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AITON KEITH Keith Aiton
After 20 years of almost being a world class player, Keith finally made the breakthrough in 2005 when he won the Presidents Cup. His performances since have been excellent, particularly when making his debut for GB in the MacRobertson Shield of 2006 where he won all his singles matches.Keith, lives in Lincolnshire and is father to Laura and Alex. His hobbies include chess and golf. Keith works as a Master NLP practitioner and will no doubt have spent a great deal of time visualizing getting his hands on the Wimbledon Cup!
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ALVAREZ-SALA JOSE Jose Alvarez-Sala - Back To Top
Jose was born in Madrid and has just finished his studies of Business Affairs Direction in the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid. He is a very good soccer player and he is also fond of tennis and paddle tennis.He has played croquet since early childhood and he has won the Spanish Children Championships (single and doubles events) several times. He was the runner-up in the Spanish Association Croquet Championships in 2001 and 2005 and was also runner-up in the AC doubles event in 2003. He won the 1st Spanish Golf Croquet Championship in 2008.
Jose has played, representing Spain, in the 1st Mainland Europe Croquet (AC and GC) Championship held in Milan in 2008. He has represented Spain in international croquet events in 14 occasions.
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AVERY MARK Mark Avery - Back To Top
Mark Avery seems to have been playing croquet at a high level for years. With an opening top tournament win in the English Northern Championship in 1982 he has gone on to prove himself with an Open Championship win in 1987 and English Western Championship (1989). To complement that he has also shown his easy going temperament in taking the Open Doubles Championship in 1985 and 1987 with WCF President , David Openshaw and again in 2003 with David Maugham.This success has made him an easy selection for the Great Britain MacRobertson Shield winning teams of 1986, 1990 and 2003. In addition he has also regularly played in the annual Solomon Trophy match for Great Britain against the USA.He was arguably denied his finest moment in 1989, losing narrowly to Joe Hogan in the 1st WCF World Championship at Hurlingham, England. When not playing, he is to be found in the world of Property Management and Investment but he does find time to enjoy most other sports and in particular Scuba Diving.
KEN BALD - Back To Top
Ken is a self employed builder who started playing croquet in 1993 after much “nagging” by his late mother-in-law Fran Thomas. Ken is married to Lorraine, they have three children – Matthew, Russell and Aleisha. Ken is Pa to four lively young grandsons – Zachary, Gus, Jacob and Liam. Ken has played croquet since 1993 and he first represented his state of Victoria in 2000. He has been able to organise his work to make the most of the opportunities he has been offered to play in major tournaments both overseas and here in Australia. Highlights for Ken were the 2005 World Championships in Cheltenham (UK); representing Australia in the Trans Tasman against New Zealand; and playing in the Resort Invitational held at Timberline Mt.Hood (USA) in 2006. |
BAMFORD REGINALD Reginald Bamford - Back To Top
Reg has won the Worlds twice and the British Open six times and has been living in the UK since the early 1990's. A Qualified Chartered Accountant, he founded and runs 1st Contact, a company that offers services to the UK Recruitment Industry and its candidates and is well known throughout the Antipodean and South African communities in London. He has been playing croquet since he was 9 years of age. He is married to Adrienne and has a two children, Alex and Oliver. His loves include his family, business, croquet, sports car, and his farm in South Africa. In that order. |
BAST JIM Jim Bast - Back To Top
Jim began playing competitive croquet in the Fall of 1981 at the Arizona Croquet Club. Less than two months later he played in his first USCA National Championship. Named USCA Rookie of the Year in 1982, he then competed in the USCA International Challenge Cup in 1982 and 1983 against Scotland and South Africa. Jim became the USCA national singles and doubles champion in 1984, in American Rules. In 1985, Jim was a member of the first USCA test team to tour Great Britain; competing against Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Jim competed in the first six Sonoma-Cutrer world championship events. In 1991, he became the first American to reach the finals at Sonoma-Cutrer. Also, in 1991, he played for the USCA Solomon Trophy team and played in his first WCF World Championship at Hurlingham. In 1993, Jim was named to the first United States MacRoberston Shield team. Jim essentially “retired” from croquet for nearly ten years to start a family with his wife, Cynthia, an affordable housing attorney in Austin, Texas. Although, he did surface briefly to win the USCA Southwest Regional Championship in singles in 1997. |
BEARD KEVIN Kevin Beard - Back To Top
Kevin Beard is a semi-retired geneticist who has worked in the Australian dairy industry for more than 30 years. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Janet and has two young adult daughters, Sally and Catherine. Kevin was introduced to croquet at the Brunswick Mallet Sports Club in 2000 and it quickly became an obsession. Kevin’s first major association croquet win was the Tom Howat Cup (President's 2nd 8) in 2003. He has twice played in an Australia A - New Zealand A series (2005, 2007). His biggest win to date is the Australian Open Doubles Championship with Stephen Mulliner in 2008. At the State level, Kevin won the Victorian Open Singles Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the Victorian Open Doubles Championship in 2006 (with Mike Jenner), and 2007 and 2008 (with Trevor Bassett). Kevin is also an accomplished golf croquet player winning both the Australian and Victorian Open Singles Championships in 2007 and 2008. As full retirement beckons, Kevin and Janet intend to indulge in their love for travel. If Kevin plays his cards right, this will also mean more opportunities to play interstate and international tournaments. |
BEIJDERWELLEN RUTGER Rutger Beijderwellen - Back To Top
Rutger is a CNC Computer Programmer for a laser cutting company. He has been playing croquet since 1999. He moved to Britain to live from his native Netherlands to improve his game in 2000. He has won the Chairman's Salver in 2003 and the Surrey Championship in 2005. In his spare time he enjoys wall climbing, badminton and board games. |
BENNETT PAUL Paul Bennett - Back To Top
Paul Bennett is no slouch when it comes to involvement in sporting clubs.Not only is he the secretary of the Arizona Croquet Club, but also the Blind Squirrels Billiard Club and not forgetting MARCA Amateur Radio Corporation. His work with them does not stop him from actually playing the game though. Currently champion of the North American Open of Sonoma-Cutrer, and the US Open Championships he has progressed to be on the fringe of the top 100 in the world.
