World No 1 Chris Clarke made a remarkable comeback to reach the final of the world croquet championships in Christchurch as the last New Zealanders dropped out of contention yesterday.
Three hours into the match Clarke, of England, had not hit another ball in his semifinal - andby then he was two games down in a best-of-five matches.
Five times world champion Robert Fulford, also of England, had turned on a textbook display of croquet to reel off two winning triple peels and looked like running away with the semifinal.
Clarke hit at his first opportunity in the third game and after a hiccup at hoop two, settled down and executed a triple peel on Fulford, winning the three-ball game that followed.
In the fourth, Clarke had the early advantage, was matched by Fulford, then pulled out to a handy lead. Fulford missed a critical shot, Clarke pounced and had levelled the match two-all. In the fifth it was all Clarke, placing with precision and shutting out Fulford.
New Zealander Aaron Westerby was at the courts early to complete his suspended game from Friday. He won the game and match against David Maugham, of England, and was pitched into his semifinal against Englishman Stephen Mulliner.
He suffered a similar fate to Clarke's, losing the first two games but there was no miracle comeback for the unseeded New Zealander, who had upset the No four and five seeds, when the long shots he had hit so well for two days deserted him.
Mulliner kept it simple and effective and set up an all-England final.
It will be his second world championship final against third-time finalist and 1995 champion Clarke today.
