The scorebard tells the story of an epic battle between Alison Sharpe, of Australia, and Manal Khoudeir, of Egypt, at Heretaunga Croquet Club in Hastings today. Photo/Paul Taylor
The scorebard tells the story of an epic battle between Alison Sharpe, of Australia, and Manal Khoudeir, of Egypt, at Heretaunga Croquet Club in Hastings today. Photo/Paul Taylor
Cooped up at a lodge in Hastings, the Egyptian golf croquet players chat like all teammates do and even help rustle meals for the collective but talking shop has been a no-go zone.
More so now because three of them — Manal Khoudeir, Iman El Faransawi and Soha Mostafa —are in the semifinal of the Croquet Hawke's Bay-hosted, sixth edition of the Women's Golf Croquet World Championship after the dust settled from the quarter-finals at the headquarters, the Heretaunga Croquet Club in Havelock North today.
Only women's world No 1, Jenny Clarke, of Christchurch, stands in the way of a legitimate pyramid scheme that has had an air of inevitability about it since the tourney began last Saturday.
"We are both sad about [tomorrow] because we want each other to win but we don't talk about the game [coming up]," Khoudeir said through interpreter and teammate Maha El Derdiri, an English schoolteacher, after booking a semifinal against El Faransawi tomorrow.
Australian Alison Sharpe had a ding-dong battle with Khoudeir in the quarter-finals today before bowing out against 3-2, after a 7-2, 6-7, 7-3, 4-7, 2-7 returns.
Khoudeir, a mother of two, will be the underdog against El Faransawi, the 54-year-old flight attendant with EgyptAir who won the women's world crown in Ireland but was runner-up in her first and third attempts.
Manal Khoudeir at the Golf Croquet. Photo / Paul Taylor
However, the 48-year-old IT manager from south of Cairo, who finished 11th at the past golf croquet world champs, said she and El Faransawi, a grandmother, have beaten each other once in the elite league at home.
"Both of us will do our best and we don't care who wins as long as Egypt is in the final [on Saturday] to beat the rest of the world," said Khoudeir after El Faransawi, who was sitting next to her on a sofa, elected to go for a nap.
The 20-year association croquet veteran was excited to have beaten Sharpe because "she's very hard to beat".
"I had good positioning and was trying to be closer to the hoops so I got a lot of balls around the hoops."
Khoudeir agreed the championship felt like they were at home with so many compatriots in the playoffs mix.
"I play my heart out, practise for long spells and try to make sure my fitness levels are high to ensure I can stay out on the lawns for a long time," said the avid gym and sauna goer who saluted the tourney organisers here for the fantastic facilities and other international opponents who were cordial towards each other, regardless of results.
Her husband, Mohamed Yehya is a "good moral supporter" but it's daughter, Mahitab, 23, who competed in the under-21 worlds in New Zealand in 2014, who is cooking and taking care of Yehya and son Marwan, 25, while she's competing here.
Alison Sharpe, of Sydney, was the only Australia to make it to the quarterfinals today. Photo/Paul Taylor
Sharpe, born in London but raised in Yorkshire before her family emigrated to Australia in 1993, is the current Australian women's golf croquet champion after first winning the crown in 2015.
While excited to be the only Aussie to make it to the quarter-finals among 12 other compatriots in her first women's world champs, the 58-year-old fulltime mother from Sydney said Khoudeir had the "clearing-shot edge" over her in the deciding fifth game.
Asked if the aggressiveness of the Egyptians needed to be matched, Sharpe pointed to her head to emphasise the mental fortitude required to overcome them.
"They are a pretty good size so they give that impression of being strong," said the two-time women's world association finalist. "They only way to make up for the lack of my physical presence was to hold my shoulders back to look determined and self-confident."
She said it was imperative to gravitate towards the hoops before the Egyptians did," said Sharpe who learned the sport from her grandmother, the late Maud Bacon, in England.
"[Croquet] appealed to me because, personally, I'm a perfectionist," she explained, adding she had polished all her strokes over the years.
"I love the precision in croquet."
Overnight, Clarke beat Wendy Dickson, of Australia, 7-6, 7-1 to face Oukasha, who had accounted for Judith Wembridge, of Australia, 7-3, 3-7, 7-1, in the quarter-finals.
