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European Golf Croquet Championships
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Block play:
4 blocks of 8 players playing single games over two and a half days. The top 4 in each block will qualify for the Knock-Out Stage.
Knock-Out:
The Knock-Out Stage will comprise 16 players. Seeding will be Position-Based Seeding in accordance with Appendix 7
Section B of the WCF Sports Regulations. Knock-Out will consist of matches of best-of-three games.
Plate:
Entry will be open to those that do not qualify for the Championship Knock-Out Stage. It will consist of block play and matches will be single games. It will be followed by a knock-out stage.
Bowl:
Entry will be open to the first-round losers in the Knock-Out Stage. It will be a knock-out event and matches will be best-of-three games.
Shield:
Entry will be open to the second-round losers in the Knock-Out Stage. It will be a knock-out event and matches will be best-of-three games.
4 blocks of 8 players playing single games over two and a half days. The top 4 in each block will qualify for the Knock-Out Stage.
Knock-Out:
The Knock-Out Stage will comprise 16 players. Seeding will be Position-Based Seeding in accordance with Appendix 7
Section B of the WCF Sports Regulations. Knock-Out will consist of matches of best-of-three games.
Plate:
Entry will be open to those that do not qualify for the Championship Knock-Out Stage. It will consist of block play and matches will be single games. It will be followed by a knock-out stage.
Bowl:
Entry will be open to the first-round losers in the Knock-Out Stage. It will be a knock-out event and matches will be best-of-three games.
Shield:
Entry will be open to the second-round losers in the Knock-Out Stage. It will be a knock-out event and matches will be best-of-three games.
Players Profiles
CZECH REPUBLIC
Jan KralI live in Hořice and I am a member of the Czech Country Croquet Club. My wife and I started playing croquet fifteen years ago with friends. Some of us played tournaments outside the Czech Republic, we regularly play matches at home as well. I worked in IT in the era of mainframe computers, when few people had a personal computer and a laptop was an unknown concept. Today I enjoy my time as a retiree with 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
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england
Euan BurridgeEuan took up the game at the age of 7 under his Dad’s wing at Nottingham Croquet club and has since gone on to play various tournaments both nationally and internationally. His notable performances have been a Semi-Final at the U21 Golf Croquet World Championships in 2019 and winning the plate and the main event that year. He has also won the GC Welsh Championship, AC National Junior Championship, GC Under 25s Open Championship and also reached the final of the 2021 Ricki Savage Memorial. Away from croquet Euan currently studies International Business Management and Professional Golf.
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Rachel GeeRachel started playing competitive croquet when she was 15 and lives and works in Nottingham. She has represented England in the Openshaw Shield (2016), won the English National Singles Championship twice (2019, 2020), the European Championships twice (2014, 2018) and the Women's World Championship (2011).
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Richard BiltonRichard won his first open tournament in May 2018 and finished the year by winning the English National Singles Championship, his first GC 'major'. Richard was part of the winning England team in the inaugural GC England v Spain Match. He got to the Quarter-Finals of the 2019 and 2022 GC World Championships and played for England in the 2020 GC World Team Championship, in which England came third. Richard won the GC British Open Doubles Championship in 2021 while partnering Reg Bamford. Richard is currently on the CA GC Tournament Committee, Handicap Committee and GC Rules Committee, he is also the WCF GC Ranking Officer and Assistant Ranking Officer for England.
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Stuart M SmithStuart M. Smith started playing croquet in 2016 and is currently a member of Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club. He has represented England at European and World Championship levels and won the GC World Championship Shield in 2022.
Stuart was part of the 2022 England Test Match team against Spain, and Captained England to Home International glory in 2021. Domestic titles include:
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Aston WadeAston began to play Golf Croquet in the summer of 2020 at Hamptworth Croquet Club and made his first appearances on the tournament circuit in both AC & GC that August. The following year, Aston won the 2021 British Golf Croquet Open on his debut at the event and at the age of 18. In 2022, Aston won the European GC Championship, the GC First Eight, the AC Second Eight, the Plate at the GC World Championships and the AC Student’s Championship.
