CRAIG STEPHEN
It wasn't quite a case of the proverbial David versus Goliath. But Duncan Dixon did create a minor storm in the golf croquet world when the unheralded teenager defeated world No.3 Chris Clarke in yesterday's final of the New Zealand Championships.
Dixon, of Mount Maunganui, improved with every game, and
in the decider, clawed his way back from a first game loss to defeat Clarke 3-7, 7-6, 7-4 at the Te Mata Club, in Havelock North, yesterday.
Not bad for an 18-year-old who only began hitting the mallet four years ago, while studying at Waitaki Boys' High School.
"I was learning game by game in this competition," he said. "And I've learned an awful lot today by playing one of the best players in the world."
Dixon was the second youngest player in the competition behind Ashley Cooke.
"It was my accuracy that won me the title."
This was evidenced by a superb long-distance shot in the second set, Dixon remarkably knocking Clarke's ball away from the hoop and finding the target off the rebound.
In that set Dixon held a 4-0 lead before Clarke's tactical nous brought him all-square, but it was not enough to take the game and the match. With that confidence booster, Dixon dominated the final set.
Of the Hawke's Bay entry, Tony Stephens performed best, finishing fifth, Don Reyland was sixth and Stephens' daughter Erica 15th.
There was a full day of play yesterday after rain limited play to a few games on Saturday while play was moved to Marewa on Thursday after the Te Mata lawns became water-logged. Englishman Clarke won the doubles competition there with his fiancee Jenny Williams, a losing semifinalist in the singles competition.
"The weather has made things a bit unpleasant," said Hawke's Bay Croquet president Colleen Stephens. "We had big puddles on the lawn, and we couldn't play on that."
While youth won the day, the competition attracted a large range of age groups with some octogenarian competitors.
