The 2nd WCF Women's World Golf Croquet Championship was held in Dublin, Ireland.

3rd - 9th September 2007

Champion: Iman El Faransawi (EGY)

Also visit the Croquet Association of Ireland web site

Photographs

Results

Knock-Out Stage

3rd / 4th Place Play Off

Plate Event

PRE-TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

The World Croquet Federation has awarded the hosting of this prestigeous event to The Croquet Association of Ireland. The main centre will be at Carrickmines Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club with two additional lawns at Herbert Park Croquet Club, by kind permission of both Clubs, giving a total of six lawns for the event.

ANTI-DOPING

Players in this event may be tested for prohibit substances or methods

See the WCF Anti-Doping page for further guidance

Tournament

The Championship shall be played in accordance with the WCF Rules of Golf Croquet (2005) edition and the WCF Sports Regulations as amended from time to time.

Dawson 2000 International balls will be used

Timetable

Monday 3rd September

0930hrs - 1500hrs Practice facilities available at Carrickmines.

1500hrs Players meeting

followed by the opening ceremony.

1600hrs (approximately) Selected Group matches

Tuesday 4th September - Sunday 9th September 2007

Group, knock-out and plate event matches.

Management

The overall Event Management of the Tournament is under the joint control of the WCF and the Croquet Association of Ireland.

Tournament Officials are:-

Tournament Manager: Gerard Healy

Tournament Referee: Evelyn Martin, assisted by Abdul Ahmed

Allocation:

Based primarily on the performances in the last World Championship and protected places for Full and Associate member associations, the allocations are as follows:-

