Ian Lewis wins Bath Millennium Cup Handicap Tournament

Lewis takes Millennium Cup by Storm

Croquet players from across the country flocked to the Rec for the first of Bath Croquet Club’s national singles tournaments. Fourteen players from as far afield as Cornwall, Cheltenham, Llangollen and High Wycombe competed with host club members for the Millennium Cup, a handicap tournament staged over two days. (2nd and 3rd of July)

“”It was our first national tournament of the season and this was the sixth year we have been running the Millennium Cup,”” explained Bath Croquet Club’s Daniel Mills.

“”We had players of varying ability but, as we used a handicap system similar to the one they use in golf, it made for some very exciting matches.

“”The handicaps ranged from six to 22 with group stages on the first day and then knockout matches.

“”One of the players had a ten-hoop break – two short of the highest possible.””

On Saturday the players were divided into three sections of equal ability and Bath players David Perkins and Ian Lewis set the early pace by winning all three of their matches, while Jim Field of the Wells club, who only started playing croquet a year ago, also won his three matches.

Another relative newcomer, Jonathan Lacey of Hamptworth near Salisbury, was awarded a Croquet Association bronze award for achieving his first competitive ten-hoop break.

On Sunday, Perkins, Lewis and Field came through their quarter-finals with impressive performances and Betty Cornes-Tomkins of Bristol played superbly to beat Lacey by 22 points in the other quarter-final.

The semis were close affairs with Field edging out Perkins by four points and Lewis surviving a late challenge from Tomkins to win by a point.

The final saw former Lansdown club member Lewis, who currently holds both of the Bath club’s singles trophies, put in a superb performance against the less experienced Field to win by 12 points.

(Report from The Bath Chronicle, www.thisisbath.co.uk)

5th July 2005