottom 2/3 beat J Old 10/3; C Taylor 10/7.
3rd J Old 1/3 beat C Taylor 10/9.
4th C Taylor 0/3

S Curry qualified for play-off Finals.

Block 2

1st F Vitty 3/3 beat E Martin 10/5; F Rogers 10/5; P Duke-Cox 10/7
2nd F Rogers 2/3 beat E Martin 10/8; P Duke-Cox 10/6.
3rd E Martin 1/3 beat P Duke-Cox 10/8.
4th P Duke-Cox 0/3

F Vitty qualified for play-off Finals.

Play-Off Finals

Best of 3; 13 points games. No Time Limits

S Curry beat F Vitty 7/4; 7/3.

Consolation Doubles Event Results

All play all. Single 13 points game. Time Limit 45 minutes.

M Ansell & L Keable 3/5
I Burns & P O'Regan 3/5
J Hand & J Pringle 3/5
I Wedderburn & I Smith 1/5
M Williams & R Pimlott 1/5
J Blake & J Morton 4/5

Winners J Blake & J Morton.