The 107th New Zealand Open Championship was played from 17-24 January at Croquet Mount Maunganui and Katikati Croquet Club in the Bay of Plenty.
16 pairs took part in the Doubles, divided into four blocks of four pairs. The top two in each block would advance to the best of three knockout, with the remaining eight playing in two blocks of four followed by a single game knockout for the top two finishing pairs in each block and the bottom two finishing pairs. In Block A Paddy Chapman (Thames Valley) and Logan McCorkindale (Canterbury) dominated with three wins. Aaron Westerby and Josh Freeth (both Auckland) as well as Harps Tahurangi (Wellington) and Chris Shilling (Otago) were equally dominant in Block C and Block D respectively. Block B saw top seeds Jenny and Chris Clarke (Canterbury) drop the first game against John Versey (Hawkes Bay) and Peter Parkinson (Canterbury), before bouncing back and securing a place in the knockout alongside Versey and Parkinson.
Chapman & McCorkindale beat defending champions Jarrod Coutts (South Canterbury) and Toby Garrison (Wellington) in the quarterfinal in two games to face Tahurangi & Shilling who beat Dennis Bulloch and Nicholas Flood (Manawatu-Wanganui). In the bottom half Jenny & Chris Clarke continued to improve and dispatched Westerby & Freeth in two games. The semifinal was an ‘All Clarkes’ affair when Jenny and Chris were joined by another husband and wife pair in Cindy and Steve Clarke who beat Versey & Parkinson coming from one game down.
Chapman & McCorkindale proved too strong for Tahurangi & Shilling as did Jenny & Chris Clarke for Cindy & Steve Clarke. The final saw a very tight first game with Chapman & McCorkindale coming out on top 26:21. The second game was clearer with McCorkindale having the first controlled break to 4 back, with Chapman completing a triple peel and winning game 2 26TP:3. This was the first NZ Open Doubles title for the new pair of Paddy Chapman & Logan McCorkindale. Chapman has won the title twice before with Greg Bryant, while McCorkindale won it previously with Westerby.
The Doubles Plate final was played between brothers in law Luke Rive and Andrew Stuckey (Auckland) and Carey Johnstone (Taranaki) and tournament manager Malcolm Cawley (Bay of Plenty) who stepped in at short notice after a late withdrawal. Both pairs reached the final after some close semifinals including a TP from Johnstone, but Luke Rive and Andrew Stuckey never looked like letting the final slip and won 26:0.
The Singles Championship saw the largest and strongest field in years with 30 players. The field was divided into four blocks, two of seven and two of eight. The top four of each Block would advance to the knockouts.
Paddy Chapman dominated Block A, with six wins and four triple peels along the way. Chris Shilling and Jarrod Coutts both finished second with four wins and Dennis Bulloch also advanced with three wins.
Block B had similar results with defending champion Logan McCorkindale (South Canterbury) winning six games and completing five triple peels. He was joined by John Versey and 1989 World Champion Joe Hogan (Hawkes Bay) both on four wins and John Christie (Thames Valley).
In Block C, Josh Freeth topped the group unbeaten on seven wins followed by Aaron Westerby on six wins. They were joined by Stefan Horrer (Wairarapa) with five wins and Luke Rive on four wins.
Finally, Greg Bryant (Nelson) just finished ahead of Jenny Clarke in Block D, both with six wins. Andrew Stuckey and Peter Filbee (South Taranaki) also advanced with five wins each.
After initial block play for the Plate, the top two players from both blocks advanced to a knockout with a single game semifinal and a best of three final. Bonnie Johnstone (South Taranaki) and Vincent Commarieu (Nelson) faced each other in semifinal 1 while Reece McCorkindale (South Canterbury) and Harps Tahurangi met in semifinal 2. Both semifinals were very competitive with Commarieu winning 26:20 against Johnstone. In the other semifinal McCorkindale went to 4 back in the third turn and had the opportunity to finish the game. Tahurangi’s experience ultimately saw him get back into the game and win 26TP:22.
The final was similarly competitive with both Commarieu and Tahurangi taking advantage of their opportunities. In the end Harps Tahurangi prevailed beating Commarieu 26:21 and 26:14.