He won the Spiers Trophy for the most improved male GC player in 2021 and the Apps Memorial Bowl for the most improved male AC player in 2022. Aston represented England at both the AC and GC Home Internationals in 2022, winning both events. He also played in the 2022 and 2023 England vs Spain GC Test Matches. Earlier this year he travelled to New Zealand and became the first ever Englishman to win the U21 Golf Croquet World Championship. He has been selected for the 2023 AC Home Internationals and will be captaining the England team at the 2023 GC Home Internationals. He is currently studying Medical Sciences at the University of Exeter and also enjoys playing squash, golf, snooker and chess. |
finland
german
Ulf SaewertBorn in Berlin, Ulf has been playing croquet since 2015. This is Ulf’s second visit to the UK having won the German GC Nationals in 2019. Since 2020 he has been encouraging more people to take up the sport of croquet at his club in Germany called "Croquet Berlin".
He is looking forward to meeting the best European players during the European Championships at Budleigh Salterton. |
Gerald EhmesAt the age of 14, Gerald received a croquet set from his parents as a birthday present and played a lot in his own garden. He then played tournaments privately in the garden after a long break. After contacting the German Croquet Federation in 2007, a dedicated department was established at Sportfreunde Höhr-Grenzhausen. He moved to Bruchköbel in 2016 and founded a croquet club at TTC Kahl.
2007: First participation in an official tournament (German Championships, Hamburg) 2013: Third place at the German Championships GC-Double, Höhr-Grenzhausen 2014: 2nd place, German Championships GC Individual, Hamburg 2014: 7th place, European Championships GC Individuals, Surbiton, England 2014: 6th place, German Open GC singles, Hamburg 2014: 1st place, Kannenbäcker Croquet Cup GC singles, Höhr-Grenzhausen 2015: 1st place, German Championships GC doubles, Höhr-Grenzhausen 2016: 2nd place, German Championships GC doubles, Höhr-Grenzhausen 2019: 2nd place, German Championships GC Individual, Hamburg 2022: Participation in the Croquet World Championships in Brighton |
ireland
Karen Davidson-PerinsKaren lives in Dublin with her Australian husband Cliff, three Boston terrier show dogs and a reformed feral cat. Karen took up croquet and started competing in the Championships of Dublin and Ireland in 2015. Karen is a member of the CAI and the CA, plays both AC and GC and is a member of Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. She has represented Ireland in Women’s GC Internationals against Spain and Scotland and will be competing in the Women’s GC World Championships in August. She is looking forward to competing in her first European Championships.
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Alan LooneyAlan Looney is the Honorary Secretary of the Croquet Association of Ireland and Past President of Carrickmines Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin. Alan has represented the CAI on many occasions in the annual AC Appleton Trophy match between the CAI and the Scottish Croquet Association SCA and the Mc Weeney Trophy match between the CAI and CA . lan represented Ireland in the AC World team championships Tier 2.1 in Budleigh in 2022.
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Charlie von SchmiederBefore the age of 10 Charlie was introduced to croquet by his late father, Carl. They played doubles together at Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland. He has represented Ireland on many occasions both at "association" croquet and "golf" croquet, including five GC World Championships in three continents. He now lives in England and is a member of Phyllis Court Club in Henley-on-Thames.
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latvia
Tomass Freimanis Tomass, 38, started to play croquet in year 2014. Soon after this game turned into his passion. Tomass has participated in the GC European Championships in 2016, and GC WTC 2021. He practices more then the average players in Latvia and hopefully one day the results will come. Currently he is ranked number 5 in national GC rankings. His aim is to compete with the top 10 players of the world.