In what is left of his spare time he is an electrical engineer who designs integrated circuits for Freescale Semiconductor Inc. Paul is also a member of the Kentucky Wyndotte and Mission Hills Croquet Clubs
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BENT DAVID David Bent - Back To Top
David pays the bills by being a Tennis and Croquet Professional at the St. Andrews club in Delray Beach Florida. He has been playing and teaching Tennis professionally since 1971. In 1998 the St. Andrews club put in a croquet lawn. “…He was asked to learn the game and promote it to the club membership.” With lessons from four-time US National Champ Archie Peck, David began competition at the Championship level and achieved a “scratch” handicap faster than any other American player to date.After so many years on the Tennis court, Croquet was very good for him. He was still hitting balls outside, on a beautiful surface, and it was like shooting pool and playing chess, which he enjoyed a lot.
Here is what he loves to do….Flying (most comfortable upside down) sailing, bird hunting, fast cars/motorcycles, and most of all being with my wife Sophie and my two great boys, John and Mike.
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BIDENCOPE DAMON Damon Bidencope - Back To Top
Damon began playing croquet at St. Paul’s College, Sydney University in 1978. At St. Paul’s College the game was a favorite activity before and after mealtimes. He played at the Manly Croquet Club.He won the NSW Men’s in 1983, 1984, the NSW Open Singles 1984, Champions of Champions in 1983 and 1985, and the ACC Gold Medal in 1986, and the Australian National Doubles in 1984. He played in the 1986 MacRobertson Shield Team for Australia. HE has won several national titles in the US. Damon has served in the sport as a selector of US Teams and a Member of the USCA Management Committee.
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BURCH JAMIE Jamie Burch - Back To Top
Jamie Burch - from Reigate in Surrey, England. A painter & decorator by trade. And is a busy family man who managed to get married, move house and have a baby all in 2007! Despite all this, he still finds enough time for croquet and darts - his winter sport |
BURRIDGE IAN Ian Burridge - Back To Top
Company Director Ian Burridge, 38, lives near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. He began playing croquet when he was 17 whilst attending Colchester Royal Grammar School (the same school as 5 times WCF World Champion Robert Fulford). A chemistry graduate outside of work and croquet he is a football referee, manager of his 7 year old son's football team and enjoys playing chess and other board games.Ian first represented Wales in the 1990 Home Internationals and has been ever present in that event since, captaining the team in more recent years. He has won the Welsh Championship on seven occasions and has represented Wales in seven of the previous WCF World Championships, reaching the semi-finals in 1995. He has represented Great Britain on various occasions most notably in the 1996 MacRobertson Shield, more recently in 2008 he played in matches against the United States and Ireland.
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CHERRY BOB Bob Cherry - Back To Top
Bob Cherry has played Association Laws Croquet since 2000. He began playing USCA rules in 1991. In 2004 he was the United States National Champion in Association Laws Croquet and in 2005 won the prestigious North Carolina Open. Bob has been a member of the United States Croquet Team a number of times since 2001. He played against the Great Britain Team for the Solomon Trophy four times and against the Irish Team in the Carter Challenge once. He has represented the USA in the WCF World Championships twice previously. In 2006 Bob was a member of Team USA competing for The MacRobertson Shield. Bob and his wife Carol are retired and live near Pinehurst North Carolina |
CLARKE CHRIS Chris Clarke - Back To Top
Chris was World Champion in 1995 and has won every major event in the sport. He is particularly proud of his doubles record, having won the Open Doubles 11 and a half times. In 2006, he held the doubles titles for Australia, New Zealand and GB, a feat never previously achieved. Chris has played in all the winning GB MacRobertson teams since 1993 , captaining the team in 1996. Chris moved to New Zealand in 2005 to begin a new life with Jenny Williams. The couple married on 30th January 2008 - a date specifically selected so that their croquet friends could be present. Chris trades golf and american football and his interests include bridge, golf, real estate, cooking and spending time with Jenny and their golden labrador Amy. |
CORNELIUS DEBBIE Debbie Cornelius - Back To Top
Debbie is a Six Sigma Black Belt (no Karate; she's a project manager).She has been playing croquet since she was really small. A member of the successful GB MacRobertson Shield team in '96, she has also won the Northerns and reached the semis of the British Opens before allowing Mr Bamford the narrowest of victories. Since the 90's, Debbie has played infrequently but recently returned to the game with a renewed enthusiasm.
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CUMMING BRIAN Brian Cumming - Back To Top
Brian Cumming is a retired businessman. He began playing croquet in 1991. He is a five time winner of the Canadian Open Association Croquet Championship, past winner of the USCA American Rules Championship and resides in the village of Elora in rural Ontario with his three teenage children. Besides croquet he enjoys competitive curling in the winter months. His other hobbies include reading, history, politics and the occasional taste of red wine. |
CUNNINGHAM ED Ed Cunningham - Back To Top
Ed Cunningham, a construction project manager from Dublin, has been playing croquet for twenty years and has represented Ireland since 1991. Notable victories include the Irish Championship twice, the Presidents Cup in Hurlingham and the North American Open in San Francisco. His highest-ever World Ranking was Number 5 but his form is always unpredictable. Windsurfing, music and mountain-sports are his other main interests.