In the first knockout round of the Championship, Luke Rive similarly to last year caused an early upset, beating the so far unbeaten Josh Freeth to make the quarterfinal. In the same round, Rive’s brother in law Andrew Stuckey pushed John Versey to three close games but ultimately failed to progress. Joe Hogan won game 1 against Aaron Westerby with a well executed triple peel to nil, before Westerby bounced back to win games 2 and 3 with triple peels including a combination peg out in one of them.
Last year’s finalists Paddy Chapman and Logan McCorkindale proved too strong for their opponents John Christie and Dennis Bulloch conceding only one hoop each across two games. Equally impressive was Jenny Clarke against Stefan Horrer. The last knockout game saw Jarrod Coutts pushing Chris Shilling to a third game before Shilling took control and beat Coutts 26TP:0 in game 3.
Chapman and McCorkindale continued their form to progress to the semifinals in straight games beating John Versey and Chris Shilling respectively. Luke Rive continued his good form and pushed Aaron Westerby in game 1 ultimately losing 22:26, before taking game 2 26:23. In game 3 Rive got the early opportunities and went to 4 back and peg respectively. Westerby’s experience proved to be the difference when he hit the critical roquets and slowly gained control of the game and ultimately finished game 3 winning 26TP:21.
Jenny Clarke lost the first game against Greg Bryant 26:6 and it appeared she was in trouble in game 2 after Bryant reached 4 back and peg. After hitting in and time on her side, Clarke decided to give away a contact lift and peg off Bryant’s ball. Clarke played the three ball game with patience and slowly made hoops one at a time. With his second ball on penult and Clarke’s second ball on 3 Bryant got impatient and took a risky shot from the west boundary at the balls in corner four and thereby gifting Clarke a three ball break which Jenny took full advantage off winning game 2 26:23. Game 3 saw Clarke grow in confidence and winning 26:9 to advance to the semifinal.
Meanwhile, in the Bowl, Andrew Stuckey and Jarrod Coutts advanced to the final. After winning one game each in game 3 with Stuckey on peg and 2 Coutts decided to peg off Stuckey’s peg ball and setting up a three ball finish. With some incredible long hoop running Stuckey kept himself in the game before ultimately going down narrowly 26TPO:24 and Jarrod Coutts winning the Bowl.
In the Shield event played as a single game knockout, John Versey overcame Luke Rive 26:21 to face Chris Shilling in the final. Shilling beat Greg Bryant 26:3. John Versey finished his excellent tournament with a 26:9 win in the final.
In the Championship semis, Paddy Chapman continued his impressive form, beating Aaron Westerby 26-12, 26TP-13. In the other semifinal the defending champion Logan McCorkindale had to wait for his opponent Jenny Clarke. The coming from behind win against Greg Bryant clearly came at the right time as Clarke took control of game 1 winning 26:0. Game 2 was a closer affair with both players having opportunities and McCorkindale failing to take advantage of a TP opportunity when he broke down on 4 back with his second ball. Jenny Clarke went on to win game 2 26:19 and to set up a final against Paddy Chapman.
The third place game between Aaron Westerby and Logan McCorkindale finished with Aaron taking the single game 26TP:0.
In the meantime the final was played on lawn 2, where both players showed controlled breaks and excellent shooting in game 1. Jenny Clarke won the game 26TP:9 with a well executed triple peel. In game 2 Clarke applied the same tactic of pegging off opponent as she did in the match against Bryant. After taking contact, a long take off and an incredible roll from the north boundary to 2 back, Chapman ran 2 back from about 2 yards out and finished the game to win 26:12. In game 3 Clarke was again off to a great start and Chapman failed to take advantage of his lift shot. Jenny Clarke then finished game 3 with a triple peel to secure her first New Zealand Open Singles title.
CNZ Life Member Aaron Westerby presenting Jenny Clarke with the Singles trophy.
Jenny Clarke is the first woman to win the NZ Open Singles title in 59 years with the great Jean Jarden being the last female winner in January 1966 in Wanganui.
As part of prizegiving, Reece McCorkindale won the Charles Jones Memorial Salver recognising the best player on a handicap of 0 or higher, while Paddy Chapman continued his dominance in the peeling statistics by again winning the Paddy Chapman Peeling Prize with 9 triple peels in the singles.
Congratulations to all the winners!
CNZ would like to thank the Bay of Plenty Association, Croquet Mount Maunganui, Katikati Croquet Club, all the volunteers at both venues, the managers Malcolm, Dallas, Dave with the support of others, referees/umpires, caterers, supporters and the players for making this great event happen.
