Samir Patel wins Montevideo Cup
The Montevideo Cup has been held annually (except during Covid years) at Royal Tunbridge Wells Croquet Club since 2011 being won in its first year by Jonathan Lamb from Uruguay. He donated the cup in the subsequent year and gave the tournament its name.
The 2025 edition was held on Saturday 10th May on a beautifully hot and sunny day with a field of 12 players from 7 croquet clubs with handicaps from -2 to 7. Despite the range of handicaps, the games were highly competitive and the results certainly did not always reflect the handicaps. The two blocks were won by Samir Patel (Surbiton) and Richard Brooks (Sussex County) with the runners up being Edward Patel (Surbiton) & Marc Trevere (Dulwich). Richard and Edward’s block was clear cut with 4 and 3wins respectively but Samir and Marc’s block was much closer and Marc just made the semi-finals by 1 hoop over local player Dan Crocombe.
The block results threw together 2 interesting semi- finals with particular interest in the family affair between Samir and Edward. Dad, Samir pipped his son Edward on the golden hoop and Richard had a little more comfortable 7-4 victory to progress to the final.
The final was very nip and tuck with no more than one hoop in it and predictably went to the golden hoop. Richard had first shot at the hoop and placed his ball in an eminently runnable position. Unfortunately for Richard, Samir cleared his ball directly from the 12th hoop. The momentum had changed, and Samir held his nerve to run the final hoop and gain a 7-6 victory and his name on the Montevideo Cup.
Special mention should also be given to Edward Patel and Michael Pudney who both had an excellent day despite being the two highest handicap players competing. They finished 4th and 5th respectively.
The photograph shows the trophy being presented to Samir Patel by Michael Gentry, the tournament Manager.
Full results are here: https://croquetscores.com/2025/gc/montevideo-cup