The 28th Edition of the CNZ GC Open Championships was held at Heretaunga Croquet Club in Havelock North from 13-18 January.
Six pairs took part in the Doubles, played as a blocks of best of three matches over the opening Tuesday & Wednesday. The top two pairs after block play progressed to a best of three final, while the remaining four pairs played in the Plate event as a single game knockout.
Block play saw Paul Kaiser & Josh Winter (both Canterbury) finish on top with five wins from five games, followed by two pairs on three wins. Jason Hodgett & James Duggan (both Canterbury) win three match wins narrowly missed out on the final with zero net games. Nelson Morrow (Auckland) & Shane Davis (Australia) also finished on three match wins but three net games and consequently progressed to the final.
The remaining four pairs in the Plate section played a single game knockout with Hodgett & Duggan overcoming husband & wife pair Ricky & Nicola Clement 7:3 in semifinal 1, while Levi Franks (Canterbury) & Nathan Bullen (Wellington) beat Mohammad Kamal (USA) & Nigel Read (Central Districts) in semifinal 2 by the same result. In the Plate final Levi Franks & Nathan Bullen proved too strong for Hodgett & Bullen, winning 7:2.
In the Championship final Josh Winter & Paul Kaiser proved too strong for Morrow & Davis, and secured the Championship in two games 7:5 & 7:2..
The Singles took place from Thursday to Sunday, competed by 16 players split across two blocks. The top four of each block advanced to the knockouts.
Levi Franks dominated Block A, winning all seven matches and dropping only one game. He was joined by Brian Bullen (Wellington), Dennis Bulloch (Central Districts) and Michael Lauer (Marlborough Nelson West Coast) in the knockouts.
Block B saw doubles winners Paul Kaiser & Josh Winter finishing on six match wins each to finish first and second. Behind them five players finished on three wins, meaning that it came down to net games. This meant that Mohammad Kamal and Jason Hodgett joined Kaiser & Winter in the knockout.
Six players took part in the Singles Plate, a single round robin of single 19 point games with the top two players qualifying for a best of three final. Jessica Bullen (Wellington) won all five of her games and she was joined in the final by Pedro Rodrigues (Central Districts) with four wins from five. In the Plate Final Jessica Bullen continued her winning streak with two 7:5 & 7:4 wins to secure the GC Open Plate.
In the best of three knockouts, the two block winners Levi Franks and Paul Kaiser were unable to progress after losing in three games to Jason Hodgett and Dennis Bulloch respectively. The other two quarterfinals were decided in three games as well with Josh Winter overcoming Michael Lauer and Mohammad Kamal beating Brian Bullen. Surprise winners Hodgett and Bulloch were unable to repeat their feats in the semifinals. Hodgett lost to Winter in three games, while Kamal disposed of Bulloch in straight games.
The best of five final saw both players taking their chances with Winter winning the first game 7-5, Kamal bouncing back to win game two 7-6 before Winter regained the momentum to win game three narrowly 7-6. Josh Winter carried that momentum into game 4 winning 7:3 and adding the Singles Title to the Doubles he won a few days earlier.
Photo: Heretaunga CC President Carrie Cooke and GC Open Singles winner Josh Winter.
CNZ would like to thank the managers, referees, volunteers, players and supporters for making the week a success. Congratulations to all the winners!