Member Country
Semi-Finalists from last World Championship	4	Nahed Hassan (EG)		Naheed, a practising lawyer who is married with two children, began her playing career at the Zamalek Club in 1974. The current women's GC World Champion, she also played in the Open World Championships in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2004 and has been the Egyptian Lady Singles Champion five times. She has also won titles in ladies doubles and mixed doubles.
		Iman El Farnsawi (EG)		Iman is ranked 9 in the Egyptian rankings and was the losing finalist in the last World Championship. A member of Wadi Dekla Sporting Club, she has won several mixed doubles and ladies tournaments. She works as an air hostess for Egypt Air.
		Abir Moustafa (EG)		Abeer is Senior Business Consultant, specialising in Banking Analytical Applications.  Married with one child she has been playing croquet since 1992 and is currently ranked 2nd in Egypt. A member of the Egyptian Shooting sports Club she was third in the 1st Women’s World Golf Croquet Championship in Cairo 2005.   Her other achievements in the sport include, winner of Ripon Open GC Championship 2005, Egyptian Ranking Champion in 2005 and 2006, member of the Egyptian Teams Cup and League winners 2004 and 2006 and Mixed Doubles Championships in 2003 and 2005.
		Sherine Hamdi (EG)		Sherine, married with two children, is a member of the Cairo Club and an English Teacher She has won the Egyptian Ladies Singles and several Double and Mixed Tournaments. She is ranked 34 in Egypt
Australia	2	Creina Dawson		Criena has been playing croquet and golf croquet since 1970. Originally coached by the legendary Tom and Jean Armstrong she has lLoved golf croquet right from the start and always felt lucky that every coaching session finished up with a relaxed game of golf croquet after the arduous task of learning the skills needed to play association croquet She has been a member of the South Australian State Team from 1981 until the present time and has Played in Trans Tasman Test Teams. For five years she served as events manager for Croquet Australia before becoming Vice President, President and Immediate Past President of Croquet Australia from 2001 to 2007 She remains the only person to have won the Women’s Singles (Association Croquet) in Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain
		Christine Pont		Christine is a retired school teacher who took up croquet on retirement in 1999. She plays both Association Croquet and Golf Croquet at the National Park Croquet Club in Newcastle N.S.W. She has represented New South Wales in Interstate Association croquet four times. Christine played in the 1st  WCF World Golf Croquet Championship for Women in Cairo and came 8th. She also represented Australia in the WCF 2006 World Golf Croquet  in New Zealand and was Runner up in the plate event.
Austria	0	1 DECLINED
Canada	0	1 DECLINED
Egypt	4	Manal Ali Mohsen "Kouki"		Manal, known to her friends as Kouki, has a degree from Cairo University in Economics and Political Sciences. She is married with two children and only started to play golf croquet in 2000. She is a member of the Gezira Golf Croquet Team winners of the Egyptian Cup in both 2002 and 2003. On a personal front she won the award for best player in her club in 2002. She ranks amongst the highest lady players both nationally and within her club.
		Marwa Mostafa		31 yr old Marwa was born in Alexandria, Egypt and is married with two children. Winner of the Egyptian ladies singles championship in 1999 and runner-up in 2002. Was runner-up in the mixed doubles championship in 2006. She competed in the WCF Open Golf World Championship in 2000 in Cairo, finishing 8th.
		Hemat Mostafa		Hemat is a member of Maadi Club where she has won several Double and Mix Tournaments in Egypt. Ranked 4 in Egypt, she is married.
		Salwa Saleh		Salwa is 46 years old, married with 3 children. She started playing Golf Croquet in 1996 at the El Nasr City Club Ranked 5 in Egypt
England	3	Freda Vitty		Freda started playing Golf Croquet in 1999, after retiring early from the Probation Service due to ill health.  Her home club is Auckland, Co. Durham and she is an honorary member of Ripon Spa Hotel Croquet Club. She has had a number of individual and team successes at Regional level, in both Golf and Association Croquet.  She played in the 1st Women’s Worlds in Cairo, finishing 28th.  She is Secretary of her home club and has been on the C.A. Golf Croquet Committee for two years.  She is keen to promote Golf Croquet as both a competitive and social sport and believes that there is untapped potential as a spectator friendly sport.
		Kath Burt		Kath started playing croquet in the early 1990's with Dorset Women's Institute at the Kingston Maurward Croquet Club in Dorchester of which she is still a member. She is also a keen member of the East Dorset Croquet Club and enjoys both association and golf croquet. She is a Dorset person and has been proud to represent Dorset for the past three years in the inter counties golf croquet tournament. She trys to fit in as much croquet as possible around her fulltime job as an accountant on a large agricultural estate and visitor attraction on the south coast of Dorset.