Andres de Diego - Back To Top
Andres was born in Madrid and studies Journalism and Communication Sciences in the Complutense University of Madrid. He is a very good skier and soccer player and he is also very fond of tennis. He is a “complulsive” reader.He has played croquet since child and he has won the doubles event of the Spanish Children Championships a couple of times. He was the runner-up in the Spanish Association Croquet Championships in 2008 and he won the AC doubles event in 2004 and was runner-up in 2006. He was also runner-up in the 1st Spanish Golf Croquet Championship (2008). For Andres, the 12th WCF World Association Croquet Championship, to be held in Palm Beach in May 2009, is the first opportunity for representing Spain at the international level.
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DEATH JAMES James Death - Back To Top
James is one of the most talented players in the world. His fluent style makes him a "must-see" for spectators. James has just won the prestigious Presidents Cup and was semi-finalist in the last World Champs. James works as a bingo caller, so if you hear him talking about two fat ladies, please don't be offended. James enjoys eating, drinking and Ultimate Frisbee. |
DIXON DUNCAN Duncan Dixon - Back To Top
Duncan started playing Croquet as a chosen sport in 2004 while attending Waitaki Boys’ High School. This was to be a lazy sport option, however Duncan thrived on the sport as he learned more and more. In 2005 at the age of 16, Duncan won the New Zealand School-Age Championship and went on to win the Arthur Ross Memorial in 2006 in Association Croquet. After only four years in the sport and at just 18 years old he gained a world ranking of 17 for Golf Croquet after winning the New Zealand Golf Croquet Open Championships for the 2007/08 season. |
DREW PHILLIP Phillip Drew - Back To Top
Phillip Drew is an emerging New Zealand croquet player who represented New Zealand in the 2006 “A” series tournament against Australia. Phillip is a University Student studying Psychology, Commerce and Accountancy and Management, and is a current recipient of a New Zealand Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarship. Phillip was a qualifier in the 2006 Golf Croquet World Championships and has been awarded a Wild Card for the 2008 World Golf Croquet Championships in Cape Town, South Africa and also to the 2008 World Association Croquet Championships in Christchurch. Two-time winner of the NZ “Edwina Thompson Silver Tray”. Phillip is a current member of New Zealand Youth Squad |
DUCKWORTH ED Ed Duckworth - Back To Top
Ed has been a member of Bristol Croquet Club for over 20 years. He has won the Southerns Championship, Southerns Plate, Jersey Open, British Open Doubles Plate events, and played in the Presidents Cup.Outside croquet, Ed is a clinical negligence defence solicitor, married to Amy and has a 10 week old son (Sam). In the few bits of spare time he gets, he enjoys swimming, surfing, golf, cinema and walking Henry & Arthur (his two Border Terriers). The previous past-time of clubbing has somewhat gone to the wall due to sleep deprivation.
Ahmed El Mahdi - Back To Top
Ahmed has been a Judge dealing in civil cases brought before the Egyptian Court System since 2000. He has been playing croquet since 1997 and has won the Egyptian Golf Croquet Doubles Championship in 2003 and the Mixed Doubles in 2005. He has previously won the Egyptian Mens Singles event and the Egyptian Association Croquet Championship. Married with 3 children he plays Basketball, Akaido.
Paul Emmett - Back To Top
A retired aerospace engineer who happened to see this funny game after a cricket match at the Cricket Club in Toronto and discovered it had great appeal. Have been trying since 1992 to get better before age takes too much toll and occasionally manage to put it together. It has provided excuses for travel, many lessons in humility and the meeting of many interesting people all of which may, with luck, continue for some time.Originally from England, came to Canada in 1969 which has been home ever since. Like participating in sports and spend winter competing and coaching curling switching to croquet for the summer. Spend the odd spare moment helping to organize tournaments not to mention messing about with the family.
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EVANS MARCUS Marcus Evans - Back To Top
Marcus first started playing croquet whilst still at school in Nailsea. He won the 2003 Treasurer's Tankard, (The UK 4th selection eight) at his first appearance. Now a student at Nottingham University his world ranking has risen, placing him the top 30 internationally. A strong hitter, he played in last years WCF Golf Croquet World Championship.