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Roberts Stafeckis Roberts, 58, had been playing croquet with friends for some years on his backyard lawn, before, back in 2009, he came up with the idea to start develop croquet as a competitive sport in Latvia. He has been the founder and President of Latvia Croquet Federation since its establishment 13 years ago, has been a captain of Team Latvia at the GC WTC 2012 and 2021, played in GC WC 2019, and GC European Championships in 2014 and 2017. Roberts is currently number 2 in national GC rankings, and serves on the Management Committee of the World Croquet Federation.
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norway
scotland
David FellDavid Fell has been playing Croquet for approximately seven years sometime after retiring from Banking. David plays both Association and Golf Croquet at the Edinburgh Croquet Club where he is now Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Adding Croquet to his main sports along with Curling, Golf and Skiing.
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spain
Andrés Álvarez-SalaHe was born in Madrid in 1986 and has been working as a corporate lawyer for the last eleven years in an international law firm. He has played croquet since he was a child and has been ranked within the Spanish top players ever since he started, driven by several early victories in his croquet career. He has been Spanish Single GC Champion twice (2012 and 2019), Spanish Doubles GC Champion five times (2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021) and Spanish Champion with his club four times (2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022). Internationally, in 2017 and 2018 he won the GC German Open and Tier 2 GC World Team Champion with Spain in 2021. For the last six years he has been a member of the Spanish National Croquet Team and has represented Spain in international croquet events on 172 occasions since 2003.
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Manuel Álvarez-SalaBorn in Madrid in 1990, he is a lawyer by profession. He started playing croquet at a very early age in Gijón (Asturias) where he played throughout his childhood with all his brothers and cousins in the family's summer house. Passionate about this sport and the values it transmits, he is a cold and calculating croquet player. Selected for two consecutive years as the Spanish player with the highest annual progression (2018 and 2019), he has been Spanish Single Champion (2021), Spanish Doubles Champion on three occasions (2015, 2020 and 2021) and Spanish Champion with his club on four occasions (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022). He has represented his country in international events more than 150 times and was part of the Spanish Team that moved up to Tier 1 in October 2021. He is currently ranked No. 3 among Spanish players and on the top 80 croquet players in the world.
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Nicholas DenizotNicolas Denizot Elzaburu is currently finishing his bachelor’s degree in business administration at CIS university. At the same time Nicolas is working at a Marketing/Communication firm called Dentsu in Madrid. In his free time, he likes to play other sports such as paddle, tennis, golf, and most importantly football.
He started playing back in 2017 and slowly made his way up the Spanish rankings. Among his croquet achievements are winning the 2020 MadriUniversityd Championship, Spanish Improver of the Year 2020, the 2021 Spanish Presidents Cup, and Winning the Spanish Nationals in 2021 (It was the 2020 edition). |
Patricio GarayPatricio Garay Gonzalez de la Bastida has been working for 3 years in the Infrastructure Department at Telefónica. Graduated in Business at the American University of Richmond, London.
My hobbies include all kinds of sports: swimming, skiing, cycling and I am currently preparing to participate in what will be my first Ironman 70.3. I started playing croquet in 2020, managing to qualify among the top 10 players in the Spanish ranking. In 2022 I won the U25 Spanish Championship and participated in the Egyptian Open. |
Begoña ElzaburuBegoña Elzaburu is married and has four sons of which two play GC, one of them is also playing this European Championship. She has been playing for 7 years and has had the chance to represent her country in the 2019 Women’s World Championship in New Zealand, in the Egypt Open and in two bilaterals versus Ireland. This year Begoña won the Women’s European Championship. She is also a member of the Management Committee of the WCF and Vice president of the Spanish Federation.
Begoña is looking forward to the opportunity of playing in the European Championship. |
sweden
Joi Elebo Joi Elebo works as a product manager. Due to a lack of croquet clubs in Sweden, he built a croquet lawn in his back-yard, which is the venue for his club, Carpe Croquetum. Joi is a former Nordic champion in golf croquet and has represented Sweden in all three GC World team events so far. In 2019 and 2022 Joi played in the GC Worlds. He reached the knockout stage at his first attempt. Joi has also played numerous European championships.