		Julie Hudson		Having enjoyed numerous sports over the years, including rowing, netball, table tennis and bowls, Julie tried her hand at croquet in 2002.  She took part in the inaugural Womens World GC Championships in Cairo, and also played in the GC Worlds in New Zealand last year.  Julie likes to play AC as well, and is kept busy fitting in bowls, GC, AC and working full-time as an accounts manager.  Fortunately, her boss is very understanding!
Germany	1	1 DECLINED
Ireland	6	Jane Shorten		Jane is a member of both Carrickmines and Herbert Park and is lucky enough to enjoy both AC and Golf Croquet. Was placed 7th in the first Women’s World Golf Croquet Championships in Cairo.
		Leo Dungan		Leo began playing croquet in 1996 while looking for an outdoor sport to take up after enjoying many years of hockey and tennis and quickly became an active member of the CAI Council for a number of years. She is a member of Carrickmines Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club and one of the main organisers of the 2nd WCF Women’s World Championship being held in Ireland. She plays both Association and Golf Croquet, and in recent years, has competed in Golf Croquet competitions, in England, Belgium and in the 1st Women’s GC Championship in Cairo in 2005. She works in administration in Trinity College, has two grown up sons and her mascot ‘Becky’ will be at her side at the Championship. Her other hobbies are gardening, computing, photography and walking.
		Yvonne Marrinan		Yvonne has played croquet since 1993 and is a member of Herbert Park Croquet Club.  She plays Association and Golf croquet.  She represented Ireland at the World Cup Croquet Championships in Egypt in 2000.  She enjoys sailing in the summer and skiing in the winter and enjoys champagne all year round!
		Tamar Shorten		Tamar is an architecture student from Limerick and has been playing at Herbert Park for the last year
		Linda Pullman		Linda is a new recruit to Golf Croquet to complement her interests in the equestrian world.
		Victoria Browne		Victoria played garden croquet before taking up AC and Golf Croquet while studying at Trinity College. She represented Ireland in the first Women’s World GC Championship in Cairo in 2005.
Isle of Man	0	1 DECLINED
Italy	0	1 DECLINED
Japan	0	1 DECLINED
New Zealand	3	Jenny Williams		Jenny is a Physicist in particle physics based in Christchurch, New Zealand. She started playing croquet 7 years ago when studying for a PhD in Theoretical Physics at Oxford University. She is the past winner of the British Women’s AC Championship having won it in 2002 and 2004. In addition that year she was the runner-up in the Mixed Doubles with David Maugham. Earlier thus year she won New Zealand Open Doubles Championship with partner Chris Clarke. Jenny has Half-Blues from Oxford in croquet, women’s cricket and table tennis and has played in 2 croquet varsity matches at The Hurlingham Club. Jenny’s other interests are squash, photography, gardening, sports psychology and computer programming.
		Dallas Cooke		Dallas is a member of the Kereone Country Croquet Club along with her husband Keith and 3 girls Ashley, Courtney and Danielle who all play golf croquet.She started playing Golf Croquet in 2005 having competed in the 1st Women's World in Egypt along with her Mother.  A fantastic experience.
		Erica Stephens		Erica lives on an orchard in the Hawkes Bay of New Zealand. Growing up in a croquet family she has had a mallet in her hand as long as she can remember, but gave up association croquetat 16 years of age.  She took up golf croquet less than 2 years ago when her father Tony was playing in the world championship. He asked her to play with him at the nationals.  She loves playing the game and it also gives her the chance to travel internationally, which is another thing she loves to do.
Scotland	1	Jackie Shannon		Jackie has been playing Golf Croquet in Edinburgh at the Meadows Croquet Club for two years to complement her interests in Curling and Badminton.
South Africa	3	Carole Jackson		Carole started playing AC croquet in 1980 following a spinal fusion which stopped her from playing squash.  She has been involved in the running of croquet in South Africa on and off since 1983 and is currently President of that Association.   First selected to play for SA in 1982 against the USA in Palm Beach, again in 1983 and in 1995, she also played in the 1994 World AC Championship in Chester.  She is the current holder for the 2nd year running of the S.A. AC Open Singles Championship. It is only in recent years that Carole has taken up Golf Croquet and is the current holder of ‘The Level Best’ an invitation event for the top 12 GC players in South Africa.  She played in the 1st Women’s GC Championship in Cairo in 2005 and is greatly looking forward to attempting to better her position of 9th in that Championship.  Carole has two married sons and 4 grand-children, her youngest son Andrew has represented South Africa three times in croquet.
		Anne Oxton		Anne has been playing golf croquet for some 15 years at her club Kelvin Grove in Cape Town, but has not ventured into association croquet yet.  She is a regular player in the South African and the Western Province Championships and for the last 4 years has played in the E.C Championships.  She played in Cairo in 2005 coming 21st and in 2006 played in the Southwick County Championships as well as the Italian and German Golf Croquet Champs.
