Paraparaumu Croquet Club (Wellington) played host to the 2025 CNZ Women’s AC Invitation. Eight players from six different associations were invited to compete from 14 to 16 November in a single round robin and in perfect playing conditions.
Top seed Miranda Chapman (Thames Valley), second seed Bonnie Johnstone (Taranaki) and fourth seed Carissa Price (Central Districts) finished day one with three wins, while defending champion Pip Rive (Auckland) was off to a slow start with only one win from three games.
Chapman continued her winning streak with two more wins from two on the second day. Carolyn Fordyce (South Canterbury) and Rive seemed to find form also winning both their games, while everyone else dropped at least one game.
Day three started with two of the three leading players facing each other with Chapman prevailing over Fordyce, while Price lost her first game of the day to Johnstone. This lifted Miranda Chapman to six wins and two clear of the nearest competitor with only one round to go, therefore securing her first win in the Women’s AC Invitation.
The runner-up position on the other hand was wide open with four players (Johnstone, Price, Fordyce and Rive) all on four wins. While Johnstone lost to Chapman and Rive beat Baubre Murray (Wellington), Fordyce and Price faced each other with Fordyce prevailing 21:6. This meant both Fordyce and Rive finished with five wins from seven and the runner-up had to be decided on net hoops, with Pip Rive beating Fordyce by 32 net hoops to 30.
Runner-up Pip Rive and Winner Miranda Chapman
Congratulations to Miranda Chapman on winning her first Women’s AC Invitation, to Pip Rive on backing up last year’s win with a second place in a stronger field, to Miranda Chapman and Sue Patterson for being selected in their first Invitation event and all other players for being selected.
CNZ would like to thank tournament manager Bob McKenzie and his team of volunteers from the Paraparaumu Croquet Club and the Wellington Croquet Association for putting on a great tournament.