Chris Farthing - Back To Top
Chris started playing croquet as an undergraduate at Oxford University, and won the British Student Championship twice in the 1990's. He has represented England in the Home Internationals twice, and also competes for his home club, Surbiton, and his birth county, Suffolk. He is a regular winner of tournaments in both Association, one-ball, and Golf Croquet, in singles and doubles, handicap and level, and his major success has been winning the British Open Doubles championship, with Chris Patmore, in 1999. Despite being a regular on the UK tournament circuit for 15 years, Palm Beach 2009 will be the first time Chris has taken his mallet overseas, and he looks forward to celebrating a significant birthday during the tournament. Outside of croquet, Chris works in neuroscience drug discovery and enjoys darts, real ale, and London nightlife. |
FLEMING BRUCE Bruce Fleming - Back To Top
Bruce lives in Brisbane and is a Power Systems Operations Manager for the Australian National Market Management Company. In a croquet career beginning in the 1980's,, Bruce has won every major title in Australian Croquet at least once. Bruce has represented Australian three times in the MacRobertson Shield, and has made several Trans-Tasman appearances. |
FLEMING LIZ Liz Fleming - Back To Top
Liz migrated from the UK to Australia in 1990 and has been a member of two National and seven Queensland representative teams, playing both Association and Golf Croquet. Though proudly starting 2009 as the highest ranked female player in the world, she is a staunch advocate of Open, none gender based, croquet events, particularly at the elite end of the scale. Playing achievements include winning the British Ladies Open, NZ Open Doubles, Australian State Titles, Australian President’s Eight Trophies and extraordinary successful results at both Sonoma and The Resort at the Mountain tournaments. Keen to see progress and improvement in the transparency of administration and governance as well as in play; Liz is the recipient of a Commonwealth Sport Achievement Award in recognition of her contribution to both play and officiating of Croquet; is an active WCF listed Referee, very busy NCAS registered level 2 coach and currently in her second term of office as President of the Queensland Croquet Association. |
FLETCHER ROBERT Robert Fletcher - Back To Top
Robert lives on a farm in Dundonnell in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, and has been playing croquet for 4 and a half years. He is currently studying for Year 10 by Distance Education. He and his brothers became interested in croquet after reading a bit about it through their schoolwork & when they found out there was a club in Lismore... they've been going down every week ever since. His interests are croquet, croquet and croquet. Sometimes there is time for chess, cricket, table tennis & rabbit shows! He breeds show Dwarf Lops, Mini Rexes & British Giants. (And Poll Dorset sheep, and Saanen Dairy Goats) Robert has been competing in top level events for the last year and is looking forward to playing in the World Championships. |
FORSTER STEPHEN Stephen Forster - Back To Top
Stephen lives in Waurn Ponds in Victoria, with wife Julie Stephen has played in the Worlds in New Zealand and England and in 2006 won the Australian Silver Medal in the Australian Gold Medal event and then in 2007 won the Gold Medal. Stephen has represented Australia in the 2003 and 2006 MacRobertson Shield where on both occasions particularly stood out as an excellent doubles player.and children Zach and Eden. Stephen grew up on the croquet lawns having played since 1974. |
FULFORD ROBERT Robert Fulford - Back To Top
Robert is the most successful player in croquet over the last two decades. Five times World Champion, nine times Open Champion and seven times winner of the Presidents Cup, Robert has the complete game. Robert still lives in his home town of Colchester, England and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Robert enjoys watching films and trading soccer. Robert and his fiancee Susan are getting married in July.
John Gibbons - Back To Top
A Latin scholar he will have the opportunity to say "veni, vidi, vici" and despite being a qualified pilot, keep his feet firmly on the ground to present a real test for the rest of the field. He started playing croquet in 1998 winning the All England Handicap event in that same year. He went on to win the English Eastern Championship in 2003 and has since represented England and Great Britain in International matches.In the 2002 World Championship he won the Plate Event in Wellington, New Zealand.
His other interests include golf, cricket, skiing and travel.
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GRIMSLEY DOUG Doug Grimsley - Back To Top
With the rising cost of diesel fuel, Doug was recently forced to retire his beloved fishing trawler, the “Fluffy One”, and search for his first real job. Pursuing employment that empathized brain over brawl, he none-the-less chose the real estate business-- thus using neither. Fortunately, the new career path has left plenty of time to hone his already mediocre croquet skills in an unprecedented orgy of both major and minor tournaments. His accomplishments in 2008 include carrying his Canadian partner to a National Doubles Championship win, losing in the American Rules National Championship final to that “damn Jeff Soo”, and field dressing a moose for Sarah Palin. Most recently, Doug’s play has earned him the honorary title of “King of the OTP. |
GUEST JERRY Jerry Guest - Back To Top
A self proclaimed old age pensioner but still fighting fit, Jerry has been playing since 1980. He has played croquet all over the world and is a frequent visitor to the Southern Hemisphere. He played in the 1996 President's Cup and in 1990 won the Irish Open Championship. This led to him playing in the Sonoma-Cutrer World Championship and at Chatooga.
Trevor Herin - Back To Top
Trevor started playing croquet at the age of 13 when his stepdad Dan Mol introduced him to it. He quickly caught on to the American rules of the game and began doing very well at tournaments.About two years later he began learning the association game which he came to like even better. Trevor placed 1st in the 3rd eight of the selection eights in 2007. He placed 2nd at the Elora tournament in Canada involving fierce competition with Ben Rothman, Brian Cumming, and Danny Huneycutt.
It is Trevor’s first year representing the U.S.A. He is honored to be selected to be a part of America’s team.
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HOPGOOD JAMES James Hopgood - Back To Top
James first discovered Croquet in the summer of 1994 while studying at the University of Cambridge. The biannual games he played contained the usual garden-Croquet attributes: drink, lots of it, Crown-green five Plummer lawns with very long grass, thin wire hoops, beautiful scenery in the Fellow’s garden, horror at hearing the rubbish Chauffeur punters preached to tourists as they punted by on the River Cam, a complete lack of any tactical knowledge, or rules for that matter, no bisques, very long and heated debates regarding whether rushing a ball off the lawn was end of turn or not, and playing turns in order of number of University Degrees. Not unlike the discussions on the Nottingham board then? |
HESS BRUNO Bruno Hess - Back To Top
Bruno Hess is from Schifferstadt in Germany. He is a graduate in Business Management working in Transportation Logistics for Daimler AG in Mannheim. Since taking to the sport in 1999 he has won 6 National Singles Championships AC, 3 Doubles AC and 3 Singles GC, the Belgium Open AC Doubles Championship 2000,2001 and 16 Suedwest Championships Association and Golf Croquet. He has regularly competed in WCF AC and GC World Championships and FEC AC European Championships |
HUNEYCUTT DANNY Danny Huneycutt - Back To Top
Danny began playing croquet in 2002 and immediately became involved in the North Carolina District administration, club building, teaching and tournament directing.His most cherished croquet moments are, in chronological order, winning the 2005 National Championship, partnering with Jeff Soo to win two of three doubles matches in the 2005 Solomon, winning the deciding match to win a test for the USA during the 2006 MacRobertson Shield, winning three of three singles matches during the 2008 Solomon, partnering with the Goat to come within one turn of winning the 2008 British Open doubles championship.