		Valerie Armstrong		Valerie started playing golf croquet at Port Alfred in 1999 and since then has played in all the E.C. Championships (Highlander), Western Province and National tournaments. She has won several handicap doubles, open doubles and open singles championships at her club and this year 2007 once again won the handicap doubles with her partner Jill Pople. In 2005 she Played in Cairo finishing 17th.
Switzerland	0	1 DECLINED
USA	2	Anne Taves		Anne started playing croquet in 1991 learning the American Rules game and then shortly switched to the Association Rules game. She took a break from croquet in 1997 but started practicing Golf Croquet in preparation for the Cairo Women’s tournament. She played in the 1st Women’s GC Championship in Cairo in 2005 and is very much looking forward to playing in the 2nd. Anne lives in the Seattle, Washington area and is a member of the Puget Sound Croquet Club. She is married and has 2 school age sons. Anne is the marketing director for a small software company.
		Josie Jackson		After retiring from the newspaper publishing business in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, Josie and her husband decided to take a sailing trip which began in 1990 and ended in 2000 in Singapore.  One of their landfalls during that trip was Whangarei, New Zealand, where they discovered the sport of croquet.  For three years they sailed in and out of NZ using croquet tournaments throughout the North Island as a way of meeting locals, exploring the sights, and improving their skill.  Josie was not exposed to “Golf Croquet” until returning to the USA in 2001, when they moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, where previous WCF World Championships had been held.  Currently she is a member of the New York Croquet Club, Palm Beach Croquet Club, the Beach Club, the National Croquet Clubs in the USA, and the Surbiton Croquet Club in the UK. This is her first international competition in golf croquet although she has competed in several USCA National events.  She is looking forward to the competition in Ireland and meeting fellow female golf croquet enthusiasts.
Wales	0	1 DECLINED
Wild Cards	12	Rana El Alami (PAL)		Rana lives in France, love sports and travelling. She has participated in World Championships in Cairo and Florida and is looking forward to this memorable event.
		Mavis Brogden (NZ)		Mavis is a member of the New Plymouth Croquet Club and has played Association Croquet for several years before coming to Golf Croquet three years ago. Golf croquet is now her preferred sport. She competed in the WCF World Golf Croquet Championships in 2006.
		Irene Burns (ENG)		Irene has been  a member of  Bishop Auckland Croquet, County Durham  club since 2000. She enters local competitions and is delighted to be coming to Dublin this September. Her hobbies include bridge, photography and growing  container plants
		Ciara Byrne (IRE)		Ciara is an economics student at Trinity College and is Treasurer of the Trinity College Croquet Club. She moonlights occasionally as a piano teacher.
		Pat Erskine (RSA)		Pat started playing golf croquet 4 years ago at St. Andrews CC in East London - her current handicap is scratch. She has won the Port Alfred Highlander handicap doubles on two occasions and is currently the Club Champion at St. Andrews CC in both open singles and handicap singles, Pat is also the Chairman of the croquet section and works hard at encouraging beginners.
		Irene Holloway (IRE)		Irene Holloway is a member of Herbert Park Croquet Club, Dublin. She plays both Association and Golf croquet
		Barbara Leeming (USA)		Swedish born Barbara is a 4 handicap in six wicket croquet and and resides in the U.S. She played for the U.S. team in 2005 in Egypt at the Women's World Golf Croquet. When not playing she divides her time as the President of two clubs, the Greenwich Croquet Club, Greenwich CT. and WAVENY Croquet in New Canaan, CT, USA
		Vivienne Murphy (AUS)
		Jill Pople (RSA)		Jill is a member of Port Alfred Bowls and Croquet Club and is looking forward to playing in her first Women's Golf Croquet Championship.
		Jane Pringle (ENG)		Jane has been playing Golf Croquet for about 8 years and is a member of Auckland Croquet Club in County Durham. She plays in Club and Regional competitions and was winner of the Plate event in the 1st Womens World Championships in Cairo. Jane also enjoys motor sport and trying to train her dog to do "doggy sports".
		Phylis Young (NZ)		Phyllis Young commenced playing croquet in 1984 and was introduced to golf croquet about 3 years ago. Phyllis participated in the 1st Womens GC Tournament held at Cairo and refereed at the GC World Tournament, Hawkes Bay N.Z in 2006. Phyllis is currently the NZ Doubles winner with husband Geoff as partner.
		Glennis Kitt (AUS)		Glennis is a mother to 4 grown up children, and got interested in golf croquet through a friend. She has been a member of the Eaglehawk croquet club for 5 years and in that time has played in Australian and state championships and recently became runner up in the Victoria State doubles. Her other interests include quilting and cooking.
TOTAL	40

