After being postponed from earlier in the season due to Covid-19 restrictions, 18 women converged on Croquet Mt Maunganui on the 19th and 20th of February to contest the 2021-22 Women’s GC Tournament.
Play began with 3 blocks of six with players contesting 19-point games. The top 2 from each block, and the best two third placed players advanced to the knock-out stage.
In Block A, Helen Reeves (Hawkes Bay) secured the top qualifying spot, winning all 5 of her games. This included a tight 10-9 victory over Vanessa Hanna (Waikato-King Country) who qualified second, having won her other 4 games.
Block B was won by Northland’s Jean Kent, who won all 5. Local player, Dallas Cooke (Bay of Plenty) qualified second in Block B with 4 wins. Sibyl Grant (Bay of Plenty) qualified top of Block C winning all 5 of her games. Block C was extremely tight with 3 players all finishing with 3 wins. However it was Marion Taylor (Auckland) and Lyn Rupapera (Northland) who would advance as second and one of the best thirds. Block A’s Sue Roberts (Bay of Plenty) rounded out the group to reach the knock-out stages.
Throughout the knock-out stages, there were plenty of close matches. With the semi-finals and final being Bo3 13-point games, each of them went to a third and deciding game.
It was the qualifiers from Block B who would advance to the final and have a rematch from their Block game where Kent had won 10-9.
Cooke took the early advantage, winning game one 7-5. Kent fought back to ensure the game would go to a decider after winning game two 7-6. Cooke would keep her composure to win game three, and secure the 2021-22 Women’s GC title 7-5, 6-7, 7-3.
In the Plate, it was a tight contest with 3 players all ending on 5 wins. However, it was Wellington’s Jessica Bullen who would win the Plate with a superior net hoops.
Full results can be found on Croquet Scores, here.