At age fifty, with thirty-one years of service, Danny will be retiring March 31, 2009 from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, where he spent the last fifteen years as a GIS and IT professional. He will be focusing his efforts on “being the best croquet player I can, developing others and promoting croquet”.
Colin Irwin - Back To Top
Colin Irwin, has played croquet since 1979 and was a member of the first Irish team formed for the Home Internationals in 1983. First selected for GB MacRobertson Shield team in 1986 he has played in a total of four series, possibly being selected for his skills at the barbeque rather than croquet. His best ever World Ranking was 4. A former Chairman of the Croquet Association he is still involved in the CA Laws and International Committees. Outside of croquet he plays golf and enjoys his garden, cooking and wine, not necessarily in that order.
Carole Jackson - Back To Top
Carole started playing AC croquet in 1980 following a spinal fusion which stopped her from playing squash. She has been involved in the running of croquet in South Africa on and off since 1983 and is currently President of that Association.First selected to play for SA in 1982 against the USA in Palm Beach, again in 1983 and in 1995, she also played in the 1994 World Association Croquet Championship in Chester. She has been the holder South African AC Open Singles Championship. It is only in recent years that Carole has taken up Golf Croquet and has won the 'The Level Best', an invitation event for the top twelve GC players in South Africa. She played in the first Women's GC Championship in Cairo in 2005 and the second in Dublin in 2007, winning the plate event.
Carole has two married sons and four grandchildren. Her youngest son Andrew has represented South Africa three times in croquet.
Roger Jenkins - Back To Top
Roger Jenkins is a retired building contractor. Born in Cheltenham in 1942, educated at Monmouth School and lived in Bristol for most of his adult life except for 21/2 years in Australia as a "£10 Pom". Started playing croquet at Bristol Croquet Club in 1982 when he gave up playing rugby union. A slow learner! Didn't become an A class player until 1997. Played in the Spencer-Ell seven times, twice a member of Bristol's winning Inter-Club team, regular member of Somerset (previously Avon) Inter-Counties team, National Veterans' Champion in 2007 and Chairman of Bristol Croquet Club 2003-2007, also played in 2005 World Championship. Other interests are real tennis, jazz, family history, apart from wife, daughter and grandson!
Jonathan Kirby - Back To Top
Jonathan was a semi-finalist in the last World Champs and part of the GB team that comprehensively won the 2006 MacRobertson Shield. He was taught the game by New Zealand's Aaron Westerby whilst at Cambridge University in 1999. A single man, Jonathan works as a research mathematician and currently splits his time between the University of Oxford and the University of Illinois at Chicago.Jonathan enjoys playing the violin, and has played in a number of orchestras. He regrets that Oxfordshire and Illinois are both too flat for him to do much hillwalking.
Dick Knapp - Back To Top
Dick is an American who has lived abroad for more than 25 years. After spending a number of years in the investment business in the United States, he was seconded to London in 1982.In addition to croquet, Dick plays golf and is a team member of the Wandsworth and Putney Bowls club. He and his wife Mary, also a croquet player, currently reside in London where they are active members of the Surbiton Croquet Club, England.
Rich Lamm - Back To Top
Denver tax attorney Rich Lamm made his US team debut during the 2004 Solomon Cup in Manchester UK. He also represented the US in the 2006 MacRobertson Shield.He enjoys both American and Association rules croquet, winning the AC rules 2007 National Championship, the 2002 and 2003 US Open, the 2008 Rocky Mountain Invitational and the American Rules 2006 Osborn Cup.
One of his most exciting croquet memories was tripling Fulford and Clarke on the ice skating rink / bowling green at Rich River during the last Mac (their only doubles game loss in 2006).
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LE MOIGNAN JAMES James Le Moignan - Back To Top
18 year old James is on a gap year at the moment, travelling the world before going to study Business Management at Sussex University in October. He has been playing croquet for two years. He caused quite a few upsets at his first major event, the 2008 British Open, before going on to win the Jersey Open and Spencer Ell a few weeks later. His main sport is badminton and his hobbies include drinking, partying and having a good laugh |
LE MOIGNAN TONY Tony Le Moignan - Back To Top
Tony is married, with two teenage boys.For a living, he has been doing nothing for the last 20 years, which involves a combination of exotic cars, the Far East, and a company he owns called VIP Ltd. Before that he was a professional photographer, prior to forming, building up and selling an entertainment company in the 80’s.
He used to be an international table tennis player in the 70’s and once had a century break at snooker. He loves (in alphabetical order) Alan Partridge, all sports, alphabetical order, Belgian beer, David Benoit, Liverpool FC, reading, sleeping and Steely Dan. His proudest moments in croquet have involved playing for Great Britain in the three test matches of 2007 and 2008 with, so far, an unbeaten record in singles and doubles. (and maybe watching his son, James, win the UK Spencer Ell in 2008).