Groups

Order of Play

Carrickmines Schedule

Herbert Park Schedule

In the event of withdrawals from the Championship, WCF and CAI reserve the right to re-draw the groups and make amendments to the playing schedule.

General:

Nominations and proposals for Wild Cards will only be accepted for players in good standing with his or her member association. This means that the player shall not be under suspension or be disaffiliated by a member association or one of its affiliated members or, have been advised in writing that they are not eligible by a member association or one of its affiliated members.

If any member association is not going to take up their allocation then an early indication of this would be appreciated.

Nominations:

Full and Associate member associations of the WCF are now asked to nominate the players of their choice up to the maximum allowed in the table above. 

Should a nominated player withdraw prior to the closing date, the relevant member association may nominate another player in their place.

Conditions: 

Nominations will only be accepted if accompanied by:-

Entry Fee of £30 (GBP);

A photograph and biography of the relevant player.

Note: 

The Entry Fee can be paid electronically to the WCF via the Entry Fee link below.

Wild Cards:

At this time a total of 4 wild card places have been identified.

ALL WCF member associations (Full, Associate and Observers) are invited to propose one or more players for wild cards to be allocated at WCF discretion.

Players nominated for a wild card shall NOT be stronger in playing strength than any player originally nominated by the relevant member association.

Conditions: 

The entry fee will be charged at a later date in the event they are successful.

Closing Date:

The closing date for Nominations and Wild Card proposals by member associations was 1^st April 2007.

The allocation of Wild Card places will be published in due course.

Unallocated nomination places:

All places not taken up via the nomination process shall be added to the Wild Card total and allocated at WCF discretion.

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Entry Fee

The entry fee to the Championship is £30 (GBP) per player.

For member nominations and semi-finalists for the last event the entry fee shall be paid prior to the members closing date of 1st April 2007.

For Wild Card places accepted by the WCF, the entry fee shall be paid prior to 1st June 2007.

For easy payment, click on the card logo below and you will be taken to our exchange affiliate, "Paypal".

All costs transferring funds will be paid by the WCF.

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Venues

• Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club

• Herbert Park Croquet Club

 

Maps

• Location of Carrickmines and Herbert Park overview

• Close up of Carrickmines

• Close up of Herbert Park

Location of Carrickmines and Herbert Park overview

Close up of Carrickmines

Close up of Herbert Park

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Local Transport

The best way of getting from the airport to the Herbert Park area is to use the Aircoach ("blue bus") which offers a fast and frequent service for €7 single or €12 return and stops at the major hotels.

In order to arrange for suitable transport between hotels and venues, and catering, the host association, The Croquet Association of Ireland, has requested details of players accommodation arrangements for the event. In addition, players are requested to give details of the numbers of additional family members who will also be attending the event. 

Players who have been accepted in to the event who wish to utilise this transport and facilitate the catering arrangement, must give their Dublin Area accommodation address and numbers of additional family members travelling with them, to the CAI Transport liaison Jane Shorten as soon as possible.

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Accommodation

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Climate

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Passport and Visas'

Visitors from EEA countries (including British dependent territories) don’t need a visa to visit Ireland.

Neither do visitors from Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, the USA, Uruguay, Venezuela, Western Samoa and Zimbabwe.

All other nationalities require at least a ‘short-visit’ visa (valid for a maximum of 90 days) to visit Ireland. Most visitors require a full passport, although EEA and Swiss nationals can enter Ireland with a national identity card only.

