Ballina Croquet Club member Mike Gidding came out as the runner-up in the Croquet NSW event held in Sydney last week.
Mike defeated three current and former NSW state team players to win his way to the final which he lost 22 to 26. He was beaten by Peter Landrebe, the current high performance manager for the Australian Croquet Association, in a very tight, tense game.
Mike now has his eye on competing in the Australian men’s event that will be held in Sydney in March.
‘I’m not expecting any great results, but it will be good to go down there and play some good games, and learn a bit more,’ he said.
Mike has only been playing seriously for the last five years and comes with a background in adventure sports, such as rock climbing.
‘Croquet is slower paced, but once I understood the mentality of the game and the way you have to think ahead, and use tactics, then I really started to get into it,’ he said.
The club is also gearing up for the Croquet NSW division 2 singles and doubles even that it will host with the Cherry Street croquet Club in July this year.
Ballina Croquet recently purchased high performance international standard Quadway Hoops. The hoops are being shared with Ballina Cherry Street Croquet. The hoops are the type used in all major tournaments so will give local players a real advantage when practicing for competitions.
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