Well that’s it for the Irish!

The other five guys had placing matches so we all went in for an early start. To be perfectly honest I’m so tired I can’t really remember who came where and who beat who and what the scores were. The only thing I really remember is that Jack Gleeson recorded a great win over Danny. I think this left Danny with the wooden spoon or whatever the croquet term is.

I waited around supporting the others and waiting until my second round match against Dina Saad at five. It was cool in the morning but when five came round it was scorching and I had already sweated a few pounds away when we went to visit the Cairo museum. But I stayed calm, played carefully and came through this round with a 7-3, 7-5 win and I was left feeling confident because I had really started to play how I expected. After this there was a long wait because there was a delay in the matches on the lawn which I would play my last sixteen match against Will Gee.

Having played Will before many times and watching his game two days before, (he got a day break because he won his block) I knew I had to play my heart out to come through. He won the toss and proceeded to run the hoop from the boundary. He then ran hoop two from where he had his ball at hoop one. He then ran hoop three from corner three straight through down to hoop four and took a four nil lead. I was playing well but I could not compete with the power and accuracy of Will. I got a few hoops but he took the game 7-3.
I started the next and took the first two hoops. After a long struggle Will took hoop three. But I responded by playing some clean controlled hoop shots and went 5-1 up. We then got to hoop ten at 6-3 but I missed the hoop when I tried to jaws to force him to jump in the attempt to get the first shot in the next game and he took it. I then but an angled shot into the jaws which then kindly fell through due to a hill. 7-4 to me.

The next game was much the same as the previous. Good shots from both provided a good spectacle but the majority of the crowd were watching a game with Dixon and an Egyptian, loud cheers erupting frequently. I was clearing everything and Will actually missed a few I expected him to hit but he was still running hoops from everywhere so we went 3-3 into hoop seven. Unfortunately I played a fault on this hoop. When trying to hit a ball close to mine I double tapped purely because I didn’t do the roll shot my brain had decided to and I just followed through. This allowed Will to go 5-3 up because he got a nice hoop run. After Will got jawsed in ten and I was unable to jump properly, promote or block I attempted a very far jump. Not much to lose but I didn’t get it. I then got a very angled hoop to go 6-5 and the hoop shot kindly rolled to past half way. I then took hoop twelve. Will shot to the boundary. I set up. Will set up. I tried to block but fell a bit short from the south boundary. Will took the hoop. 7-6 to Will.

I really thought he would miss it because he had showed signs of nerves in the third game but he took the opportunity. I can honestly say I played the best golf I have ever played. There was just nothing I could do to prevent Will from running hoops from one side of the lawn to the other. We both played very well and Will took his chance at the end. Great games but I’m obviously bitterly disappointed.

I’m also not going to contend for the placement matches because I do not want to damage my wrist and not be able to play in the championships this year just because I played through to get somewhere between 9th and 16th place. So 16th place it is.

Oh well, I’m going to try and enjoy the pyramids in a few hours, no rest for the wicked.
Kieran