If you require a visa, you should apply to the Irish embassy or consulate in your country of permanent residence and you may be required to attend an interview. If there’s no Irish embassy or consulate in your country of residence, you may apply to any Irish embassy or consulate, or direct to the Visa Office in Dublin. You’ll need to submit your passport, which must be valid for at least six months after the intended date of departure from Ireland. You’ll also need to send three passport-size photographs and documents relevant to your intended visit, e.g. an invitation from an Irish company or conference organiser if you’re visiting on business; a letter of registration from a school or college if visiting for educational purposes; or confirmation of a hotel booking or a letter of reference from an Irish resident who will accommodate you if you’re planning a holiday. Children under 16 who are accompanying a parent or guardian don’t require a visa to enter Ireland, provided that they have their own passports or are named on those of a parent or guardian.

If you need a visa to enter Ireland and attempt to enter without one, you’ll be refused entry. However, note that the granting of a visa doesn’t necessarily give you permission to enter the country either; Irish immigration officials have the authority to deny you admission. You should therefore ensure that you take with you the originals or copies of all documents submitted with your visa application. You’ll also need a visa each time you enter Ireland, even if you travel to the UK. This also applies if you have permission to reside in Ireland, when you may apply for a re-entry visa at the Visa Office in Dublin (Tel. 01-478 0822).

Always check these details prior to leaving home.

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Day Trips

When you’re not playing:

The Guinness Storehouse has donated complimentary tickets to all players which entitles them to free admission to the Guinness Storehouse at St James Gate, which includes a tour and a complimentary pint of Guinness.

Dublin Bus have donated tickets for all players for their hop on/hop off sightseeing City Tour see www.dublinbus.ie/sightseeing/citytour.aspx

This tour stops off at The Guinness Storehouse so the two tickets could be used together.

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Media Release

The World Croquet Federation has much pleasure in announcing that the Croquet Association of Ireland (CAI) has been awarded the hosting of “The 2nd WCF Women’s World Golf Croquet Championship”.

The event will be played from Monday 3rd to Sunday 9th September 2007 in Dublin.  The main centre will be at Carrickmines Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club with two additional lawns at Herbert Park Croquet Club, by kind permission of both Clubs, giving a total of six lawns for the event.

There will be an expected entry of 40 players from around the world in the main event. A flexible progressive swiss plate event will also be played.

President of the CAI, Robert Barklie, in giving thanks to the WCF for the opportunity to stage the event said, “It is very good news that the 2007 WCF Women’s World Golf Croquet Championship is coming to Ireland. For us here it will provide a great opportunity to promote the fascinating and challenging game that is croquet. It will allow us to see the very best women players in the world in action and it will also enable several Irish women players to compete against world class opposition in front of a home crowd and, who knows, maybe one of them will take the crown. It is good news too for the visitors because it will give them the opportunity of coming to Ireland, perhaps for the first time, and playing in lovely surroundings. We believe that, however successful they are on the croquet lawns, they will enjoy their visit; they will certainly receive a warm welcome.” 

President of the World Croquet Federation, David Openshaw said, “I am extremely pleased that we will be holding the Women's World Championship 2007 in Ireland. I look forward to a very successful tournament. The Croquet Association of Ireland is to be congratulated on its bid to hold this event.  Ireland has played an important historical role in the development of croquet and it is a great pleasure that we will be holding a world championship there for the first time.”

Further details of the 2nd WCF Women’s World Golf Croquet World Championship will be released in due course.

Note to Editors:

1. The current World Women’s Golf Croquet Champion is Nahed Hassan, Egypt, who beat her compatriot, Iman El Farnsawi at Cairo in November 2005.

2. The 2nd Women’s World Golf Croquet Championship is the first croquet world championship to be held in Ireland.

3. Egypt has dominated all previous WCF Golf Croquet World Championships recording a clean sweep of the seven open events held to date.

4.  The next WCF World Open Golf Croquet Championship will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 8th to 16th March 2008.

Updated September 9, 2010