He has been ranked in the world’ s top 20 since 2007.
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LINES IAN Ian Lines - Back To Top
Ian started playing croquet in 1993 and made steady progress, winning the All England Handicap Championship in 1995. However, it wasn't until he won the Chairman’s Salver in 2004 that he began to play at an international level, taking part in the successful GB Solomon Trophy teams in 2005 and 2008. He has also represented England in several Home Internationals and in 2008 he won the Coles Championship and the Chairman's Salver for a second time. His most recent success was winning the 2009 New Zealand Open Doubles Championship with Michael Wright. Ian works as Risk Management Consultant, specialising in health and safety issues for major hazard installations such as chemical plants and refineries. When away from the lawn he is one of those that the sport needs by giving up his time to coach, organise tournaments and acting as Tournament Secretary for Bowdon Croquet Club and as Secretary of the North West Croquet Federation (of England). He also enjoys walking and travel. |
LLOYD RON Ron Lloyd - Back To Top
Ron Lloyd is the Croquet Pro at the Pinehurst Croquet Club. 2007 has been his breakout season with good match wins in the North Carolina v The World match which was held at Pinehurst. |
LOWE ROBERT Robert Lowe - Back To Top
Robert Lowe, an Auckland journalist, represented New Zealand in the 2004 Trans-Tasman and 2006 MacRobertson Shield and played in the 2005 World Championships in Cheltenham.Starting his croquet career in 1987, Robert has won the NZ Doubles, the NZ Mixed Doubles and the North Island Open singles, and rates his two Arthur Ross national handicap titles as being particular highlights.
Away from croquet, his pastimes are Soccer, Mozart and the bossa nova.
David Maugham - Back To Top
David Maugham, a finance systems officer for the NHS, was introduced to croquet by his father in 1981 and started playing competitively in 1985. He has won various singles honours including the British President's Cup on 4 occasions, the Sonoma-Cutrer World Championship 3 times, the Australian Open, the US Open and 17 British Regional Championships. His doubles successes include three British Open Doubles titles (with Steve Comish, Chris Clarke and Marke Avery) and the British Mixed Doubles (with Jenny Williams). David has also been on 4 Macrobertson Shield winning Great Britain sides, and considers his best match to be the one in which he completed a TP to win the deciding game of the final match of the test against New Zealand when the scores were level.Outside of croquet, David hopes to attain his black belt in ju-jitsu this year; is pursuing a degree in IT with the Open University; enjoys computer games; and has recently taken up modern jive dancing. |
MCBRIDE LEO Leo McBride - Back To Top
Leo McBride, a teacher says he will be retiring shortly. The father of three acknowledges his family have been very understanding and supportive in allowing him the space to pursue his croquet dream, with the vast distances involved in moving from Tournament to Tournament in North America. That travel has not dampened either his enthusiasm or his competitive edge, having been Canadian Champion for a number of years and USCA Association Rules National winner on three occasions. He started playing seriously in 1979 having watched the very first Croq-Can Tournament and he has been hooked ever since.Leo says that he has played a number of sports competitively and considers croquet as challenging as any of them. |
MORIYAMA KOJI Koji Moriyama - Back To Top
Koji is a structural designer of buildings, with emphasis on the seismic capacity evaluation of them. Married with one son, he began to play croquet in 2004.He narrowly lost in the final of the 2008 Japanese Open Championships, +12, -1, -5, to British player, Paul Salisbury. He is currently ranked 2nd in Japan.
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MORRIS ALLAN Allan Morris - Back To Top
Allan Morris is a retired computer programmer. He took up croquet in Brussels in 2000. He came 2nd in the 2008 Belgian National Association Croquet Championships and won the 2008 Belgian National Golf Croquet Championships |
MULLINER STEPHEN Stephen Mulliner - Back To Top
Stephen is a currently enjoying a period of temporary partial retirement as a local politician after a career in financial services and commercial property. He has been playing Association and Golf Croquet since 1976. He won the British Open Championship in 1988, 1990 and 2000, the New Zealand Open Championship in 2009 and was runner-up in both the 1997 and 2008 World Championships. A President's Cup winner 5 times, he has also represented Great Britain in the MacRobertson Shield 5 times since 1982. Past Chairman of the English CA and a current Vice-President, he is married to Sarah and they have four children. |
MURPHY TIM Tim Murphy - Back To Top
Tim is a self-employed computer programmer. He is waiting for his wife to sign a million dollar book deal so he can retire from real work and spend all his days on the croquet lawns.Tim took up croquet in 2003 and had no idea where is would take him. In 2007 he won Australia v New Zealand "A" Series and dropped only one singles game in his first Interstate Cup representing NSW. He is looking forward to the competition he'll face at the Worlds.
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MURRAY MARTIN Martin Murray - Back To Top
Martin Murray can lay claim to all manner of croquet related things and others too. He's been there, done that, and has the oldest jumper in the game, circa 1963. Born in Aberfeldy, Scotland, (the home town of Pontius Pilate of biblical fame), he started playing the sport in 1961 whilst studying at Cambridge University, England and has gone on to represent it at the highest level as a player and administrator. He has represented Great Britain 3 times in the MacRobertson Shield and Scotland more times than he cares to remember.He has played in the Croquet Association (of England) President's Cup and completed that event's first sextuple in 1979. He also won the CA Men's Championship four times. He was Chairman of the CA Council 1987 - 1989 and is a past Chairman of the CA Laws Committee. He officiated at the 1st WCF world Championship in 1989. A self confessed world expert on Orenstein and Koppel steam locomotives, he worked as a Chemist at Bristol University. Married with an actress daughter (Hannah Murray), he still leads an active tournament life.