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Anton KamneAnton Kamne is among the top 10 players in Sweden. Participated in European GC Championship in 2022. Anton has played a domestic type of croquet in Sweden since he was a child, but started with GC in 2020. He is a Member of Poseidon Croquet Club, Gothenburg Sweden.
Anton is an industrial engineer working for ViaCon, a European leading company within civil engineering. He lives together with his girlfriend in Gothenburg, and apart from croquet he enjoys sailing on the Swedish west coast and skiing. |
swiTzerland
Kevin CollinsIt is fifteen years now since Kevin and his family arrived in Zürich from California. Albeit the token American on the team, he often boasts of his diverse European family history from Ireland, England, Belgium, France and the Italian part of Switzerland. After his long career in the Silicon Valley, he spent his first years in Switzerland managing engineering projects at ETH Zürich. Kevin was formally introduced to croquet roughly ten years ago while the club was still playing backyard (or 9-wicket) croquet in a local park. Shortly after the Zürich group found themselves competing in tournaments in CERN, and traveling to several neighbouring countries for various GC competitions. Perhaps an echo of Kevin’s preference for a pint of Guinness, he can often be heard to say as the game commences: “It’s a lovely day for croquet.”
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Ian SextonIan Sexton has worked at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) Geneva Switzerland, since 1984. Married with 4 children, he started playing croquet in 1990 at the CERN croquet club. Since then he has represented Switzerland in several International matches, and has played in the World and European Championships (AC & GC). Ranked number 1 in Switzerland, currently the Swiss AC & GC Champion. Other interests, skiing, golf, travel and food.
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Daniel StuderusAwaiting info
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wales
Ian BurridgeIan began playing as a 17 year old at school in Colchester. He rapidly progressed becoming an AC International for Wales and Great Britain. More recently Ian has focussed on GC winning the English National Singles in 2016 and the First Eight in 2017. He remains a regular representative of Wales in international events and is President of the World Croquet Federation and Treasurer of the Croquet Association. Ian lives near Grantham and plays at the Nottingham croquet club with his son Euan.
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Chris RobertsChris Roberts is the former Editor of The Croquet Gazette and Chairman of the Southern Croquet Federation, current Chairman of his first club Phyllis Court at Henley-on-Thames and is also a member at High Wycombe CC.
Chris is a keen advocate of competitive sport and he Chairs the CA Handicap Committee, is a member of the GC Selection Committee and the GC Tournaments Committee. Under the latter's umbrella, Chris is Director of the GC National Open, A, B and C-Level Series of tournaments and he also manages many tournaments for his Club, Federation and CA fixtures book events, quite often as a 'double act' with Frances Colman. Chris is a GC Championship Referee and Grade 2 GC Coach, and holds both refereeing and coaching badges as AC too. He plays and enjoys competitive GC and AC equally (he is higher ranked in the former), and can be found playing in a tournament somewhere nearly every weekend. In GC, Chris' highlights so far are a third-place at the European Championships of 2016, progressing through the qualifying event to play in the GC World Championships of 2019, and being awarded a Wales membership place for the GC Worlds Championships of 2022. Chris has represented Wales in two Home Internationals tournaments, has also won three English National Singles Championship (ENSC) qualifiers, has qualified for the ENSC Finals ('Ascot Cup') on six occasions. He has one selection for the GC First Eight to his credit and is a regular selection for the GC Second Eight. Last season he won the Roehampton Open Series tournament. In AC, Chris has plateaued at handicap -0.5 and has made four appearances in the Selectors Weekends. His most recent tournament victory was the A-Class at Budleigh Week 2019. He plays in South Africa each February and co-leads an annual croquet/holiday trips to Corfu, where he is a two time Greek Open (handicap) Champion. Given the chance, Chris will bore you all you want with croquet talk |