22 SPORT
Golf Croquet
international
By PHYLLIS STEPHENAN INTERNATIONAL match was played
in Edinburgh last month in Balgreen. The
fixture came about because Irish captain
Jane Morrison (pictured above right) -
who lives in Edinburgh - invited an Irish
team (of which she was captain) to come
and play a Scottish team. This fixture
between the Scottish Croquet
Association and the Croquet Association
of Ireland was a calculated move on Ms
Morrison’s part - she would very much
like more women to become involved in
golf croquet both in Edinburgh and in
Scotland.
She herself has a world ranking and
will play in New Zealand next January.
There are eight players in each team
and the plan was to play four doubles
matches and four singles on each of the
two days. Croquet is one of the very first
sports which was allowed after the
pandemic as it is played outside and
offers each player a lot of space on the
croquet lawn. At Balgreen Croquet and
Bowling Club they have four separate
lawns allowing several matches to be
played at once.WORTHY WINNERS
By the end of the weekend Ireland was
declared the winner with 57 games to
Scotland’s 19, although the Scottish
Women’s Team had some good victories
among the results.
Kathy Brown (above left) was the
newly appointed captain and she said
she is looking forward to the return
match at Rushbrooke in Co Cork in 2023.
Sadly the Irish team was just too too
strong for the inexperienced Scottish
squad but they all had a very enjoyable
weekend and are looking forward to
next year. The intention is that following
a successful inaugural event, the fixture
will now be played each year.
A trophy was presented to the Croquet
Association of Ireland Team by Roger
Binks, Chairman of the Scottish Croquet
Association.Balgreen is only one of three
croquet clubs in Edinburgh with others
at The Meadows and Lauriston Castle.Staking
a claim
Climbing the walls for success
Hibs star Porteous ‘buzzing’
after solid display for Scotland
By JOHN HISLOPHIBS’ INFLUENTIAL defender Ryan Porteous
is ‘buzzing’ to be selected for Scotland manager
Steve Clarke’s squad for the international triple
header against Ukraine (twice) and against the
Republic of Ireland.
This is the fourth time Porto has been called
up to his nation’s senior squad. The first was
back in November 2019 for Euro 2020 qualifiers
against Cyprus and Kazakhstan.
He said: “I’m buzzing with. It is something
I haven’t achieved for a year now. But every time
I have been in the squad, I have really enjoyed it.
“You are only away for a week or 10 days, but
I do believe I become a better player beingsurrounded by these world-class players, so I’m
looking forward to it and hoping I can grasp my
opportunity.
“I have to play to a good level throughout the
season. If Hibs are playing well and I’m playing
well then he has always called me up and he has
always had that little bit of faith in me so
hopefully I can make the most of this
opportunity and stake a claim to stay there.”
“We know that there are always
opportunities, Steve Clarke has shown that, and
I know it would be a special feeling if I could get
that chance but I’ll just go in there and give the
best representation of myself, show what I can
do again and learn from that camp. I feel I
always take a lot away from them.”Hibs boss Lee Johnson added: “We’re
delighted for him. We knew it would be the case
because he’s been in the eyeline for a number of
squads before.
“The next stage for him is to get minutes on
the pitch and to make sure he receives that cap.
I think he’s ready to do that.
“Off the pitch he’s maturing, as are his on
the pitch performances, and that goes hand
in hand.
“He’s got such a will to win and is such a
talented player that maintaining that focus and
direction becomes the key.
“As players start to mature, and go through
experiences, they become better on and off the
pitch, and we’re certainly seeing that with Ryan.”By JOHN PREECETHE CLIMBING World Cup was
last held at Edinburgh’s
EICA:Ratho climbing centre in
2017, and the 189 male and
female athletes who featured this
year put on a superb display in
front of a full house.
The event coincided with theannouncement of the death of
HM Queen Elizabeth, so the event
only went ahead - with a social
media blackout - following some
high level consultation.
The first medals to be decided
were for the speed climbers who
ascend a 15-metre wall, with a 5
degree ‘overhang’ in well under 10
seconds and this genre witnessedtwo ‘firsts’.
The first ‘first’ was in the men’s
event, where USA’s Samuel
Watson won the first Speed Gold
for his country, with China’s Long
Jinbao and Spain’s Erik Noya
Cardano taking Silver and Bronze
In the women’s final the second
‘first’ happened when the podium
was occupied by Polish twins,Aleksandra and Natalia Kalucka,
who won Gold and Silver,
respectively, with USA’s Emma
Hunt taking Bronze (see photo).
The lead competi ion was
played out on EICA: Ratho’s big
wall and was another nail-biting
watch for the capacity crowd.
The qualifying and semi-finals
took up all day Saturday and
Sunday morning, and the
climbers were whittled down to
eight men and eight women for
the finals and both competitions
went down to the last seconds of
the six minutes available.
With everyone’s eyes on Janja
Garnbret of Slovenia, Japan’s Mori
Ai quietly came up on the ropes
and snatched Gold by a few
seconds, both climbers having
topped out. Bronze in the final
went to South Korea’s Seo
Chaehyun, who was last on the
wall, but couldn’t quite match
her rivals.
The men’s event also went
down to the wire with USA’s
Jesse Grupper leaving it to,
virtually, the last second to top
out. Silver and Bronze in this
event went to Slovenian, Luka
Potocar , with GB’s Toby Roberts
picking up his first, senior, World
Cup medal.J.L. Preece
Ryan Porteous with
John McGinn