Evan Newell - Back To Top
Evan Newell, recently retired from the cut and thrust of the Business World, has much more time to take on the Croquet World (has won competitions), the Bloodstock World, Global Warming (not forgetting the Environment) and even take on the publication of a miscellany of poetry & other works (his own) !!
Juan Ojeda - Back To Top
Juan Ojeda has been kept busy representing Spain in numerous Croquet Championships around the world. He was the Spanish Champion 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2005.He won the Spanish doubles event in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000 and was runner-up in 1998 and 2005.
He represented Spain in the 1999, 2000 and 2001 European Croquet Championships held in Jersey
He was also a key member of the Spanish team in the 2000 WCF World 14 point Association Croquet Team Championship held in Milan.
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OSBORN JOHN John Osborn - Back To Top
During the summer, John spends most of his time in the woods. Or mastering the use of a 'ball retriever', water being prevalent upon most Florida golf courses. During the very busy winter season, when bunkers are seen only within an ongoing series of nightmares, he coaches croquet, directs tournaments and serves as the Croquet Professional for The Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach. He is, naturally, single. Still, having had some marginal success in his long and, as some would say, flamboyant croquet history, on good nights John does dream of being Robert Fulford. Or Tiger Woods. Or, though slightly off topic, that he one day stops writing in the third person. |
OPENSHAW DAVID David Openshaw - Back To Top
David is the current President of the World Croquet Federation and is a former Great Britain Test Captain. Among his titles are three British Open Singles and three British Men's Championships. He was runner-up in the WCF World Championship in 1991. He also won the the 2007 European Championship.
Samir Patel - Back To Top
Samir has been playing croquet since taking up the sport in the mid-nineties at Oxford University. Now a member of Surbiton Croquet Club, he has won the Club Championship for both Association and Golf Croquet and was part of the team that won both club competitions in 2006. Recent UK tournament successes include the Spencer Ell Trophy (2006), Du Pre Cup (2007), and making the play-off for the Chairman's' Salver (2007). He has represented England in the Home Internationals and European Championship, and made his first appearance for GB in 2007.Samir is a Principal Consultant with an Operational Research consultancy, and is married and lives in Richmond, Surrey.
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PATMORE CHRIS Chris Patmore - Back To Top
Chris is a member of Surbiton Croquet club and graduate of Oxford University. He was the first player to win both British and Australian Open Doubles titles. Achievements in 2007 include Jersey open champion and Championship of Ireland finalist. In 2006 Chris won the British Opens plate for both singles and doubles. He is a fixed income strategist for Goldman Sachs in London. |
PRATER MARK Mark Prater - Back To Top
Mark Prater started playing croquet in 1977. During that time he has represented his country in three Mac Robertson shields, and four Sonoma world championships. He has also represented New South Wales 10 times and South Australia 10 times in the interstate cup.A welcome return to form in the last couple of years has seen his ranking improve sufficiently to be selected to represent Australia in the 2005 World Championships.
Mark and is wife Christine are both members of the Norwood Croquet Club in Adelaide
AJ Reid - Back To Top
AJ Reid made his debut on the world stage competing in the 2006 World Golf Croquet Championships in Hawke's Bay where he impressed with his hard-hitting confidence.The pinnacle of AJ's career so far has been winning the John Prince Trophy for coming runner-up in the 2007 New Zealand Open Championships where he took eventual winner Chris Clarke to 5 games including having two 3rd turn breaks to 4-back and some spectacular long hitting in. On his way to the final, AJ defeated New Zealand #2 Paddy Chapman in the semi-finals. Known for his flamboyant and expressive style, AJ has the potential to cause some major upsets at this Championships. |
RITCHIE ANTHONY Anthony Ritchie - Back To Top
Anthony Ritchie is a composer with over 140 pieces to his credit, including music for orchestras, choirs, singers and chamber groups. His music has been widely performed and recorded, in New Zealand and overseas. He also teaches composition at The University of Otago in Dunedin, where he lives with his wife and daughter. While he was free-lancing in the 1990s Anthony took up croquet and discovered a competitive streak in his personality which he hadn’t realized existed. He has won five New Zealand Croquet titles, including the Edwina Thompson Invitation tournament (twice). He has also won the Otago Championship six times. In 2005 and 2007 he was selected for the New Zealand ‘A’ team to play Australia. |
ROTHMAN BEN Ben Rothman - Back To Top
Ben has been playing tournament croquet since 1996 when his uncle first introduced him to the 6-wicket game. After several summers of playing, Ben was coerced into trying this crazy game with yard-lines and no rotation what-so-ever.A few years later, Ben re-dedicated himself to the game he loved and was selected for the 2008 Solomon Trophy team. Ben played over 22 tournaments in 2008, winning the East Midlands Plate, the North American Open and placing 2nd in a few national championships.
Rather than look for a job in this challenged economy, Ben is attempting to finance his Croquet tour with clinics, lessons, and tournament directing. To make ends meet, Ben has been know to bet on his golf croquet shots; making money with 80 foot hoop shots, 30 foot jump shots, and occasionally shooting the peg left handed.