Soha Mostafa eclipsed compatriot Mona Hegazi 7-4, 7-2 to prime herself up for another all-Egypt affair with Abeer Mostafa, who had earlier ground down Mervat El Shazli 7-5, 7-4.
Reigning 50-over golf croquet open world champion Hanan Rashad's purple patch came to a halt when compatriot El Faransawi had her measure at 7-5, 7-5.
El Faransawi squared off against Nabil after the latter took the challenge of Dallas Cooke, of Mt Maunganui, in her stride with a 7-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory.
Pauline Salib was no match for fellow Egyptian Khoudeir, succumbing 7-4, 7-4 as the latter took on Sharpe who had accounted for Ashley Cooke, of Mt Maunganui, in similar fashion — 7-4, 7-5.
The scorebard tells the story of an epic battle between Alison Sharpe, of Australia, and Manal Khoudeir, of Egypt, at Heretaunga Croquet Club in Hastings today. Photo/Paul Taylor
RESULTS
From day 6 at Heretaunga (HQ in Hastings) and Marewa (Napier) clubs: Key: Australia (Aus) Egypt (Eg) England (Eng) Ireland (Ire) Scotland (Sco) Spain (Sp) USA and NZ.
Knockout quarterfinals: I El Fanansawi (Eg) bt M Nabil (Eg) 7-3, 1-7. 7-6, 7-1; M Koudier (Eg) bt A Sharpe (Aus) 2-7, 7-6, 3-7, 7-4, 7-2; M Hagazi (Eg) bt M El Shazli (Eg) 6-7, 7-2 7-6, Shoa Mostafa (eg) bt Abeer Mostafa (Eg) 7-6, 5-7, 7-3, 7-0; Jenny Clarke (NZ) bt Shadin Oukasha 7-1, 7-6, 7-6.
Bowl: E Ross (NZ) bt K Mcgee (Aus) 7-1, 7-2; K Logan (Aus) bt S Knuth (USA) 7-2, 7-3; C Bromley (USA) bt J McHardy (Aus) 3-7, 7-3, 7-5.
Bowl Z: H Reeves (NZ) bt M Abdelrazek w/o; S Sedgwick (NZ) bt B Wild (Aus) 7-6, 4-7, 7-4; L Dewar (Sco) bt B Pfitzner 7-3. 3-7, 7-4.
Shield: A Cooke (NZ) bt P Sabil (Eg) 1 (w/o) 0: D Cooke (NZ) bt H Rashad (Eg) 1 (w/o) 0; W Dickson (Aus) bt J Wembridge (Aus) 7-6; D Cooke (NZ) bt A Cooke (NZ) 7-6.
Plate: A Woodhouse (Aus) bt K Burt (Eng) 7-3; P Anderton (NZ) bt A Sharp (NZ) 7-3; A Henry (NZ) bt G Trivett (Aus) 7-4; V Arney (Aus) bt C Bromley (USA) 7-3; A Woodhouse (Aus) 7-5; S Cole (NZ) bt R Newsham (Aus) 7-6; M Lewis (NZ) 7-6; S Roberts (NZ) bt M Lewis (NZ) 7-1; K McLoughlin (Aus) bt D Dixon (USA) 7-3; A Sharp (NZ) 7-5; N Kelly (Ire) 7-4; P Gonzalez de Aquilar (Sp) bt P Young (NZ) 7-5; K Burt (Eng) 7-6; A Brookes (Eng) bt N Melksham (Aus) 7-4; R Saunders-Robertson (Sco) 7-5; S Roberts (NZ) 7-5; R Saunders-Robertson (Sco) bt A Henry (NZ) 7-5; J Pringle (Eng) 7-3; G Trivett (Aus) 7-5; P Young (NZ) bt N Kelly (Ire) 7-5; M Taylor (NZ) 7-2; M Taylor (NZ) bt D Dixon (USA) 7-3; G Trivett (Aus) bt S Cole (NZ) 7-6; A Sharp (NZ) bt M Taylor (NZ) 7-2; M Lewis (NZ) R Newsham (Aus) 7-3; N Kelly (ire) bt K Burt (Eng) 7-6; B Elzaburu (Sp) bt J Pringle (Eng) 7-5; R Newsham (Aus) bt N Melksham (Aus) 7-6.
