Gallant Kiwi can’t stop all-Egyptian final
JENNY CLARKE doesn’t think so but if the expression on the face of the New Zealander in the photograph is anything to go by, it’s fair to say she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders yesterday.
Clarke, the only competitor from the rest of the world left standing in the semifinals of the Women’s Golf Croquet World Championship in Hastings, could not prevent the sixth edition turning into an all-Egyptian affair today.
“It’s the first competitive match I’ve really had in this tournament, really,” said the 46-year-old from Christchurch with a wry smile, after she found herself two sets down before clawing her way back to level 2-2 before losing 3-2 (3-7,
4-7, 7-6, 7-4, 6-7) to Soha Mostafa at the Heretaunga Croquet Club in Havelock North.
Clarke was pleased to claw her way back but felt she hadn’t played as well as she had the entire week.
At the crux of that feeling was her regular mallet losing a component although a Nelson mallet maker, based at the tourney, had fixed it up for her.
“I didn’t want to really change back to it [the regular mallet] again because I’d won the quarter-final with the spare mallet,” she explained, revealing she had persisted with the spare one for the first two games yesterday morning until things started to go awry so she switched back to the refurbished regular one but, agonisingly, it wasn’t enough.
A jovial Clarke said the ultimate goal was to compete against the Egyptians, the best in the world, to gauge her worth while revelling in the excitement of the eight-day Croquet Hawke’s Bay-hosted championship which started with 54 hopefuls. Now that field has been whittled down to two — Mostafa v Manal Khoudeir.
That second semifinal was a reversal of the first one. Iman El Faransawi, a 54-year-old flight attendant with EgyptAir who won the women’s world crown in Ireland, went up 2-0 (7-3, 7-6) before Khoudeir fought back.
The 48-year-old IT manager from south of Cairo levelled 2-2
(7-2, 7-6) before clinching the set 3-2 with a don’t-argue 7-3 in the deciding fifth game.
Clarke played down her women’s world No 1 ranking because she doesn’t compete in as strong a field as the Egyptians.
“The Egyptian ladies play their Egyptian men so it’s much harder for them to get higher rankings.”
The solution, the sports science lecturer from Canterbury University said, was to have more matches between the Egyptians and the rest of the world.
“I have been to Cairo once and it’s just fabulous,” she said. “They are really good hosts and the Egyptian crowd are so much more fun because they cheer loudly and when someone’s got to play a crucial shot they are absolutely silent.”
Clarke, who is under tutelage of husband Chris Clarke, said it would have been cool to claim her first crown but the winner of their semifinal was touted to be the “hot favourite” for the final.
Khoudeir might have something to say about that, of course.
“I think they’ll agree,” said Clarke, revealing the last time they competed at Mt Maunganui, Mostafa was the firm favourite.
“The trouble is you can have a bad match and get knocked out early so for me getting this far was what I wanted,” she said in chasing that elusive maiden women’s world crown. She has been fourth, third and runner-up twice in previous world champs.
Chris Clarke said it was obviously a disappointing outcome because Clarke had established a world record 37 consecutive victories into the world champs.
“You’ve always got to look at the positives so she’s comfortably improving and, eventually, she’ll win from here,” he said as she laughed.
In typical Islam fashion,
Mostafa attributed her success to God’s blessings and the undying support from her trainer, Khaled Younes.
“I’m ranked No 1 and it’s been my dream to win the world champs for many years,” said the 29-yearold human resources supervisor from Cairo who started playing when she was just 15 after watching her father, Mostafa
Abdel Halim, play socially.
“I have beaten a great player and well-respected player in Jenny today,” she said, thanking the fellow Egyptian players for their support and the president of the World Croquet Federation Amir Ramsis Naguib, of Cairo.
“Whatever the outcome the cup will go home,” Mostafa said of her final showdown against Khoudeir from 11am today.
Results on right