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STOREY BRIAN Brian Storey - Back To Top
Brian has been a member of the Bowdon Club, near Manchester, England since 1981 when he took up the sport following an injury that stopped him playing more energetic sports.In his involvement in sport over the years, he has been League Secretary of an amateur football league 1974 - 1991, a British professional ice hockey league, and for a short period in 1997, Sale Harriers Athletic Club (a leading UK athletics club). In croquet, he has been the administrator of his local club, the North West Federation Secretary and for 2007, the Chairman of his club. He is the current Secretary-General of the World Croquet Federation.
Outside croquet, Brian is a retired Police Officer where he specialised in Child Protection and International Child Abduction matters. He currently works as a Principal Research Officer for a local city authority and also sits on a Research Ethics Committee for a local University.
Peter Trimmer - Back To Top
Pete is currently completing a PhD at Bristol on the evolution of the mind. He has won various titles, the most notable being the British Men’s Championship, the South of England Championship and the Du Pre. However, in each case, someone else’s name has been inscribed on the respective cup. Consequently, Pete does not expect to see his name inscribed on the Wimbledon Cup...
Anton Varnas - Back To Top
Anton has been playing croquet in Cuculidae Croquet Club, Stockholm, since 1995. He has won several medals in Swedish championships and has represented Sweden on numerous occasions. Anton is Chief Executive Officer in a financial software company but takes also an active part as an owner in Real estate and industrial companies in Sweden
Walid Wahban - Back To Top
Walid is 1st Specialist in the Purchasing Division of the local Iron and Steel Company in Alexandria. He has bene playing croquet for 18 years, but mainly of the popular Golf Croquet variant. However it is his success in the Association version that has led to his selection for this World Championship. He was the Egyptian Champion in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001. His other interests are playing Basketball, Golf, Tennis, Squah, Diving and Fishing.
David Walters - Back To Top
David was born in Gorseinon, near Swansea, in South Wales and attended Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury, England. Whilst at Nottingham University, David was part of the Indoor Hockey team that set a Guiness World Record for continuous play.He learned to play croquet at Bowdon Croquet Club, near Manchester, England. Whilst living in NW England, David was a member of Bowdon teams that won the Longman Cup & Mary Rose competition. He has represented Wales against Scotland & Switzerland. In 2006 David played in the World Golf Croquet Championships in New Zealand and in 2007 was part of the Welsh team that won the inaugural European Team Championship.
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WATKINS SIMON Simon Watkins - Back To Top
Simon Watkins is a self employed builder who began playing croquet in 1996 at Brighton Victoria. Simon used to sail "high performance off the beach catamarans", but this did not include his wife Kerry. Simon had seen croquet 25 years before and the germ was set.Kerry and Simon started playing under the fabulous coaching of John and Marion Doherty, Simon was launched into the croquet world with a deft use of touch, subtlety and precision play. The last 12 months have been intense, getting a Worlds Wild card and being selected to represent his State for the first time, he regards as an enormous honour. |
WELLS KEVIN Kevin Wells - Back To Top
IT Manager, Kevin Wells, describes himself as a person that dislikes playing croquet with people that display an attitude of Traa-dy-lioor. Literally translated as, “time enough”, that local Manx folk lore sometimes depicts as, “manyana - but without the urgency”. Bounded by the sea does create practical difficulties for him of not getting to play in enough croquet tournaments due to family commitments and the cost of getting off the Island, but this has not deterred him from venturing far and wide. Marriage, and 3 children, aged 16, 15 and 8 has provided some respite from his dread of playing in a slow paced encounter but it has not stopped him from winning the Isle of Man championships in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004. In 2004 he was also runner up in the Plate event of the European Croquet Federation Championships in Jersey. His other passions include driving his MX5 over the mountain part of the famous Isle of Man TT course and admiring Old English Sheepdogs. |
WILLIAMS CHRIS Chris Williams - Back To Top
Born in Barry, Wales, Chris first tried croquet at Oxford University. Six years later, he returned to the game when the Dyffryn Croquet Club was founded in 1986. In 1992 he made his international debut at the WCF championships in Newport, Rhode Island. A regular Welsh international and three times Welsh Champion, he has also won one of the coveted 'eights' trophies, the Spencer Ell, in 1994. In 2000, he led the Welsh side to victory in the first World 14-point Team Championship in Italy. Widely known as the compiler of the World Croquet Rankings list, he has also developed an interactive rankings website, which provides up to the minute world rankings and which has enabled players all over the world to review their playing record.Chris returned to university in 2004 and finished his MSc last year and is now IT contract working in Bath on the iFACTS Air Traffic Control update project. . His wide-ranging interests include ice hockey, soccer, travel, wine, Vermeer paintings and World War I.
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WINN ANDREW Andrew Winn - Back To Top
Andrew discovered croquet whilst working at the University of Surrey, curious about an unused lawn on campus. On moving to the North West he found he was living near the excellent club at Bowdon and has been a member there since 1996, drawing constant inspiration from the likes of Ian Lines and Colin Irwin. Progress was desperately slow, remaining at a handicap of 7 for over 2 years. After a season dedicated to completing his first triple peel in practise, the blood sweat and tears transformed Andrew from an inconsistent, unfocused B-class hacker into the semi-focused A-class hacker he is today. Now knocking on the door of the top 100, he is enjoying the view from such a surprisingly lofty perch but expecting vertigo to set in at any moment. Best tournament wins to date are the UK’s Northwest Federation Millennium trophy and South Africa’s Johannesburg A Class, both in 2008. Andrew works at the University of Manchester, stress-testing aerospace engine components. When not on a croquet court he enjoys cooking, wine, real ale, travel, wildlife photography and plants with big leaves. He lives in Stretford, Manchester, with long-suffering partner Mel.
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