Robert Fulford (croquet player)
Encyclopedia
Robert Fulford is a leading English
croquet
player who has dominated the sport since the turn of the 1990s.
, England
, he started to play croquet at his local school at the age of 15. Fulford has a light attitude towards the game, often travelling from cheap hotel or homes of local croquet players to the next because he only makes about £8000 a year from the sport. One tournament yielded him a lawnmower.
He is an alumnus of the University of Durham, where amongst some of his friends he had the nickname 'fluffy'
He supplements his sporting career by working for a stone merchants in Thurrock
in Essex
. Robert has become a CPA [chartered public accountant] and it is not clear what effect, if any, this will have upon his sporting pursuits.
Robert also coaches croquet, particularly in Australia
and the Chattooga Club in North Carolina
. Robert has made croquet videos with Australian croquet expert Kevin Brereton in which Robert teaches both basic and advanced break tactics. He has won the world championship 5 times:
Fulford has also won the President’s Cup
ten times (1989, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011), the Open Championship
nine times (1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008) and the Men's Championship
four times (1990, 1998, 2006, 2011).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
croquet
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
player who has dominated the sport since the turn of the 1990s.
Life and career
Born in ColchesterColchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he started to play croquet at his local school at the age of 15. Fulford has a light attitude towards the game, often travelling from cheap hotel or homes of local croquet players to the next because he only makes about £8000 a year from the sport. One tournament yielded him a lawnmower.
He is an alumnus of the University of Durham, where amongst some of his friends he had the nickname 'fluffy'
He supplements his sporting career by working for a stone merchants in Thurrock
Thurrock
Thurrock is a unitary authority with borough status in the English ceremonial county of Essex. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The local authority is Thurrock Council....
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. Robert has become a CPA [chartered public accountant] and it is not clear what effect, if any, this will have upon his sporting pursuits.
Robert also coaches croquet, particularly in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the Chattooga Club in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. Robert has made croquet videos with Australian croquet expert Kevin Brereton in which Robert teaches both basic and advanced break tactics. He has won the world championship 5 times:
- 1990 at Hurlingham Club, England
- 1992 in Newport, USA
- 1994 at Carden Park, Cheshire, England
- 1997 at Moorabinda Croquet Club, Bunbury, Western Australia
- 2002 in Wellington, New Zealand
Fulford has also won the President’s Cup
Croquet Association
The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897 , is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle Of Man. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole...
ten times (1989, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011), the Open Championship
Croquet Association
The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897 , is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle Of Man. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole...
nine times (1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008) and the Men's Championship
Croquet Association
The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897 , is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle Of Man. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole...
four times (1990, 1998, 2006, 2011).
Style
Fulford playing style includes the ability to play a range of shots. His tactic of peeling an opponent's ball through hoop 1 makes a triple peel as hard as possible for the opponent. His sextuple peels are also more frequent than those of any other player. Robert Fulford uses an Irish grip [rather like a golf grip] and employs "casting" [swinging mallet over the ball] about three times before each shot. He has strong wrists which makes the Irish grip work for him without it causing the R.S.I. that the grip is sometimes blamed for. In fact, Robert admits that he has quite a wrist-dominated technique which contradicts most coaching manuals that advise minimal wrist involvement.World Championship Results
Fulford has played in the following World Championships:- 1989: Round 4: (lost to John Prince +26tp, -17, -26tp)
- 1990: won (beat Mark Saurin +26, +24tp)
- 1991: S/F (lost to John Walters -14otp, -26tp)
- 1992: won (beat John Walters -5tp, +4tp, +12tp)
- 1994: won (beat Chris ClarkeChris Clarke (croquet player)Chris Clarke is an English croquet player who has been ranked among the world's top players since the late 1980s. Chris has won two World Championships in Association Croquet, in 1995 and again in 2008...
-12tpo, +12tp, +18tp, +13) - 1995: runner-up (lost to Chris ClarkeChris Clarke (croquet player)Chris Clarke is an English croquet player who has been ranked among the world's top players since the late 1980s. Chris has won two World Championships in Association Croquet, in 1995 and again in 2008...
-18tp, +12tpo, -26tp, +26tp, -26) - 1997: won (beat Stephen Mulliner +17, -3tpo, +9otp, +11otp)
- 2001: runner-up (lost to Reg Bamford +16tp, -17sxp, +3, -26sxp, -26qp)
- 2002: won (beat Toby Garrison +26tp, +26tp, -17tp, +15tp)
- 2005: runner-up (lost to Reg Bamford -17tp, -26sxp, -17sxp)
- 2008: S/F (lost to Chris ClarkeChris Clarke (croquet player)Chris Clarke is an English croquet player who has been ranked among the world's top players since the late 1980s. Chris has won two World Championships in Association Croquet, in 1995 and again in 2008...
+26tp, +26tp, -11tpo, -17, -26) - 2009: Round 3: (lost to Ben Rothman -14, -15tp, -17)
External links
- http://www.croquetrecords.com/records/index.htm The Croquet Records site