The Terminator Mallets Under 21 GC Championships were held at Rose Gardens CC in Palmerston North from 11 to 15 December. The doubles event was held on Wednesday and Thursday 11 and 12 December with the Singles running from Friday 13 December to Sunday 15 December.
In the doubles draw, five pairs played in one block in a double round robin format, with the two top ranked pairs playing a best of three final. Block play saw two pairs of siblings topping the table on equal wins. Jessica and Nathan Bullen (Wellington) finished with six wins from eight games, the same as James and Myles Duggan (Canterbury).
In their direct games they shared one win each, however in the final the Jessica and Nathan Bullen from Paraparaumu proved too strong for the Duggan brothers from the Cashmere Croquet Club, winning in straight games 7:5 and 7:6.
The doubles Plate event was won by another two players from Cashmere, Patrick Conolly and Levi Franks (Canterbury).
Twelve players competed in the Singles event starting with a single round robin block on Friday, and the top eight placed players qualifying for the knock-out. In addition to the familiar names of Levi Franks, Josh Winter, James and Myles Duggan (all Canterbury), Jessica Bullen and Callum McKinnon (both Wellington) we saw two relative newcomers qualifying for the last eight. Local player Katie Zentveld (Manawatu-Wanganui) reached the knock-out in her first CNZ Tournament finishing on five wins from eleven games. Max Philpott from the Gore Croquet Club in Southland managed to win seven of his eleven games in block play.
The first round of the knock-out saw the favourites stepping up with Bullen beating Philpott , Winter beating Zentveld and Franks beating McKinnon in straight games. The luck of the draw meant that the Duggan brothers were facing each other in the first round and both were putting up a fight. Ultimately James prevailed beating Myles in three games.
In the first semi-final the U21 Champions from 2022 Josh Winter faced off against Jessica Bullen. Bullen who will be travelling to Florida in April to compete in the U21 World Championship has been playing well throughout both the doubles and singles and carried that form into the semi-final winning the first game 7:6 and holding her nerve in game 2 to win 7:5 and reaching the championship final for the first time.
In the second semi-final the defending champion and tournament favourite Levi Franks was facing his club mate James Duggan. Game 1 was a one-sided affair with Franks winning 7:0. Although Duggan improved in game 2 he fell again short 7:5, and Franks marching into his third consecutive final.
Franks experience proved too strong in the final with doubles winner Jessica Bullen losing in two games 7:4 and 7:1, and Levi Franks claiming his third consecutive singles title.
The Plate event was won by Patrick Conolly (Canterbury), who won all his games in the Plate block.
The event saw four of the five New Zealand representatives at the 2025 U21 GC World Championship gaining some valuable competition time. Unfortunately, Luke Francis (Manawatu-Wanganui) had to withdraw before the tournament due to injury.
We also saw some new young players competing in their first CNZ tournament and gaining valuable experience, with Jayda Sharp from the Park Croquet Club in South Taranaki and sisters Emily and Katie Zentveld playing at their home club Rose Gardens (Manawatu-Wanganui).
CNZ would like to thank the tournament manager, volunteers, referees, supporters and the players for another successful tournament. Congratulations to all the winners!
