Less then two months after making his debut at the Openshaw Shield in Tasmania, Levi Franks from the Cashmere Croquet Club in Christchurch went a step further and crowned his season with a World Championship title.
At the Under 21 GC World Championship in Florida Levi competed alongside fellow New Zealanders Jessica Bullen (Wellington), Mattie Clarkson (Counties Manukau), Luke Francis (Manawatū-Wanganui) and Callum McKinnon (Wellington).
The tournament started with four blocks of seven players, with 16 players qualifying for the knockout stage. All five New Zealanders reached the knockout stage after finishing at least third in their respective blocks. This is an incredible result having all five players in the final 16. Congratulations to all our players for this achievement!
While only Franks reached the second round of the knockout, the others entered the Bowl event.
Jessica Bullen felt right at home at this level and defeated Abdalla Khaled (Egypt) 7:4, 7:6 in the first round of the Bowl event before overcoming Vojtěch Dušek (Czech Republic) 7:1, 7:4 in the semifinal. In the Bowl final Jessica faced Jana Mohammed Saaid (Egypt), who Jessica defeated during block play in three games. Jana was off to a great start and took game one 7:3. Jessica fought back hard in game two and went out to a 5:3 lead, before Jana managed to run hoops 9 and 10 to level the game. The two shared a hoop each on 11 and 12 to take the game to the 13th hoop. Unfortunately Jessica was not able to force a third game and Jana took game two 7:6.
In the Championship knockout Levi Franks was hitting form. After dropping a match in block play, his play took a step up and Levi cruised into the semifinals with convincing wins over Jana Saaid (7:1, 7:5) and Eduardo Nuñez (Spain), who he beat 7:2 and 7:5.
In the semifinal the top ranked U21 player Jack Good from England was waiting. Levi once again came out of the blocks firing and took the first game 7:5, before increasing the pressure further and taking game two 7:2. In game three Levi for the first time showed some nerves and allowed Good to claim back a game winning 7:5. In game four the tension rose another level with tit for tat play, every time a player managed to get ahead. The game ended up going all the way to the 13th hoop and Levi kept his composure to score the winning hoop and book a place in the final.
The second semifinal saw GC World Champion Blake Fields (USA) competing against 2023 U21 GC Worlds finalist Fawzy Helmy of Egypt. Fawzy continued his outstanding form to take the first two games 7:4 each, before losing game 3 to Blake 7:4. This was only the second game Fawzy had lost throughout the tournament. Fawzy took charge of the match again in game four and won the match with another 7:4 win.
On paper Fawzy was certainly the favourite for the final, however with his play improving throughout the event and having just beaten the highest ranked U21 player in the world Levi was not paying any attention to that. Levi started the match with a level of concentration and precision that kept Fawzy out of the game. Levi took game one in convincing fashion 7:2 and followed that up with a 7:5 win in game two. In game three Fawzy threw caution to the wind, knowing that he had to win the game to stay in the match. the game went neck to neck with both players on 5 hoops after hoop 10. Levi managed to once again get his nose in front by scoring hoop eleven only for Fawzy to attempt hoop 12 from north of hoop 11 and running it. The scores were again level on 6 all, however Levi had the opportunity to get to hoop 13 first and which he executed perfectly. Fawzy, with one ball on the south boundary and the other in the penalty area on the west boundary, required some long clearances to stay in the match, however missing both. Levi did not waste any opportunity to score the hoop and become the 2025 U21 GC World Champion.
This was the 7th edition of the U21 GC World Championship and Levi is the fifth New Zealander to win this event.
Congratulations Levi!
