Nat'l American 6-W Championship

Cardo Wins First National Singles Title; Abdelwahab, Morgan Untouchable in Doubles

By Jeff Soo

From left going clockwise: Randy Cardo (photo by Jeff Soo), Noe Jimenez (photo by Beverley Cardo) and Sherif Abdelwahab (photo by Beverley Cardo)

Shane Hettler (photo by Jeff Soo) Nick Gray and Merle Berkshire (photo by Jeff Soo)

Sherif Abdelwahab and Stephen Morgan finished a clean sweep of the doubles, winning the double-elimination final in a single game, 26-3 over Rich Lamm and Jeff Soo, to cap a run of 10 straight games in which they pegged out for 26 points. Three of those victories were against former champions Lamm and Soo. Abdelwahab and Morgan become the only pair to win USCA national doubles titles in all three versions of the game. Abdelwahab then met Randy Cardo in the best-of-three singles final. Cardo used a croquet-out to take the initiative in all three games. In Game One, his break ended with a hampered position after 1-back, allowing Abelwahab to attack and take control to close out the game 26-11. In Game Two, Cardo’s first break ended when he ran 2-back off the court. Again, this gave Abelwahab the opening to attack and take control. He went around with Blue, leaving Black in position at H2, and Cardo missed. But Abdelwahab’s shot through H2 barely cleared the hoop, forcing him to retire. Cardo soon had a break and pegged out Blue with Black for H3. He nearly came to grief by momentarily forgetting that Red was for 3-back, not 4, but realized his error in time to clear the hoop. Still, this gave Abdelwahab a short hit-in and an attempt at a massive rollup to create a match-winning break. But he failed to reach position at H3, allowing Cardo a comfortable finish after regulation time to win 23-15 and level the match. In the decisive game, Cardo used another aggressive croquet-out to attack. He controlled the entire game, preventing Abdelwahab from ever taking croquet, winning 26-2 and claiming his first national singles title. He adds this to the two American-rules doubles titles he won with Danny Huneycutt in 2015 and 2016.

18 | croquetamerica.com Abdelwahab has had a most impressive year, winning all three national doubles titles along with the GC singles title. Neither player had a particularly strong start to the event. Abdelwahab lost two block games, then lost his first playoff game to Dick Sullivan, knocking him into the losers‘ bracket, AKA “the jungle.” Cardo barely qualified for the playoffs with a 4-3 record. Abdelwahab then won six straight games to reach the final, including wins over former champions Huneycutt, Doug Grimsley and Soo. Cardo had a shorter but no less difficult path to the final. His first game was against Morgan, who had been playing the most consistent croquet of the field. He then knocked off Lamm and Grimsley, leading to a double-elimination semifinal against rising star Shane Hettler. Cardo won that game 18-14. The Championship Singles Plate had excellent participation, with 17 of 22 eligible players taking part. The format was a modified Draw & Process, modeled after the Association Plate used in the British Open. Steve Scalpone had a remarkable run, winning seven straight games and giving him two chances to beat Macey White to claim the Plate. But White survived a scrappy first game, 17-15, and then won the Plate by winning the grand final 26-8. In First Flight, Steve Grassbaugh took top honors in both singles and doubles (partnered with Yen Sullivan). The singles format was a full block of 11, with only the top two advancing to the final. Grassbaugh’s only block loss was to Merle Berkshire, by one point. Grassbaugh returned the favor in the final, beating Berkshire 15-14. Donna Dixon won the Peyton Ballenger Award for top female singles finish.

01. Randy Cardo 02. Sherif Abdelwahab 03. Jeff Soo 03. Shane Hettler 05. Doug Grimsley 05. Rich Lamm 07. Simon Jenkins 07. Stephen Morgan 09. Macey White 10. Steve Scalpone 11. Richard Sullivan 12. Paul Bennett 13. Danny Huneycutt 14. Matthew Griffith 15. Arthur Olsen CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT SINGLES

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT DOUBLES 01. Sherif Abdelwahab/Stephen Morgan 02. Rich Lamm/Jeff Soo 03. Richard Curtis/Doug Grimsley 04. Simon Jenkins/Paul Neubecker 05. J. Gary Bennett/Paul Bennett 05. Shane Hettler/Noe Jimenez 07. Randy Cardo/Danny Huneycutt 07. Matthew Griffith/Richard Sheely 09. Peter Bach/Steve Scalpone 10. David Ekstrom/Arthur Olsen 11. Bob Chilton/Britt Ruby 11. Donna Dixon/Richard Sullivan 11. Lynda Sudderberg/Macey White 11. Thomas Cooper/Mary Rodeberg 16. Richard Sheely 16. Britt Ruby 18. Noe Jimenez 19. Thomas Cooper 20. Donna Dixon 21. Beverley Cardo 21. David Ekstrom 21. Paul Neubecker 21. Bob Chilton 25. J. Gary Bennett 25. Richard Curtis 25. Peter Bach 28. Lynda Sudderberg 28. Steve Mossbrook 30. Mary Rodeberg

FIRST FLIGHT SINGLES 01. Stephen Grassbaugh 02. Merle Berkshire 03. Yen Sullivan 03. Carl Archiniaco 05. Nicholas Gray 06. Ellie Griffith 06. Martie Ekstrom 06. Missy Chilton 06. Dale Jordan 10. Christine Smith 10. Patrick Dugan

FIRST FLIGHT DOUBLES 01. Stephen Grassbaugh/Yen Sullivan 02. Merle Berkshire/Nicholas Gray 03. Missy Chilton/Martie Ekstrom 04. Ellie Griffith/Christine Smith 04. Carl Archiniaco/Dale Jordan 06. Judy Dahlstrom/Patrick Dugan

Christine Smith (photo by Jeff Soo)

Doug Grimsley (photo by Jeff Soo)